Sad how inherently negative Razorback fans start a post and bait inherently positive Razorback fans into debating future events totally out of everyone’s control. I laugh at this topic; “most probable outcome”, then after reading a bit, I hang my head at the armchair coaches wanting to out predict the other with vitriol and hatred. I am very proud of the direction this football program is heading and for one can predict with confidence, the most probable outcome will be; win or lose young men will have their character molded to become productive members of our society. WPS!!
Well said sir. I also do not think this forum represents Hog Nation. Most I know feel as you do. As in politics on the internet the loudest are generally the lunatic fringe.
We have the top rated JC tight end committed because we are one of the few schools running a pro offense that features the tight end. That is an example of a recruiting edge. We got a 4-star offensive tackle and former starter at a power five school to transfer in because we use offensive linemen in a pro not spread offense. That is an example of a recruiting edge. We got a former 5-star QB who turned down Bama to sign with SoCal and who bailed out of SoCal when they dumped their pro style offense and went to the spread. He chose us because we run a pro style offense with checks, reads, and progressions like the pros. That is an example of a recruiting edge. We have an offense that “graduated or went early to the draft” its top two running backs (now in the pros) its three year starter QB (now in the pros), its top tight end (now in the pros) and three of its offensive linemen (two now in the pros). This offense, especially the offensive line, is rebuilding this year. Only the receiving corps returned intact. That happens and there are only a few teams in college football that don’t have a drop off when rebuilding occasionally. We aren’t one of those teams but we are getting better. Meanwhile, we are 4-1, ranked #16, and playing the #1 team in the land on the Hill this weekend. The rebuilding offense is getting better and should finish strong just as every Bielema coached team has at Arkansas. That sounds like a good chance at a “better than last year” season which will be more progress. Probably not enough quick enough for you but we are headed in the right direction. I think we got the right coach and I look forward to the future. You don’t. I hope you enjoy your negativity since you put so much effort into it.
How strange to see absolutely nothing in my last post disputed in the least bit but to see myself labeled as the internet lunatic fringe spouting vitriol and hatred. Sorry to rain on a homer parade with simple facts.
I don’t hate anything concerning Razorbacks. I just am very disappointed in what this coach has fielded in his fourth year as an SEC offensive line. I see him as a fundamentally very unsound coach. Those kicking game problems he continually has are totally un-befitting an Arkansas or SEC program. A Sun Belt team can recruit D1 caliber productive kickers. I feel he will be on a red hot seat in several years.
My biggest sincere concern about the next game is that AA will be injured requiring missed games. I think Saban is intent to the point of being mean spirited in sidelining offensive threats in games. This O-Line just heightens my concern for AA. Bielema came here talking about SEC championships. Not as a college dean or counselor to improve graduation rates. That graduation rates stuff will not keep any other head coach around the SEC employed. Why on earth would it do so here?
Mr. WarHog 38 - It will do it here because a majority of Razorback fans see a proverbial glass half full, enjoy the refreshment, and support the program. While the half full glass minority complain about what it isn’t and detract from the program. Your “facts” weren’t discussed most likely because most are tired of finding a hook in your bait…
That QB you mentioned is way down the depth chart and anybody recruited into that O-Line dubbed a “recruiting edge” with their display against Texas A&M is no edge to anybody. Arkansas graduated or lost three O-Lineman from last year. If they had lost all five, it would have been no excuse for that TAMU performance. That is no drop off, it was a collapse. You people want to be optimistic. That is fine. I just have always been one that can and reads the writing on the wall.
If you are in Hawaii? Perhaps you haven’t got much feel for the pulse of the Arkansas fan base or college football world in general. I assure you, three more years of mediocre fundamentally unsound Bielema football will be the end of him here. Maybe in two years. The wealthy donor base will not put up with mediocrity in that extreme. Bank on it, some of them own the bank if not the mint.
The fact that a former 5 star QB recruit offered by Bama and USC is not beating out two of our QB recruits is a sign of the quality in depth at the QB position at Arkansas. You prefer the negative interpretation. Do you see the pattern here? You are reading the hand writing on the wall through dung colored glasses. You are a reverse sunshine pumper and need to get more balance in your life. People who are just always negative get ignored here which, I guess, makes them even more negative. I guess you are just caught in that downward spiral and can’t get out.
I assure you that one of us doesn’t have a feel for the “pulse of the Arkansas fan base or the college football world in general.” My knowledge and involvement with the Razorback program is over 50yrs strong and proud as a donor and fan. I cheer for a University that practices [Veritate Duce Progredi] i.e. [To Advance with Truth as our Leader]. Truth and time, good sir, go hand and hand. I do look forward to the days you and I can heartedly cheer for the Razorbacks, until then I will continue to cheer with the majority.
The fact that a former 5 star QB recruit offered by Bama and USC is not beating out two of our QB recruits is a sign of the quality in depth at the QB position at Arkansas. You prefer the negative interpretation. Do you see the pattern here? You are reading the hand writing on the wall through dung colored glasses. You are a reverse sunshine pumper and need to get more balance in your life. People who are just always negative get ignored here which, I guess, makes them even more negative. I guess you are just caught in that downward spiral and can’t get out.
Look who is getting negative with psychoanalyzing my life. I guess you need to do that when all you have to back up your farcical point of view is a QB that has bounced around due to bench sitting. Not that rare for a high school 5 star to never start in college. The rate on 4 stars is nearly 50% never starting in college. You use very weak points of reference to argue what I say that is proven absolutely factual by past performances of our Bielema coached team. You are the one slinging dung.
Ok, we get it, you don’t want CBB here. Even though we are 4-1, ranked 16, and have won 10 of our last 12. Yet, you want him gone. So, after we fire him mid-season, what do we do then? We let Enos be interim HC for the rest of the season and then what? Who do we go and get to propel us to where we “need” to be, in your eyes? Please, tell me which coach out there is going to walk right into those kinda expectations, so that you will be happy? :roll: I guess the first line of the new contract should state “If you don’t win the SEC in 3 seasons, you will not get a fourth!”
If I wanted Bielema fired immediately, I would not be bashful in stating it on this board. I would give him a 2017 season to see if the fundamental type previous breakdowns ended in a fifth season. Do you think this coach will ever win an SEC championship with a poor defense and a fundamentally bad kicking game? These are Bielema constants with a horrid O-Line or weak LB or DB corp tossed in. It just amounts to a dysfunctional head football coach. I figure Bielema has two more years, not one. Razorback fans can see what I am writing about whether they acknowledge it or not. Most will be glad he is gone if this continues two more years. The man holds his fate in his own hands along with over three million dollars a year.
I give you three examples of recruiting advantages and all you can do is take a negative spin to a 5-star QB recruit not being able to beat out two of our other QB recruits for the backup job?! That is beyond weak to borderline pathetic. We are #16 in the country, 4-1, and all you got is “if Bielema keeps this up he is going to be fired?!?!” It is obvious you can only come from the negative extreme when it comes to Bielema, but you got to have better arguments than these. Step up your game. You are slipping into irrelevance.
I shot two of the pathetic “recruiting advantages” examples you gave asunder. A recruiting service’s glamour boy QB that under accomplished like nearly 50% of their chosen few along with an offensive lineman that contributed to about an 0 -15 in trying to score a TD inside the Texas A&M five yard line. Where is any advantage recruiting wise or anywhere else with these two people? Only to somebody in a fog.
The Pro type Bielema offense does help recruiting high quality TE’s as you noted. Mostly due to very few offenses in college football utilizing a TE much anymore. I hope Bielema starts winning throwing to TE’s in games like Alabama tomorrow. That is when you can start talking about authentic true to life “recruiting advantages.”
We are 4-1 after munching on two cupcakes with a last minute drive against Louisiana Tech. We are probably at the high point of this season considering the most likely outcome tomorrow. There is an old saying about rankings that college football coaches use to often utter. “Rankings only mean a damn thing at the end of the season.”
I gave you examples of recruiting advantages and neither the 5 star QB struggling to beat out the other QB’s nor the 4 star offensive lineman and his buddies failing to punch it in against a very good defensive line at A&M has anything to do with those recruiting advantages. You failed miserably to argue against those advantages. You admitted I was right about tight ends so there may be some glimmers of reality that you have managed to face up to. Keep trying, you might reach a balanced point of view if you try really hard for a really long time. We could lose all of the rest of the games on our schedule and we could win them all. Right now, you got nothing but warped and negative speculation. We are #16 and 4-1. Predict all of the negative you want for the rest of the season. It is just you hoping for the worst and frustrated because it hasn’t arrived yet.
If you take a look at game theory you will see that there is often some benefit from being different or unique. If everyone plays the same spread and up tempo game then the team with the most money, best coaches, and largest recruiting base will win. Football is in a transition state - right now we have almost an entire conference (B12) who has adopted the spread offenses favored by their primary recruiting base in Texas. They have an easier time recruiting Texas high school athletes as a result but their product on the field has suffered as they have lost the ability to beat an offense that favors a more traditional approach. Right now the SEC has a good mix but more and more people are pushing for the spread offense to be adopted. The more teams move toward that the better Arkansas will fair - there are many parts of the country with high schools that do not run the spread and there are many great athletes who are not built for the spread. We can press this to our advantage to attract players that know they will fit our scheme and thus press our edge. You see that already with our success attracting big OL, top TE, and pro style QBs. As more and more people more to the spread the better our defense will get because the players recruited to stop the spread will not be as good stopping our ground game and the players on the field will not have as much experience stopping our brand of football. Our main problem is going to be on defense where we can’t outcompete the best teams who are all recruiting to stop the spread. But I would advocate for keeping our offense as it is in the face of massive changes in the college sport. There’s a reason why the service academies, Georgia Tech, etc. often are difficult for people to beat running the triple option - it is uncommon and when you are good at something uncommon you can often surprise people who look better on paper.
Arkansas does not have the natural advantages shared by the top teams. We will likely never be a top team. But we can be a consistently good team if we stick with our current approach rather than trying to ape what the big boys are doing. Those are just my thoughts on the matter.
Very good post. Logical and well thought out. Totally agree. Another thing besides his offense that I like about Bielema is his proven ability to find and develop low rated players into elite players. J.J. Watt is the best example but far from the only one. I remember A.J. Derby racing down the sideline to score against Bama two years ago. He walked on with us as a QB and Bielema moved him to a much better position. He is getting paid to play tight end now in the pros. Arkansas badly needs a coach who can develop great players. We will not out recruit the elite in the SEC but we may can recruit well enough and develop well enough to be very competitive. JMVHO.
You are rambling about your “recruiting advantages” nonsense. Anyone exercising rational thoughts would know that no advantages can be ascertained anywhere by losing. Bielema must start winning regularly among the upper echelon of SEC programs for any “recruiting advantages” to be recognized. That regularly winning against elite SEC programs is something Bielema has never done. Your viewpoints are therefore totally moot.
You are wrong about me hoping for the worst. I would like nothing better than to see the Hogs pull the upset tomorrow. I just feel this coach gives us little chance. I talked about reading writing on the wall. Sadly a skill lost to most souls in this old world where most people cannot even learn from yesterday’s mistakes. Enough philosophy, time will tell. In a couple of years, I will be preaching to the choir about old smooth big pockets Bielema.