the sec alone

Football Insider Board
#1

Could have numerous coaching changes.

Florida----coach already gone
Tennessee---- foregone conclusion coach gone
ole miss-----interim coach gone
Texas a and m ----sumlin probably gone
Auburn------malzahn on the edge of the cliff, lose to georgia and bama probably gone
Mississippi State----mullen probably gone to take one of above jobs or moving on
Missouri-----who knows, probably they stay with current coach.
Arkansas---- who knows, ole miss win saved job for a couple of weeks at least.

Now that is 6 head coaches i think are gone in the SEC. That is also 53 to 60 assistants probably looking for jobs, plus numerous grad assistants, support staff, analysts, and that doesn’t even include the domino effect across the country.

With so many openings from head coaches to assistants leaving, leaves the question what will Long do at Arkansas. 4 of the above jobs just in the SEC are considered better than Arkansas. I disagree with this but i am a homer but that is the national perception. Is there enough talent left out there to hire? If we did have an opening, would we take a retread coach. Sumlin and Malzhan won’t have any trouble getting another gig. Would we look at one of those?

Young coaches that are hot

Virginia Tech coach
Iowa State coach
Frost at one of those Florida schools
Memphis coach
Charlie Strong
Willie Taggert even though one year at Oregon would he leave for a Florida, Auburn, Tennessee?

Going to be an interesting rest of the year as far as coaching changes. The more i think about it the more i think Long stays put for more year, we hire numerous coaches from fired staffs, staff overhaul probably.

On a personal note, coaches i like are coach B, but he needs to win and go to a bowl game this year. And if he stays he needs to load up the staff with proven recruiters with Texas ties and not some obscure coaches from the pros with no recruiting experience Otherwise i am not so sure.

i love the Iowa State coach but I’m sure he has raised eyebrows already
Sumlin can recruit
do not want Malzahn at all
Frost, well i can dream
Memphis coach, who knows but their team is exciting, hit hard, and is wide open.
Virginia tech coach we don’t stand a chance
Kiffin no way

i am sure there are others but lots of competition for coaches this year it seems. And i have little to no confidence in Long’s ability to hire one. I think he is so far removed from the average fan, he has no clue to the pulse of Hawg Nation or the everyday fan.

#2

I’m a big fan of Matt Campbell (Iowa St), but he has a 9.4 million buyout. CBB has a 5.8 million. That’s 15.2 million. We were confident Bret wasn’t going anywhere when we assumed his buyout was 15.7 million. So, I’m pretty sure Campbell is out. Also, as you said, we aren’t the only ones that’d be looking at him.

#3

I cannot believe anyone would want Sumlin or Malzan. Sumlin has one of the greatest recruiting bases in country and many 4 and 5 star recruits and wins 8 games a year. He would be worse than Coach B. Malzan cannot get it done with greater talent than he could ever get at Arkansas.

#4

Nice post. Man, the SEC is rough

#5

See a lot of people want the Memphis coach…is this his 2nd year on the job? If so, how is his recruiting or does 2 years even give us a clue of what type of recruiter/closer he is? How much of Memphis’ record is based on the previous coach’s recruits?

#6

Mike Norvell as HC is 15-6. Finished 8-5 last year and is currently 7-1. Before Memphis he was OC/AHC/QB coach at ASU (the one out west) from 2012-2015. ASU’s record during that time was 34-19 with 4 bowl trips. The year prior (2011) he was CO-OC at Pitt. Pitt wen 6-6 and to a bowl. The HC didn’t coach the bowl game, don’t know if Norvell did. If he did, his bowl record as HC/OC is 2-4.

His annual salary is 1.86 million. Only thing on his buyout that I could find is $500,000, but he signed an extension on Mar 12, and I can’t find how that affected his buyout.

#7

" I think he is so far removed from the average fan, he has no clue to the pulse of Hawg Nation or the everyday fan."

While he has made some mistakes, I just think this is so off-base.

I base that off covering him, talking with him and being around he and his staff.

I think if he had the opportunity to do that - while you might not still like him because he hired a coach you no longer want - you would see that he gets it.

#8

I think Norvell is an interesting candidate and would be a so-called fit if the job were to open here.

But while I think there is some plus there in terms of risk-reward, I don’t think you can call him a sure-fire thing.

A lot of the best candidates that Arkansas could land are likely in that category.

#9

Let’s look at these two sentences separately.

You have no confidence in Long to hire a coach. Fine. Entitled to your opinion. But then let’s look at the next sentence, by which you justify that opinion:
“… he has no clue to the pulse of Hawg Nation or the everyday fan.”

Hate to break it to you, but the “pulse of Hawg Nation” doesn’t have very much to do with who our coach will be in 2018. Nor should it.

Jeff Long is paid $1 million plus a year because he has to run a $125 million business with 19 areas of emphasis – the Arkansas athletic department. Inherent in that is the need to make tough decisions on a daily basis, many you’ll never know about. Firing Bret Bielema would be a tough decision. Keeping Bret Bielema, IMO, would be even tougher, because many fans like you want him gone. That does not mean firing him is the right decision, or that keeping him is either. “The pulse of Hawg Nation” could be wrong. Letting “the everyday fan” dictate his decisions is not why he’s getting paid that kind of money, or why schools like Texass have tried to hire him away from us. He has to weigh many, many factors, many more than the everyday fan is aware of. Should fan sentiment be one of those factors? Sure. The deciding factor? I don’t think so.

Now he may decide that it’s time for BB to go. If so, so be it. But he shouldn’t, and can’t, let the mob run BB out of town. I think, however, he is very aware of what fans like you want.

#10

Swine F. Great post…Right now, I’m riding the fence on CoachB. We were at Oxford and a must win for the program. I was wondering why Agim didn’t play in the first quarter. If he had, I feel that they wouldn’t have had that tremendous quarter.

#11

Aging didn’t play in first quarter for disclinary reasons. He was late to or missed a meeting.

#12

as far as my jeff long comment:

That is my personal opinion, and the opinion of every day fans I know on the whole. The “old guard” was escorted out gracefully I will add over time, some which i had a personal relationship with. some disagreed quite a bit with our new athletic director on the direction of the football program.

It seems to me, and disagree if you will, that we are more concerned with the corporate dollar than big donor than the average fan. Let me see, comments i have heard on here, game day experience isn’t what it used to be, too many commercials on the big board, not enough of our band playing during games in order to get commercials or ads in. empty seats with rising ticket prices. concessions are pitiful. just a few of the things i have read on this board alone.

i realize he runs a huge business. That is fine. But i think some sacrifices need to be made for the benefit for the every day, guy in the trenches fan. According to sports talk here in Little Rock, he was highly disappointed when he campaigned and then did not get the Michigan job. i have no clue, but i do know the culture of the sec fan bases is much different from most any other area in the country.

Then i look at hires.

first offered job to Grobe, then Bowden. need i say more.

Bobby Petrino, yes i realize Long had nothing to do with him driving in a ditch, but it was well known in the inner circles of football before that hire that Petrino was not exactly an honorable coach to put it nicely. hard to get along with, not personable, list goes on and on. ask the cotton bowl officials about him.

John l Smith once again Long was between a rock and a hard spot here but gimme a break.

Beliema I like the guy, he is personable, a players coach, love hearing him speak, but he has not won here. it wouldn’t be out of reach to objectively argue he should get one more year. not my decision. on paper this is he’s best hire. But no SEC experience in either coaching nor recruiting. can he get it done, we shall see. I certainly thought we would be further along in year 5 than we are right now.

i just don’t trust Long with the hire, and no-one can change my mind. that being said, i will support whoever they choose, if they make a change or stick with what we have. but I’m not going to be happy with not only losses, but the way we lose.

#13

We shall agree to disagree on the point that he is out of touch.

#14

Just because Bielema hasn’t worked out–if that indeed is the case (and the record cannot be denied)–how is that JL’s fault? He hired the best available candidate for the job. How many ADs wouldn’t hire a three-time Rose Bowl coach? It is patently unfair to blame him for what you now know as an under-.500 coach. He was anything but that at the time. BTW, there are many good coaches who don’t have SEC experience, some that are even being touted on this board as the perfect candidate now. If JL hires exactly who you want for the job–whomever that may be–and he doesn’t work out, will you then blame him for an incompetent hire?

#15

Great post. I am not a huge Long fan, but everything you say is correct. This is not a democracy. The fans opinions count of course, but it can’t be just a “pulse of the fan base” decision. If that were the case, hire a polling firm to take a fan poll on all the issues and save a ton of money on an AD.

#16

CBB may be back next year! That’s my thought. I don’t see the hogs jumping into the market looking for a coach with Florida, Tennessee and probably Texas A&M.

#17

I think more than just what other schools are looking for a coach goes into consideration obviously.

Ticket sales, whether the fans will stay for the entire game buying concessions, and recruiting for sure.

The 2019 class is the best class In probably 10+ years. I’d really hate for Bielema Part 6, to squander away one or two of those guys because of other schools recruiting against him with his job security, and the increased expectations he’d have to meet.

There’s a very, very real possibility he starts 0-3 in the SEC next year, it’s a favorable schedule, but it’s still an SEC schedule, that’s not changing. 0-3 for the 4th time isn’t going to sit well.

It’s a tough spot to be in, for all sides.

#18

The SMU coach would be another possibility.

Also, I would state that there are going to be numerous coaching vacancies every year so I don’t think that should be the determining factor if we make a move or not.

#19

Thoughts to ponder for some of the haters.

#20