A and M has more top SEC talent than we do. Period.
The right size and speed (recievers and D backs) are one of many examples.
Yes we can develop kids well and we love our four year guys.
But we need upgrades in many spots of roster to be an SEC big.
Yup it comes back to talent differential. The SEC WEST has gotten extremely tough after Saban raised the bar, Ole Miss started buying players, A&M took recruiting advantage of being SEC in Texas and it has shown by how much AU and LSU has struggled.
Yup pretty well said
Would you consider recruiting a part of coaching?
Right on brother. This was a game of top 30 classes vs top 15 classes, 4 stars vs 3 stars, etc…
We can say stars don’t matter but we won’t win the SEC while settling for top 30 classes. Period.
I will say it again, it is never that simple. A&M has tremendous talent. Very impressed.
But guys, in a game like this there were things other than talent to also consider.
Every time we lose there is a knee jerk reaction to blame it on recruiting. Many times I even agree. Yet, when we beat Ole Miss and LSU two years running there is no apparent recognition the the “talent-only” theory breaks down.
Why can’t we walk and chew gum at the same time? This game was about talent plus some other things. Correct some of the other things and we are in a position to win.
Ironically, I am probably as adament about talent in the secondary as anyone. We refuse to put elite athletes in the secondary. Elite athletes make plays, overcome bad angles to run down qb’s, give your d a chance to hold A&M to a fg rather than give up a 60 yard td. Two weeks ago I posted on this board a warning that we needed elite athletes in the secondary to win big.
Still I can list just a few changes with the talent we had last night that could have changed the outcome. It is not just a talent thing.
Talent absolutely was a factor last night but you are kidding yourself if you don’t think coaching played a huge role. Those two QB runs for TDs were about A&M coaches out-scheming our coaches. That was something they have clearly seen on tape and when they got the look they wanted they ran it and it worked…TWICE!!! Those TDs were scored before the game was started by their coaches beating our coaches. And finally, I get we want to be physical but there comes a point in the season when our coaches should have a pretty good idea of what we are as a team. And right now, its clear to everyone (apparently except for our coaches) that we don’t quite have the hogs up front to get it done in short yardage on a consistent basis. Our most reliable and consistent players are our QB and TE’s/Receivers right now. Not putting it in the best players hands at the goal-line and instead trying to smash it in with inferior talent ‘because that’s our identity’ is due to coaching stubbornness or pride or whatever you want to call it. But coaching was definitely part of the loss last night. And btw, I agree that AA got that ball across the line but we shouldn’t have to rely on replay to get the call. Because we are Arkansas and will never get those calls on a consistent basis.
Our coaches are very good and very smart.
We knew A and M would load the box to try and stop our run game.
We had a plan for that to spread them out and keep them honest.
We simply did not have the personnel talent to execute against their better talent.
What if Austin had four six four guys with 4.4 speed to get ball to, or protection to find an option?
What if our d backs had their d back strength and speed?
We can develop kids well and you don’t need 5 stars everywhere.
But if we ask ourselves why we have never won an SEC title, it is not because we don’t have good coaches.
Program needs major talent infusion equal to other SEC bigs.
Arkansas needs an honest and major strategic introspection to ensure that it overcomes recruiting disadvantages we have as compared to SEC bigs.
Can we beat more talented teams? Of course.
Can we coach up kids better than most? Yes I think so.
But if we truly want to be a big, we have to dedicate more resources than others to attract high talent.
This can’t be just on a coach this has to be a major AD priority.
Some great programs can have down years of course, but most relevant big programs sit on top of fertile recruiting areas which make those programs highly coveted.
We expect an Arkansas coach to not only be great x and o but recruit as if he has built in advantages of major peers.
We have not won an SEC title despite having some pretty fine coaches.
This program needs high level SEC talent year in and out if we want to be a big in my opinion.
A million times this. Maybe 2 million.
We need more talent. But you constantly beat this drum and never explain how, if we are so void of talent, we frequently whip blue bloods in this league.
It’s an overreaction to a bad, sloppy loss. If we were so lacking we wouldn’t be 10-3 in our last 13 against a brutal schedule with more Top 25 road wins than just about anyway.
How do you explain/minimize those actual results on the field? I’m talking about consistently beating or playing close slugfests with LSU, OM, AU, even TAMU (who you act like we shouldn’t share the field with and for the last 3 years we have either dominated or played even for 3 quarters).
It gets old. Every roster is going to have soft spots, except maybe Bama. They would tell you they do, too.
We need more talent–always. But this constant drum beat that we don’t have even close to enough talent to compete with major SEC programs is just untrue and has been proven untrue ON THE FIELD over the last few seasons.
Well said. Thank you for saving me the time. The “we don’t have SEC-caliber” are out in force after a loss.
But when the Hogs are rolling up Ws against SEC teams like last year – completely obliterating their premise – they are mighty quiet. They are going to get real quiet here real soon.
Of course the Hogs need talent. But it’s not about stars and recruiting rankings. There’s so much more to it than that. There are plenty of 2 and 3 star players who were not assessed properly by the alleged recruiting experts. And there are countless 4 and 5 stars who never play a down of college ball.
And it’s NOT that Arkansas took inferior talent and coached it up. It’s that the Arkansas player should have been rated a 4 or 5 star as a recruit.
Look at Raxorback history. Look at the big win seasons. Look at the years the Hogs finished in the top 10, top 15, top 25. All those recruiting classes were unheralded and not highly ranked.
Recruiting rankings are like a self-fulfilling prophecy. The minute Nick Saban or LSU or Texas calls a player, he goes from no stars to 4 stars.
So, no, for Arkansas, it is absolutely about recruiting great players but it’s not about stars and recruiting rankings…it’s about producing on the field.
No. We could have completed passes against their all night long. We chose to lead with our weakness. Over and over and over.
Word.
I have clearly touched a third rail by suggesting we need more talent and that coaching alone isn’t enough.
It is hard to hear that Arkansas does not have recruiting advantages of bigs but that is a fact.
Can we win without talent of the bigs?
Of course.
Maybe even win out this year.
But we have not won SEC titles not because of coaching.
If we are talking of a and m game of course we should have planned differently.
But the speed that killed us is recruiting and talent - more so than brilliant coaching.
That has been the case more times than not since joining the SEC.
If stars and those ridiculous recruiting rankings equate to SEC titles, A&M would already won one or two.
Same for Ole Miss, and of course the Hogs with their alleged inferior classes have not beaten Ole Miss in years. (What?!? The Hogs beat them 2 years running? Impossible!!!)
Stars and recruiting rankings are not accurate and unreliable. As I said, the minute LSU or Nick Saban or Texas calls a recruit, he goes from zero to four stars. Seen it happen. The ranking star and ranking system is skewed to always make certain teams the winners; and teams like Arkansas will never be highly ranked, no matter.
As I said, the results on the field have proven Arkansas signs its share or 4 and 5 star players who were not evaluated properly by these so-called experts.
At least two people get it…
You are making sense and changing my view some. thanks!
Is recruiting not in the job description of a head coach?
Someone name the last SEC champion or national champion that didn’t have a top 15 recruiting average the previous 4 seasons. I have not researched it but I am assuming it would be extremely rare.
Of course some 2 stars go the the NFL and some 5 stars never play a down but you have to play the law of averages. If you consistently get better talent then you can afford more misses than the other guy. I’m not saying getting top 15 classes are easy or everyone would be doing it. I don’t even know if it is even possible at Arkansas. I’m just saying we won’t win a championship until we get to that level of recruiting. It won’t happen. Period. A million times this, maybe two million.
how about with talent better coaching adjustment better play from the players and more want to TEXAS A&M WANTED IT MORE