Charlie Strong presents some interesting opportunities in my opinion. He has the ability to continue the growth of the program with a style similar to what we are currently built for and I think he gives us an instant boost in recruiting arena. Might be worth a look. Thoughts?
There have been a number of good coaches pass through Arkansas since 1976 and then since 1992
I’m afraid the problem is Arkansas not the coaches
We best hope Coach Bret succeeds he is a legit big time coach - changing coaches now is simply adding another 3-5 years of new “development” and unfulfilled promises
Maybe we are simply a regional level team
Maybe the SEC is right and Mizzou is really on our level and
Maybe we can only hope for a bowl game each year as our measure of success
Maybe Arkansas isn’t capable to be a national contender
My heart aches saying that but the facts simply do not support Arkansas being anymore than we are
One thing it’s not the fans fault the fans have been loyal and they pay
Maybe Arkansas simply is a want to be contender - the number of championships point to who we are and the SEC’s willingness to simply mandate who we will play against our will says we have no i flounce that the SEC should worry about
I’m still in cbb camp, but opportunities are out there. Next year will be a huge year for the program and cbb. It will be a completely cbb recruited team that hopefully has a chip on its shoulder.
While I don’t think it’s time to get rid of BB, it is time for RS to go. BB has next season to see what his future will be. I also don’t agree with calling him a legit big time head coach, in my opinion he’s done nothing to prove this. He walked into a very good Wisconsin team at a time when the big 10 was very weak, he also was in the weaker division of the big 10. Seems that any coach at Wisconsin is having success. If it had been a dump that he fixed I’d agree calling him a legit big time coach but that’s not the case, he’s had nothing to show deserving of that title as of yet, hope he does but I’m not optimistic on it happening.
That doesn’t fit with the actual facts. His first year he inherited a terrific senior class and he had a great year, but didn’t win the Big 10. His 2nd and 3rd years with 75% Barry’s recruiting classes, were his only poor years. His 3 Big 10 titles occurred in years’ 5, 6, and 7 when the teams were filled only with his recruits.
I will concede that he was fortunate to get to the Rose Bowl his last year. He won (tied, I believe) the weaker division and then won the Big10 title game. However, his 3 B1G titles all came with only his recruits.
You pretty much supported my statement, he inherited program in a good situation at a great time, and through the years capitalized on it. 4 years later, they are just as good if not better than he left them, it takes away from his significance to the program. It’s a school in a good position to compete in the big 10 each year.
How you arrived at that conclusion is a real head scratcher. Clearly, you read what you wanted to read and not what was written.
CBB had to overcome 3 poor recruiting classes by Barry Alvarez to get the team in the position to win 3 straight B1G championships.
CBB’s winning record at Wisconsin was 12 percentage points higher than Barry’s (73.9% to 61.8%). CBB did not “maintain” what he inherited from Alvarez, he improved on it. CBB won 3 B1G titles in 7 years, while Barry won 3 titles in 16 years. Barry won ZERO titles in his last 6 years as HC.
So no, CBB did not “inherit” a great program and just continued that tradition, as you say. He inherited a “good” program that had not won a championship in the previous 6 years before he took over. CBB won 3 titles in his 7 years as HC. Those titles came in his last 3 years. Those titles came after a 10 year drought of B1G titles at Wisconsin.
I’m as upset with the loss to MO to end this season as anyone on the board. However, I get tired of people posting that CBB just continued the “championship winning ways” of the Wisconsin program. He brought B1G championships back to Wisconsin, to the tune of 3 in a row.
Oh, and Paul Chryst, who was CBB’s OC for 6 years, is doing a really good job at Wisconsin these last 2 years.
I’m well aware that he made the team better, but he didn’t get a bad team handed to him. To call those recruiting classes poor is something to question because some very good players came from them. So that is not the truth, he had his best season his first season with a full Alvarez team, then declined and regained ground later in his time. But he most certainly inherited a good team with talent, the sophomore class he had his first year was a very talented one. Once again it was at a time the big 10 was struggling, the conference is much more competitive now and they are still in the championship game without him. It’s the weak division of the big 10 that helps propel Wisconsin to a championship game.
Big Ten did not have divisions when BB entered the league. That didn’t happen until 2011 – after they beat #1 Ohio State, won the conference in 2010 and went to the Rose Bowl. (That’s the same OSU team that beat us in Sugar). But if ignorance makes you feel better, far be it from me to dispel it. Yes, he inherited a good program from Barry Alvarez, but he made it better, not worse.
One more try. CBB’s worst years at Wisconsin were when he had 3 and then 2 classes of Barry’s recruits. And, don’t forget, Barry had not won a Big 10 title in his last 6 years as the HC.
You keep talking about CBB winning in the weakest division of the B1G. That is not true, as his first B1G title (2010) was before the divisions. His last 2 titles were when Ohio St was in his division. Beginning in 2014, CBB’s 2nd year at Arkansas, the B1G redid the divisions they have now. So, yes, Wisconsin is now in the weakest division, however that was not the division split that CBB won in. If you cannot see, after all these facts, that CBB did a terrific job (much better than his predecessor) during his 7 years at Wisconsin, then it must be that your bias is blocking your view.
Ok then that’s my mistake, doesn’t take away that it was still a week big 10. And that’s fine to consider it ignorance, it’s ignorant to call a head coach a a big time head coach when he’s not. He is a coach that isn’t elite at any aspect of coaching. He isn’t an elite recruiter, he’s not an elite defensive mind clearly, he’s not done a bad job at Arkansas but he has not shown to be a ‘big time’ head coach. He’s won titles sure, he had a good tenure at Wisconsin, but he has yet to prove he can compete in the SEC. I’d highly guess that with the team he is returning next season he won’t prove that next year either. So while you can be mad or claim ignorance, it’s pure blind optimism to sit there and say he is a big time coach when he has not proven it in the most important phase of his career. He showed that he can’t even make adjustments week to week and had two of the most embarrassing losses I’ve seen in 20 years. I’m a hog fan always have been and always will be, but I’m not a blindly optimistic fan like most.
