Bert is up to #2 on the hotseat. Butch is #1 and unlikely to be passed. Arkansas, always the bridesmaid alas 2. Bret Bielema, Arkansas – With the loss to Auburn on Saturday Bret Bielema’s record in SEC play in his FIFTH year on the job is now at… 10 – 26 ….which is a winning percentage of….278…and the previous two head coaches at Arkansas Houston Nutt and Bobby Petrino posted a combined winning percentage in SEC Conference play of….527 Considering the above there is a very good argument that could be made that Bret Bielema is the… WORST HIRE …in the SEC Conference since the end of World War II which would mean Arkansas AD Jeff Long has hired as the head coach of the Razorbacks: Bobby Petrino – Wouldn’t hire to wash our cars! John L. Smith – Only an insane person would hire John L. Smith! Bret Bielema – The WORST hire in SEC since end of World War II! Now at 2 – 5 on the season Arkansas still has to play this season games against… At Ole Miss Coastal Carolina At LSU Mississippi State Missouri …and there is a very real chance that the Hogs finish with just THREE wins in Bret Bielema’s FIFTH year on the job in Fayetteville! Got fire the whole Damn Arkansas athletic department? You do if you don’t want Arkansas Football Totally Destroyed!
bertwing you posting at hogville instead of here? Quote from: Matt Burks on Today at 01:41:06 am I've been researching his story and the more I read the more I'm thoroughly impressed. His passionate love for the game, his drive to success and his family support is very impressive. I was slow to research him in the beginning, but the more wins he racked up my interest went up. That Houston game finally made me do that research. Now I'm very hopeful he'll end up in Fayetteville. I agree. I started doing some research after the south carolina game (yes i still had faith until that point) and a buddy of mine knows Geoff Calkins the sportswriter for the Memphis Appeal. According to him, norvell was going to be a big name, even before the last few big wins, and schools like ole miss and possibly tennessee. He said then that arkansas was norvells dream job and he really hoped the arkansas job didnt open up bc he knew norvell would not only want the job, he would fight for it. After hearing this i was intrigued. Ive watched every memphis game since and all of his pressers. He is a passionate guy and someone that will excite and unify our fan base. I could be wrong. He could fail miserably, but that could happen with anyone. There are no guarantees outside of lord saban and even he has failed in the past. I really think its going to be the perfect storm and we will land this guy. I also think the excitement of fast paced, high scoring offense is just what we need. WPS
Text didn't post for some reason. It was speculation thats been popping up that Bret may replace Snyder at KState
What in the world makes them think he would be successful there? I don't get it. I understand its a much easier conference to win, but I just don't get it.
I don't see them hiring him either. He has struggled to recruit here. They can see that. It isn't any easier to recruit the type of kids he wants to KState. Bret's problem is he just can't find and keep good assistant coaches. Losing Pittman was probably more devastating to him than any player lost since he's been here. His OLs have gone downhill since he left. His inability to find a good DC has killed us too. We've had competent but not great defenses at Arkansas for most of the last 20-25 years. There are flashes of greatness but never the full package. I actually like Enos and the offense he runs. However, if your OL can't sustain blocks, it doesn't matter what offense you run. Anderson has to go for sure if Bret sticks around another year. Can Rhodes while you're at it too. He's just not getting it done and I don't think anyone actually expected him too outside of Bret. The injuries have killed us this year too. I mean with everything going on you would think they would get some good luck at some point. Losing Ragnow is just the latest blow. While Kelley might make a good QB, no brand new QB is going to excel thrown in against a team like Bama. It was nice to see a good 2nd half on Saturday though. That is something we've not done in a long time. For the record, I only have us losing one game I thought we would win going into this season (South Carolina). I thought A&M would be a shoot-out again. I didn't give us much of a chance against Bama or Auburn. Looking back, the TCU game doesn't look like that bad of a loss now even though people were screaming at the time. If we pull off an upset at LSU, then we will be either 7-5 or 6-6 on the season. I think considering everything that has happened that is a decent season. Basically, we produce the same result as last year. If they replace him though, I'm good with that too. They need to find someone that can recruit and will hire someone that can put a competent defense on the field. I've never believed the theory that we can outscore folks in the SEC. We might do that against the bottom half of the SEC but the top half we will lose more than we win.
i think if Bret wins 5 he stays but he fires Anderson and probably 2-3 on the defensive side of the ball. i knew rhodes was going to be terrible. he was on the staff last year of the worst defense i've ever seen. not sure why anyone thought promoting him was going to fix anything.
Just to show you how bad we are on defense. This is all of the SEC, plus our 2 OOC games (that are IA teams), and Louisville (since so many want to talk about Petrino still). This is sorted by Yards per game given up by the defense with their NCAA rank. Now, I don't expect us to ever have an Alabama level defense at Arkansas but this is just pathetic. You got to have at least a middle of the pack defense to at least have a shot at anything other than being the best of the bottom.
There's no way Bret comes back unless we get to a bowl game, and possibly only if we win it. There's too much momentum against him and ticket sales for next year are in a terrible spot. Long may not want to fire him but the economics of the situation will compel him too. We'll win Saturday and probably lose our next two and that'll be that, mizzou won't matter.
Not saying they don't fire him but I think firing him this year without cause puts us in more of a financial bind then anything can from the fans or ticket sales. Paying that buyout is going to hurt and we shouldn't forget that it will directly affect our ability to get the next coach. Frankly, as much as I love the hogs and will cheer for them until the day I die, I don't see why anyone would want to be our head coach. Our fanbase is insane and the expectations are unmeetable by anyone outside of Nick Saban or his clone.
5.9 million is not much for this administration. And MIke Norvell is just one name who would come. We may have had a rough six years but we're still an SEC school with a lot of money and an obvious willingness to give a coach a chance to build his program. Sure if we target a guy that a bigger school wants, we're probably not going to get him, but in and of itself we won't have trouble landing a coach. As much of a poor hire Bielema turned out to be, it was still a Power 5 coach making a jump to our dumpster fire in 2012 despite having pretty solid job security at Wisky.
5.9 million is still a lot of money. I mean let's not get crazy here. That will have an effect and its effect is much larger than any loss of ticket sales they might incur. Ticket sales could be down at the beginning of the season and if Bret is back and starts winning that stadium will fill up. Next years tickets sales represent a possible loss. $5.9 million for a buy out is an immediate loss until he regains employment as a head coach. Sure we can go out and get an up and comer and Norvell is certainly an intriguing possibility. However, our fanbase is in fact insane. Unless you're Nick Saban, you're going to have progressions and regressions, especially when you factor in our in-state recruiting classes have far more bad years than really good years. I saw more 9-10 win predictions for this year than 6-7 win predictions. 9-10 wins was never a reasonable prediction for this season especially after we lost Rawleigh Williams. However, yearly 9-12 win predictions are way more common throughout the vocal side of our fanbase.
Whether or not Long believes that is possible will determine Bret's fate. I think if he was going to start winning he'd have done it this year. It's not unreasonable to expect seven or eight wins this year but obviously that's not going to happen. He seems to have completely lost his team and were it not for the fact that Ole Miss is DOA this year, it's hard to see any obvious winnable games on our schedule (among power 5 teams at least). I think you're right that our fanbase can have unreasonable expectations. A lot of that is due to Petrino's final two years where he had us among the best. I'd be happy with 8-9 wins a year, occasionally dipping to 6 or 7 in down years and rising to 10 or 11 in up years. Is that unreasonable? Petrino did it in one four-year cycle. I think if we hire another offensive minded coach, we can do it again. Bret just doesn't have a philosophy. He was supposed to be a CEO type coach but his staff is terrible and he seems to have no feel for managing a team on game day or any other day. I wanted him to be successful and I really thought we had turned the corner during that stretch from the end of 2015 to the beginning of 2016 (I think we were like 11-3 or so) but he's failed and proven he's failed. That doesn't mean someone else won't succeed.
blaming the fans unrealistic expectations on petrino doing good is hilarious. that's the fans fault for not being able to accept reality.
reality is 11-26 in conference is unacceptable. losing to toledo in year three is unacceptable. losing to auburn 108-23 in a two year stretch is unacceptable. i know you worked for him and like him, but he deserves to lose his job.
I don't disagree. I do think he could win there with some changes, but I imagine it's coming. But that doesn't change the accuracy of my post in saying that a large majority of the fanbase has larger expectations than are realistic, and that's their doing.
I think whether or not Long thinks he can pay the buyout and score a coach that can win is really what decides his fate this year. I think if he keeps him one more year, you're right for next season. The problem with looking at Petrino's last two years is two fold. (1) 2011 we were good but the SEC was terrible. It was extremely top heavy and the two best teams we played against that season made us look like a damn high school team. (2) In 2012, even Petrino was going to take a step backward. Not as bad as grandpaw John did but we weren't going to win 11 games that year either. 2010 along with 2006 are probably the best teams in the last 30 years at Arkansas. Both are anchored by extremely good in-state recruiting classes. I go back and forth on which of those teams was better. I think 2006 was better defensively but not by much. As far as this season, I didn't see us better than an 8 win team. With injuries, starting a new base defense and having more SO and below playing than JR and above pointed to a poor season. Add on, Alabama, TCU, Auburn and even Mississippi State improved this year, it isn't surprising. If we played in the Big 12, I would probably agree with you. The SEC continues to improve. They might not win the title every year but they're still consistently improving as a conference most years. Like all, they have regression years as well. I think we should be at least a 6 win team every year. The ability to win 10 games is usually directly related to how good of an in-state recruiting class we can pull. I don't think Bret's offense can't work in Arkansas. However, he has to have an offensive line that is worth a shit and it is clear that the last two years the OL has seriously regressed. He also needs at least some level of a competent defense. I mean we're giving up almost 50% of opponent 3rd down conversions this year. I don't give a shit what offense you run. You're not winning games when you let your opponent stay on offense. So, I'm not opposed to an offensive guy but if it is a video game offensive guy that thinks we're going to be able to outscore everyone, then I would rather pass.
hmm maybe; everyone seemed pretty happy with the 7-6 year beating texas in a bowl game. unfortunately, it looks like hiring kurt anderson was the beginning of the end for bielema in fayetteville. hiring assistant to the assistant nfl coaches is a dumb move imo.
The irony was everyone in the fanbase wanted Chaney gone as the OC. The forgot to realize that if he left, he was probably taking Pittman with him. Now look, they both coach on the #2 team in the country. There is lots of blame to go around for this one.
Bills had one of the best OL's in football. Anderson was given a lot of credit by the OL there in Buffalo for improving techniques and their success. Apparently Anderson and Enos don't mesh well, which is on Bielema... but I can see the the draw to Anderson from a teaching standpoint, something that Pittman lacked. Anderson is an abysmal recruiter though, and the college game isn't for him. Bielemas staple has always been in the trenches, and for the most part we've been pretty terrible there outside of that 7-6 season when we had one of the better defenses in the nation. I like Bielema a lot as a person, but not as a coach. I hope he bounces back somewhere and has a nice career. I think it's just so hard to win at Arkansas right now, and he's not the right guy for the job.
FTR Pittman was here for one year after Chaney was sent packing to Pitt Those fatties were plotting their reunion though and it showed in Pittmans recruiting that final year here.
I'm not going to get bent out of shape about it. We'll know if Bret is back by Thanksgiving. No sense sweating it till then.
Yeah, I don't care if he comes back. He's made several poor staffing positions which he bears 100% of the responsibility for. That being said, I think firing him is going to set us back regardless of who we get. Someone that can recruit and understands the importance of both sides of the ball is who I want to come in. Frankly, we haven't had a coach like that since we've been in the SEC. Either way, I'm happier to win a game 10-3 than I am to win one 50-48. If you're good enough to do the first one against good teams, you're way more likely to do that more often than you are to win 50-48 each time.
You are emotionally invested and so I take your posts with a grain of salt. But you have lost your fucking mind if you think a quality coach can't win consistently here and the fan expectations are unreal. Fans having unreal expectations? What is too large? Expecting to beat Toledo? Not giving up 450 yards to Auburn last year? Not having a losing record in the SEC? Are the fans crazy for thinking we should be able to beat A&M once in a fucking decade? Hell we gave this sack of shit 5 years. Florida fired their dead weight in 3. We should have done the same. But no, you look at this like most national people. Poor little Arkansas, they don't deserve to be in the conversations about top teams. They are lil ole Arkansas. Fuck that.... I look at what Peterson has done at Washington, obviously a historical powerhouse right? I look at what Leach has started building at Washington State, I mean that's a perennial top 25 team with any coach right? I mean Cliff has shown how easy it is to win at Texas Tech. The lists go on and on, Memphis is fucking winning, same with UCF. But of course those fans are deservedly expecting a winner to coach there right? I am trying to be polite to you as I like you as a poster, but don't ever fucking tell me my expectations for this football team are too high by being upset about the shit we have seen on the field for the last 12 months. If you think this BULLSHIT is acceptable, then you have lost your fucking mind,
In my opinion the fans were happy because we saw forward progress. We saw the team learning and developing. Since last year that has been non existent. We haven't gotten better. We have gotten worse. Which I guess should be our expectation according to Ned. Fucking ridiculous.
Not to completely change the subject but does anyone remember why Kareem Hunt didn't play against us in 2015 when Toledo won? I was looking back trying to see what his stats were that day and he didn't play apparently. Considering what he's doing to just about every NFL team he plays against this year, they might have beat us by 100 if he played that day.
I know you think all the Razorback fans are knuckle dragging mouth breathers who don't know shit about football and have these unreal expectations. But seriously, no bullshit, please answer me this. If Petrino showed he could do it (fairly quickly) while being dog shit at recruiting, then why can't anyone else? Is it just because Petrino was a fluke? Was it a figment of my imagination? I mean if Petrino did it, then it leads me to believe that it is actually possible by hiring a coach who isn't Bert, HDN, or JLS. Please explain this to me since I am such a ignorant Arkansas fan as you describe.
Bertwing, I disagree so much with this post. This may be the shittiest the SEC has ever been. They are talking about a possible 6 coaches getting fired. Its Bama and Georgia, and then everyone else. There has NEVER been a time where it would be easier to be one of the top teams in the SEC. LSU is being coached by a moron, Auburn is not their normal self, A&M is playing a backup backup QB, Mizzo is dogshit, Ole Miss is gargage, and Miss State is Miss State. If we had a competent coach who had been making forward progress since the Texas bowl game, we would have a chance to try and beat Bama and if not, we would be looking at second or third in the SEC right now. Sorry man, but I just can't accept that as shitty as the SEC is it is harder to win than when the SEC West had 3 teams in the top 5.
I don't know why you're getting bothered about all of this THF. Obviously it can be done. But Petrino pulling off what he did, in a far less difficult SEC, should be viewed as a unicorn seasons rather than what the regularity should be at Arkansas. He also got blessed with damn good in state talent. Which is also more of a unicorn. Also, for all the good Petrino did in the W-L columns, he destroyed a lot of other things at the university off the field, I know most don't care about that, but it matters. With how football has moved in the last few years, the hill for Arkansas to climb to be a routinely 8+ win team is going to be damn hard to do. In state talent sucks. And the bordering states talent get dominated by programs that are bigger than UA. Obviously it can be done, but consistently winning 8+ is going to be very very hard to do at UA, it's just how it is. To me, the realistic setup for Arkansas is win 6-7 most years with occasional 8-10 win seasons when everything lines up right.
It bothers me when people make the assertion that expecting to be able to compete in the SEC is idiotic or ignorant. I agree that this state suffers a large number of fans who are simply dumbasses, just take a few moments to look through Hogville to confirm that. However to call those who look for better performances from their coaching staff, as idiots or morons simply because of their expectations is what bothers me the most. To say because I don't settle for mediocre, makes me an idiot, offends me to be blunt. Fuck Bert was able to manage 7-8 wins a year and we have seen he isn't a quality coach/recruiter. To say that replacing him would lead to a consistently WORSE record, is patently dumb. Yes, saying we should be happy with 6-7 wins is a worse record than what Bert provided with decent assistants and talent. I obviously am extremely competitive in nature as I work in a field where being competitive helps me advance. I also believe my intelligence is a small step above the mouth breather you seem to equate me to, in your statements about how dumb the fans with higher expectations are. This school was a power house in the 60s and 70s. Just because we have gotten away from that does not mean it isn't possible. To say so is ignorant in my opinion. I don't think it will be easy to hire a coach who can consistently compete, but again, its not impossible. There are so many examples of how hiring the "RIGHT" coach can change things for the better. I thought that was going to happen with Bert. I admit I was wrong. But that doesn't mean its not possible.
You'll just fake a bunch of injuries, get a bunch of unnecessary $30k injections, and sue me for all my WM money
THF you know I love you brother but what Petrino did was helped by a ton of factors that lined up at the right time. He had a down SEC, especially in 2011, and was helped by both Mallett's transfer and getting one of the best-recruiting hauls out of Arkansas in a two year period in my lifetime. We both know that doesn't happen every year. My problem with our fanbase is they don't seem to get that there will be ebbs and flows and not Bama level ebbs and flows. We will have years where we just suck. We will also have years where we're spectacular. I don't buy into the "poor little Arkansas" line but I also recognize that sometimes you just got to be a little lucky. Petrino got lucky and we benefitted from it. He was due for a setback in 2012. He would have won more games than grandpa but he wouldn't have won 10/11. We can fire Bret and put almost anyone in and they will be bound by the issues of coaching in the SEC West as any other coach. While there might be a ton of coaching changes in the SEC, there is likely only going to be 1 or 2 (depending on us) in the SEC West. The West has stayed relatively strong despite the woes of the East. So, yes we can do big things but we have to reasonable and understand we're not fighting on the same playing field.