I borrowed this from Hogworth Ballington III (his comment is below). I started a new thread so it wouldn't get lost in the "Razorback football" thread.
This is an interesting idea that I would like some conversation around. Assuming nothing changes throughout this season and we don't see vast improvement, who would you like to see hired that could do this? I think there is a limited number of folks who would fit this bill. I'm pretty sure Saban is still employed by Alabama so he is probably off the table. Plus, if he's still an "Alabama guy," he probably wouldn't want to come help Arkansas compete with Alabama.
But, who are the former coaches around the country that are still in position to be able to do this? Who is still in touch enough with today's college football (or pro football with NIL making college so much closer to the pros now) to be able to help?
Hogworth Ballington III's comment -
"They need to hire a consultant team of former ceo type coaches like Saban to just tear through the program and identify any and all issues they find."
Quote from: arreferee on Sep 17, 2026, 09:25 AMHogworth Ballington III's comment -
"They need to hire a consultant team of former ceo type coaches like Saban to just tear through the program and identify any and all issues they find."
I'll do it for free.
We need more money committed to NIL. No one will commit to NIL because we have a shitty product. Vicious cycle. Yurachek said it, not in the correct manor though. Motion to adjourn.
Bob Stoops.
Quote from: buff2.0 on Sep 17, 2026, 09:42 AMBob Stoops.
In the "national championship coaches who aren't doing much else" category:
Steve Spurrier
Urban Meyer
I don't think Spurrier would actually be a good choice, he would just make smart ass comments.
Too bad Lou died earlier this year.
Gus may not be an awful choice here. Just keep him away from play calling/coaching.
Nick Saban.
He completely revamped everything to do with football in and out at his stops and we see what he created. Just turn him loose, and do whatever he says.
It's a problem that goes beyond a coaches perspective (NOW). You can bring in old guys as analysts but the reality is none of that address the real elephant in the room. We have some kind of systemic problem that seems revolve around money, the lack of it, the allocation of it, and talent gaps. In previous years it seems like we had the talent to win at least at a middle of the pack clip but just didn't have the organization in place to keep things tight. This new staff seems to have only made that worse.
To me this falls more so into the domain of a GM or high level front office role....A Bill Polian type (just tossing it out there not suggesting him necessarily). Stop thinking like a college and start thinking like a professional sports franchise. I think we can all agree on a couple things about HY....1. he's been ineffective and mostly it seems like any time there's credit to be given he's really not the one that made it happen even though he'll stand there taking the victory lap (Calipari). 2. The athletic director at the UA has no power to redistribute how the money is allocated...in truth HY has always been limited in what he can and can't do but gets all the blame when it doesn't go well. 3. Where the fuck is the money and who in the hell pays 25 million on this bunch of Daisy's
There's multiple ways this could have gone.
A...hire a head coach that has name recognition and has a skill set that's unique. That means a play caller type (Bobby P, Gus, Bill Walsh, Lane Kififn, Fredo Petrino)....somebody that has a skill set that translates well for this program. When we needed excitement and detail we got meh. I realize last hiring cycle there just wasn't a lot of names to be had. The obvious choice was to rehire Petrino and give him a 4 year commitment to right the ship. Tell him last season as interim wasn't his fault...the deal is it was kind of his fault. Those where his guys out there fumbling, throwing interceptions, committing penalties etc. Yes the defense sucked but if you really look at it...we lost a lot of those games because of the offense putting the ball on the ground and putting the defense in bad spots. In a perfect world where we had a long runway to carefully feel out candidates and gauge interest, vet coaches, do our homework etc....we went with the first guy that drop his panties and it's pretty obvious to anyone paying attention. That's straight up on the AD & BOT. Maybe there was interest in other choices but those other choices had better options which has long been the case with us. We fire coaches the same season half the SEC is firing coaches and then are left holding the bag of dicks.
B. They hired the shop teacher that also coaches football and hangs drywall on the weekends. That really got em wet. The surge of excitement this off season was so...absent. The horse is out of the barn on that one for a while...the next big part of this is somehow polishing that turd. Silverfiled did somehow manage to win at a decent clip at Memphis despite the last few Memphis coaches sucking at P4 jobs we hired his ass. I'm not so sure Justin Fuente wouldn't have been a better choice or Odom.
C. See A
Greg Nejmeh..:he would have a good ability to evaluate existing rosters, transfer-portal players and player valuations/NIL spending.
Quote from: buff2.0 on Sep 17, 2026, 09:42 AMBob Stoops.
I think he should be high on the list.
Quote from: Show-Me Hog on Sep 17, 2026, 09:46 AMIn the "national championship coaches who aren't doing much else" category:
Steve Spurrier
Urban Meyer
I don't think Spurrier would actually be a good choice, he would just make smart ass comments.
Too bad Lou died earlier this year.
Spurrier has always been hilarious! He's one of the rare coaches who worked less than others and won a lot more than others.
Meyer might be a good option. He's been out of coaching for quite a while, but I'm sure he would have some really good input.
Quote from: Barton Fink on Sep 17, 2026, 10:09 AMGus may not be an awful choice here. Just keep him away from play calling/coaching.
He's one I thought of that might be a good option. I know a lot on here don't like him, but he's been pretty successful and he's very recently out of coaching.
Quote from: SwahiliSteve on Sep 17, 2026, 11:29 AMGreg Nejmeh..:he would have a good ability to evaluate existing rosters, transfer-portal players and player valuations/NIL spending.
I'll have to look this guy up.
The question I have is who trumps who? Does a college GM trump what the coach wants?
Quote from: Barton Fink on Sep 17, 2026, 11:42 AMThe question I have is who trumps who? Does a college GM trump what the coach wants?
I think, if you hire a consultant to tell you how to improve the program, you have to do exactly what he says. Otherwise, there's no reason to hire a consultant.
There are probably some former players who could help us make better hiring decisions.
The problem with the ones who are still connected to the program is most of them became yes-men to whatever is happening at the current moment so they could maintain access and/or profit.
Quote from: buff2.0 on Sep 17, 2026, 09:42 AMBob Stoops.
I like it. Isn't Rawleigh Williams in sports biz management? He couldn't be any worse than what we have now as a GM based off the current roster.
Quote from: wmr on Sep 17, 2026, 12:57 PMThere are probably some former players who could help us make better hiring decisions.
They hired Pittman
Quote from: Loma on Sep 17, 2026, 03:08 PMThey hired Pittman
A former player forced Nutt on us
Quote from: arreferee on Sep 17, 2026, 11:38 AMMeyer might be a good option. He's been out of coaching for quite a while, but I'm sure he would have some really good input.
Meyer is a guy I'd hire to be my culture consultant to fumigate the loser mentality from our program.
There's a joke in there somewhere, but I'm being serious. The guy oozed confidence and swagger in his coaching days and his teams reflected it. He didn't give a shit what you thought, hated losing more than winning, and demanded excellence from his teams and coaches.
How's this for a stat - Pittman lost more games in his 5+ years here (34) than Meyer lost in
his entire coaching career (32).
Jimmy Johnson and Barry Switzer.
Should have hired Jimmy from Okie State.
They are both older than dust but know how to cheat. All of that is legal now. We need to do whatever it takes to get our program back on track. That is the only way we pull out of this tailspin. Hire some guns that will do whatever it takes.
Jimmy Johnson. Has ties to the school, but not sure if he LOVES it, which is fine with me because he wouldn't care who he pissed off. Understands the fan base, understands rebuilding a crap program from rock bottom. As long as he had the passion/fire for the job and the free reign, I'd be onboard.
Quote from: passed on Sep 17, 2026, 10:19 AMNick Saban.
He completely revamped everything to do with football in and out at his stops and we see what he created. Just turn him loose, and do whatever he says.
Nick quit because he hates the current state of the college game. None of these old guys are good; they have be leaning in to the modern biz. B
I feel like a lot of you are really hung up in the past...but the reality is a lot of the names being mentioned are old geezers.
Mike Gundy ran a pretty successful program up until the NIL era really took off....he's probably the guy if motivated to get back in would be an interesting choice as a "Team President/AD" if you want a Football AD. I feel like he was half burned out and half railroaded over politics at Ok State if i had to guess. Sounds like Cal sent a shot across the bow in support of HY but what he says behind closed doors may be different. I figure as long as Cal is in the loop and good with the hire it won't be a big deal.
You people are all fixated on old people and former coaches. No thanks. We need someone that is young and can come in and knows how to alayze film and tactical evaluations, good at networking and has the ability to navigate the NIL and use it to our benefit. None of these old rags can figure that out.
Michael Tomlin is available. There's no way he'd put up with college kids though.
Quote from: SwahiliSteve on Sep 18, 2026, 06:28 AMYou people are all fixated on old people and former coaches. No thanks. We need someone that is young and can come in and knows how to alayze film and tactical evaluations, good at networking and has the ability to navigate the NIL and use it to our benefit. None of these old rags can figure that out.
I think someone like that would rather coach than be in admin
hell, just turn the 4th & 5 guys loose on it
Mike Gundy? That's where we are at?
Quote from: BleedinRed on Sep 18, 2026, 08:30 AMMike Gundy? That's where we are at?
When you're at rock bottom everything looks like an improvement.
The OANN crowd here would love Gundy.
It wouldn't make a bit of difference as long as YuraSuck is still there. Whatever happens must start with that fucking loser getting the boot.
Apparently the answer to this question is President Jay Silveria is being tasked with doing a review of the program.
After a lengthy and exhaustive review I'm sure they'll end up firing HY. This is mostly about the politics and optics. I don't think the UA wanted another deal where the AD is tied to the hip of the football coach like what happened with HY/Chad.
Quote from: Natty_Ice on Sep 18, 2026, 08:27 AMhell, just turn the 4th & 5 guys loose on it
DJ would probably bring a lot of "I know it looks hard but that's how Coach P won here"... and then he'd be fired and no one would listen.
Quote from: Texzilla on Sep 17, 2026, 10:51 PMNick quit because he hates the current state of the college game. None of these old guys are good; they have be leaning in to the modern biz. B
This. You need an nfl guy that has experience with college kids. I really feel like this is a complete rebuild. Not just in the football offices and the AD. Shake up the BoT, the foundation, NIL collective (whatever the hell they're calling it now), and the marketing department. All of it. They need to kick out all the ppl that got their job because they were fresh out of college and cheap or because they knew/blew somebody important.
Quote from: Hogworth Ballington III on Sep 18, 2026, 06:31 PMThis. You need an nfl guy that has experience with college kids. I really feel like this is a complete rebuild. Not just in the football offices and the AD. Shake up the BoT, the foundation, NIL collective (whatever the hell they're calling it now), and the marketing department. All of it. They need to kick out all the ppl that got their job because they were fresh out of college and cheap or because they knew/blew somebody important.
Someone like this - https://soonersports.com/sports/football/roster/staff/jim-nagy/932
Who ran the senior bowl
Quote from: Boarat on Sep 18, 2026, 07:40 AMMichael Tomlin is available. There's no way he'd put up with college kids though.
Don't think he'd do it, but I'd make him turn down a helluva offer.
Quote from: Hogworth Ballington III on Sep 18, 2026, 06:31 PMThis. You need an nfl guy that has experience with college kids. I really feel like this is a complete rebuild. Not just in the football offices and the AD. Shake up the BoT, the foundation, NIL collective (whatever the hell they're calling it now), and the marketing department. All of it. They need to kick out all the ppl that got their job because they were fresh out of college and cheap or because they knew/blew somebody important.
Is there someone who is over all of that who could make the decision to blow it up and start over?
College football was better when players were being paid under the table.
Quote from: Son of Spam on Sep 19, 2026, 01:52 PMCollege football was better when players were being paid under the table.
The Save College Football act may just bring that back.
Margot Robbie.
Hell, name her head coach.
We'd still suck, but ticket sales would go through the roof.
This spring game is starting to get out of hand
Quote from: Thin Red Swine on Sep 19, 2026, 02:08 PMMargot Robbie.
Hell, name her head coach.
We'd still suck, but ticket sales would go through the roof.
Dude.
Sydney Sweeney knows sports and draws a crowd.
Quote from: Show-Me Hog on Sep 19, 2026, 02:17 PMDude.
Sydney Sweeney knows sports and draws a crowd.
Gross.
I'd opine jerry kill is a big reason for vandys turnaround.
Shirley we can pay bob stoops more than sonic
Quote from: DrMongoose on Sep 19, 2026, 05:31 PMShirley we can pay bob stoops more than sonic
Bob Stoops looks like he got paid in tots.
Doug McMillon.
Quote from: DirkPiggler on Sep 19, 2026, 08:04 PMDoug McMillon.
I've wondered if he would have an interest. He may make a decent AD as well in today's landscape.
Doug has got to be worth close to a Billion $'s, not sure why he'd do this.
I've honestly thought our first step should be to inquire with the Walmart folks. Let them know we're wanting to make a change and we value their input.
They've shown they want NWA to be an attractive place to live and have already invested insane amounts to accomplish that. What better way than to have a powerhouse sports program?
If he has interest, and obviously has in roads with the Waltons, he's worthy of a call. He spoke at Cal's camp last year and definitely has a vested interest in Razorback athletics.
Quote from: Texzilla on Sep 17, 2026, 10:51 PMNick quit because he hates the current state of the college game. None of these old guys are good; they have be leaning in to the modern biz. B
True. However, we weren't talking about a coach position or AD position. We were talking about a consultant to revamp our entire program from top to bottom. Who is better at building a football program in and out than Nick Saban? He may hate the state of college sports, but he could readily come in and find the problems and tell us how to fix them.
I think our biggest issue is necessarily NIL collection, or rich donors, etc. I think it's structural. It's the PTB and how the program itself is run and built. Fix those things, then get a competent AD and a football manager that know how to evaluate talent and handle money...
Saban has enough money to not give a shit and a plush job with ESPN. He ain't leaving that perch.
McMillon is a dorky suit and hasn't built anything. He can give money but stay out of any decision making.
What about someone in Kroenke's tribe? Dude has bought a ton of pro teams, and since we're a de facto pro team now, he could help us get ready for acquisition.
Didn't he marry a Walton?
My understanding was that's how Kroenke made his money. Buying up all the land around new Walmart stores and selling it at a huge markup.