Razorback Football

[Feral]

So TCU got the shit beaten out of them yesterday 41-3 by a not-that-great Kansas State. It's conceivable that Pittman and Briles both fucked themselves with their split.

Briles walked into a situation where there was quite literally nowhere to go but down, and into a fan base that already hated him from his Baylor days and was going to quickly end the honeymoon at the first sign of any struggles (which happened in week 1 against Colorado). He could've stayed here, probably schemed around KJ's deficiencies and rode him to a 7 or 8 win season, and parlayed that into a G5 job. Maybe he could've made a play for a HCIW tag if things went south for Pittman.

Similarly, as has been discussed on here ad nauseum, Pittman made the laziest backfill hire possible in Enos and forced an unfamiliar system on players who weren't recruited or suited for it instead of opting for system continuity and either trying to retain Briles or hiring a coach running a similar offense. Also, in terms of political optics, in changing both coordinators Pittman inadvertently drew all the fan ire and blame on himself for any issues, whereas the optics might've been different if Briles were still here (and potentially the one to shoulder the blame for the offensive struggles).

As someone else posted yesterday, maybe Briles saw the writing on the wall with Pittman and his deficiencies and that's why he was lifting his skirt to any and all suitors after last year.

[HogOfWar]

We could always go the Notre Dame route when Brian Kelly bailed, and promote the DC to interim HC.  We're not going to look good if we let go of Sam with games left on the schedule; after all, he beat TEXAS and that's what you have to do according to the old people. 

I had this discussion with my dad on the way home from the game and who is the really pulling the purse strings in the AD.

I said that the old people and possibly those pulling the purse strings have never embraced the SEC football culture. All they cared about and love talking about were the games against Texass in the SWC.

It was once said that Arkansas has never had a true rival in the SEC. There is some truth to that.Tennessee and LSU were about the closest in my mind. Those have been taken away.

I kind of hope that with Texas coming in that the old people will be happy and make changes or let changes happen to make use better, now that we are playing Texas on a regular basis and don't want to see us beaten by them.

Too bad Petrino never got to play Texas after the 2008 beating we got. If he had won, He never would have been fired.

Nutt, Bielema, Pittman, have been given passes because they beat Texass.

[Feral]

I had this discussion with my dad on the way home from the game and who is the really pulling the purse strings in the AD.

I said that the old people and possibly those pulling the purse strings have never embraced the SEC football culture. All they cared about and love talking about were the games against Texass in the SWC.

You're right.

People talk about cultural fit like it's all about accents, geography, and sociopolitical dynamics and all of that, but a good part of 'conference culture' is dedication to winning and doing what it takes. We don't have that in the least.

[Show-Me Hog]

Too bad Petrino never got to play Texas after the 2008 beating we got. If he had won, He never would have been fired.

HE may have even been deified.

[BleedinRed]

Jesus Christ, Lord Almighty.  Take the wheel!

We left the fucking SWC almost 35 years ago. 

There are no old people controlling the purse strings, number one, and even if they are they are not in sufficient quantities as to affect hiring and firing decisions. 

We suck because we have hired shitty coaches.  Period. 

[buff2.0]

Oughta have another thread titled "The shitty media covering the Razorbacks"

Anyway, here's Adam Ford slapping down Ferret Top

https://x.com/AdamFord92/status/1715896644435128392?s=20

[Show-Me Hog]

Well I agree with Mike on that one. The OL, RBs, and receivers all get multiple guys rotating trying to find something that works, but QB is so special and unique we can't do it there? "The offense has multiple problems" is an argument in FAVOR of rotation, not against it.

[DirkPiggler]

Jesus Christ, Lord Almighty.  Take the wheel!

We left the fucking SWC almost 35 years ago. 

There are no old people controlling the purse strings, number one, and even if they are they are not in sufficient quantities as to affect hiring and firing decisions. 

You could not be more wrong about this. 

The average age of the big donors who make sure their voices are heard is probably 75.

I mean, as recently as the Morris hiring we know with 100% certainty that a group of boosters orchestrated a plan to A) fire Long, B) fire Bielema, after which they (not the interim AD) hired the worst coach in power five history when C) bring Gus home fell through.    Why would you think those same guys all of a sudden lost interest and decided to let the administrators they hired do their jobs?

Whether or not they overvalue beating Texas, I don't know.  But you cannot argue against the fact that their paw prints are all over the shitshow we witness on a weekly basis.  Even if they are letting Hunter run things without their input now, which is highly unlikely, the fact that we couldn't hire someone better than Pittman is due in large part to their choice of Morris last time.

[Cornhogio]

So TCU got the shit beaten out of them yesterday 41-3 by a not-that-great Kansas State. It's conceivable that Pittman and Briles both fucked themselves with their split.

Briles walked into a situation where there was quite literally nowhere to go but down, and into a fan base that already hated him from his Baylor days and was going to quickly end the honeymoon at the first sign of any struggles (which happened in week 1 against Colorado). He could've stayed here, probably schemed around KJ's deficiencies and rode him to a 7 or 8 win season, and parlayed that into a G5 job. Maybe he could've made a play for a HCIW tag if things went south for Pittman.

Similarly, as has been discussed on here ad nauseum, Pittman made the laziest backfill hire possible in Enos and forced an unfamiliar system on players who weren't recruited or suited for it instead of opting for system continuity and either trying to retain Briles or hiring a coach running a similar offense. Also, in terms of political optics, in changing both coordinators Pittman inadvertently drew all the fan ire and blame on himself for any issues, whereas the optics might've been different if Briles were still here (and potentially the one to shoulder the blame for the offensive struggles).

As someone else posted yesterday, maybe Briles saw the writing on the wall with Pittman and his deficiencies and that's why he was lifting his skirt to any and all suitors after last year.

Same issues at TCU and Arkansas in that both are changing offenses.  First year is bumpy.  But with Arkansas, Enos is a proven shitshow that should never have landed at an SEC school.  He is the guy with the dunce hat at what looks to be the dunce school in the SEC right now.

[The Whyte Boar]

Same issues at TCU and Arkansas in that both are changing offenses.  First year is bumpy.  But with Arkansas, Enos is a proven shitshow that should never have landed at an SEC school.  He is the guy with the dunce hat at what looks to be the dunce school in the SEC right now.

Biggest difference is that Dykes was coming off a year where they played for a national championship.  He has some rope and if it takes a year to get it in place, he can hold off the pitchforks and torches.  Pittman was coming off a disappointing year in the toughest conference in the country.

[Show-Me Hog]

Someone said "Vickery is killing it this morning" so I found The Buzz online and have been listening.

In general he's on point. One thing he has said repeatedly is something I have said repeatedly so it makes me think he's smart: "Sam's going to get next year."

THIS is his free pass down year, not last year. He's going to get next year. Y'all need to accept that.

[Feral]

THIS is his free pass down year, not last year. He's going to get next year. Y'all need to accept that.

Meh, we hear "[coach X on the hot seat] is getting next year" all the time.

We heard it with Bielema in 2017 until later in the season after Long got fired. 

We heard it with Morris in 2019 until the WKU game.

And now we're hearing it with Pittman despite the depths of dipshittery we've sunk to.

Of course, our forte as a football program is to always make the wrong decision about quite literally everything, so the most Arkansas thing ever would be to give Sam a lame duck year undeservedly and instead of competing against no one in the coaching market this year we opt to delay the inevitable and compete against half the goddamn conference to fill our vacancy next year and wind up with yet another D-list candidate.

Yurachek has a ton of good will built up with our fan base due to success in other sports. If he opts to give Sam 2024 and the above inevitably happens, then he might find himself public enemy #1. At a certain point, people stop blaming the guy fucking up and start blaming the guy who hired the guy fucking up, similar to how the eye of Sauron has shifted now from Enos to Pittman.

[Show-Me Hog]

Meh, we hear "[coach X on the hot seat] is getting next year" all the time.

We heard it with Bielema in 2017 until later in the season after Long got fired. 

We heard it with Morris in 2019 until the WKU game.

And now we're hearing it with Pittman despite the depths of dipshittery we've sunk to.

Of course, our forte as a football program is to always make the wrong decision about quite literally everything, so the most Arkansas thing ever would be to give Sam a lame duck year undeservedly and instead of competing against no one in the coaching market this year we opt to delay the inevitable and compete against half the goddamn conference to fill our vacancy next year and wind up with yet another D-list candidate.

Yurachek has a ton of good will built up with our fan base due to success in other sports. If he opts to give Sam 2024 and the above inevitably happens, then he might find himself public enemy #1. At a certain point, people stop blaming the guy fucking up and start blaming the guy who hired the guy fucking up, similar to how the eye of Sauron has shifted now from Enos to Pittman.

No we didn't. (Bielema and Morris).  Especially Chad. Hell, everyone and my dead grandmother knew he was gone.

[The Whyte Boar]

I don't really need to accept anything.  I mean HY can make that decision and accept the fact of a stadium with fewer than 55k people in it for most games.

I'm sure we'll wait to pull the trigger and go ahead and pull it next year when Mississippi State, Florida, Texas A&M and who knows else are looking for coaches at the same time. 

Oh, and the idea that this was a free pass year is just stupid.  We had a record setting senior QB and a running back some people were trying to compare to McFadden coming back.  None of these issues with the offense or the line were anticipated before the year.  If not now, when is he supposed to produce.

And by "produce" I'm not talking about an 11 win season.  I'm talking about an eight  or nine win "good by Arkansas standards" type season.  This ain't no free pass year, this is a fucking disaster that sets programs back half a decade.

[Feral]

I don't really need to accept anything.  I mean HY can make that decision and accept the fact of a stadium with fewer than 55k people in it for most games.

I'm sure we'll wait to pull the trigger and go ahead and pull it next year when Mississippi State, Florida, Texas A&M and who knows else are looking for coaches at the same time. 

That's my fear. In 2019 we found ourselves competing against Mizzou, State, and Ole Miss in terms of open jobs in the conference.

There's a very real chance there could only be one school looking for a new coach this off-season.

Given the choice, I'd rather be the only one at the fishing hole. Less of a chance to get Sexton'd.

[Hogfan58]

Someone said "Vickery is killing it this morning" so I found The Buzz online and have been listening.

In general he's on point. One thing he has said repeatedly is something I have said repeatedly so it makes me think he's smart: "Sam's going to get next year."

THIS is his free pass down year, not last year. He's going to get next year. Y'all need to accept that.

Why, is next year going to be better? KJ is gone and I guess our OL has to be better because it can't be worse. But looking at our schedule, who are we beating in the SEC? Are we beating Okie St in Stillwater? So I see 3 wins...3. Why wait, might as well fire him now. 

[Show-Me Hog]

I don't really need to accept anything.

Oh, and the idea that this was a free pass year is just stupid.

Jesus. How dumb are you? It's a free pass year NOW that it's a disaster. It wasn't a free pass year before the season began. But it's a completely fucked up year, so you just have to forget it and move on, that's why it's called a free pass.

Sam's going to get another year because he has chits on his side of the ledger that Chad had zero of, and Bielema didn't have all of them.

1) program resurrector after the death penalty of Chad

2) long track record of being "the best in the business" at an important fundamental aspect of football, even if we're a disaster in that aspect this year

3) goodwill built up from a very successful year, and a moderately successful year. That doesn't dissipate with administration as quickly as it does with fans

4) a good old boy who loves the Razorbacks and grew up just down the road and wanted the job

5) probably on the whole a good guy without Petrino-like personality conflicts

2024, these are your Sam Pittman-led Arkansas Razorbacks

[animal]

To comment on the Halloween candy I purchased (for the kids) I have discovered that the Kit Kat "witches brew" tastes like if Lucky Charms made tampons.

Anyway that's all I got.

[The Whyte Boar]

Jesus. How dumb are you? It's a free pass year NOW that it's a disaster. It wasn't a free pass year before the season began. But it's a completely fucked up year, so you just have to forget it and move on, that's why it's called a free pass.

Sam's going to get another year because he has chits on his side of the ledger that Chad had zero of, and Bielema didn't have all of them.

1) program resurrector after the death penalty of Chad

2) long track record of being "the best in the business" at an important fundamental aspect of football, even if we're a disaster in that aspect this year

3) goodwill built up from a very successful year, and a moderately successful year. That doesn't dissipate with administration as quickly as it does with fans

4) a good old boy who loves the Razorbacks and grew up just down the road and wanted the job

5) probably on the whole a good guy without Petrino-like personality conflicts

2024, these are your Sam Pittman-led Arkansas Razorbacks

Yeah, that's just dumber than shit.  A "free pass" is given when you realize a coach or an employee is dealing with real deficits that aren't his fault.  It is not given when he drastically underperforms to an extent that he has quite possibly permanently damaged the program or company. 

The question for you or any other idiot touting a free pass, is what quantifiable and objective reasons can you articulate that cause you to think next year will be better?

[The Whyte Boar]

nm