The Elephant in the Room Part II

[The Whyte Boar]

pittman understands nil, you don't have to be young to know how that works.

a coach can only offer what's in the pot. the football program just doesn't have the support it needs when it comes to nil, despite all the big money people in arkansas like to brag about.

If can only offer what's in the pot, then he doesn't understand NIL.  One of the biggest responsibilities of head coaches going forward is to increase the size of the pot.  You do that by winning, creating excitement, AND actively campaigning for more NIL and calling out lack of support.  A coach is going to have to work the phones to buy players. 

[vegashog]

you act like all that isn't being done. he won 9 games and beat the team the big money guys love to beat two years ago and the nil money hardly got a bump.

our boosters are into facilities, buildings with their names on it. fair to criticize his coaching job but to say our lack of funding is all on the the hc is dumb.

[The Whyte Boar]

you act like all that isn't being done. he won 9 games and beat the team the big money guys love to beat two years ago and the nil money hardly got a bump.

our boosters are into facilities, buildings with their names on it. fair to criticize his coaching job but to say our lack of funding is all on the the hc is dumb.

If it were being done, there would be results.

[DirkPiggler]

you act like all that isn't being done. he won 9 games and beat the team the big money guys love to beat two years ago and the nil money hardly got a bump.

our boosters are into facilities, buildings with their names on it. fair to criticize his coaching job but to say our lack of funding is all on the the hc is dumb.

Lane Kiffin called out Ole Miss's NIL program as lagging behind the others last year.  Their big money people were embarrassed by it, and stepped up. 

Our boosters have always had this aversion to spending money without first seeing results.  Probably because many/most of the ones who care about sports inherited the bulk of their wealth versus having to take risks to get it.  They are usually willing to pony up for existing players who have produced (and have as long as I've been alive) or for coaches who have already won something.  They are loathe to put money out there for an unproven commodity, like a recruit or a coach who hasn't produced on the field.  That may be smart if you're managing an existing empire, but it's how you stay stuck in middle management/middle class hell if you aren't already a "have".

[Feral]

An offensive minded coach on the younger side with a willingness to embrace the NIL and hammer administration and boosters to get on board.

And I would rather hires a coordinator than an older coach on the downside of his career.  Look at someone like Lebby.

I generally loathe Kiffin and his shtick, but he's been hammering Ole Miss fans and boosters from day 1 about them needing to get serious about NIL. He basically used the Auburn job as leverage last year for them to get serious financially about funding a winner.

That's what we need. Not Kiffin, but a coach who's going to call our fans and boosters on their bullshit about being an unserious program.

Edit - damn, Dirk already made my point.

[DrMongoose]

we can argue NIL all day but let's be frank - coaching is still going to matter and that is our biggest problem right now because the offense and special teams are not good and the 2 weakest spots (o-line and kick returns) are coached by sam's guys.
Add to that the fact the 4th year head coach can't make a critical decision and doesn't want to take a timeout to think about it.

Yes NIL can get the players on campus, but they still need to be coached up.
We're not going to out recruit the majority of the SEC - we don't have the name or recruiting base - and we are not going to outspend many either, everyone in the SEC has money and great facilities and it's only going to get harder with OU and teasip coming into the SEC in football.

there is only so much NIL available per school - we also have basketball and baseball to consider.

really - it all cancels out (nil, facilites, blah blah) doesn't it and come down to coaching - evaluating and then coaching players. Muss and DVH prove this and that's why they win here on lowly Arkansas. Pittman is not one of those coaches.

if the SEC goes to 9 games we lose a non-conferce game and 7 win season (depending on the SEC schedule) could be hard to come by moving forward.

[Feral]

The problem with coaching contracts is that you are limited by what your competition is doing.

The collective of all schools' activities sets the market rate, and in 2023 the market rate is $8mm+ per year for at least 4 years.

That's the average for a new power 4 conference coach and will get you an average coach with average results.

We can day dream all day about the ideal contract and pie in the sky incentives and buyout clauses and those will get you an unproven  high school coach in 2023.

It is what it is. Either we say fuck it and continue as we have for the past 11 years, or we say fuck it and do what we have to do to bring in a top ten coach. There's not much in between.

All of this.

We can craft the ideal contract for us, but it's going to net another desperation reach hire like Pittman.

Billy Napier was coaching in the Sun Belt and got over $7 million per from Florida plus a huge increase in the football budget.

Like it or not, when it comes to contracts (especially for new hires), coaches and agents have ADs over a barrel and have for the better part of a decade.

[Feral]

we can argue NIL all day but let's be frank - coaching is still going to matter and that is our biggest problem right now because the offense and special teams are not good and the 2 weakest spots (o-line and kick returns) are coached by sam's guys.
Add to that the fact the 4th year head coach can't make a critical decision and doesn't want to take a timeout to think about it.

Yes NIL can get the players on campus, but they still need to be coached up.
We're not going to out recruit the majority of the SEC - we don't have the name or recruiting base - and we are not going to outspend many either, everyone in the SEC has money and great facilities and it's only going to get harder with OU and teasip coming into the SEC in football.

there is only so much NIL available per school - we also have basketball and baseball to consider.

really - it all cancels out (nil, facilites, blah blah) doesn't it and come down to coaching - evaluating and then coaching players. Muss and DVH prove this and that's why they win here on lowly Arkansas. Pittman is not one of those coaches.

if the SEC goes to 9 games we lose a non-conferce game and 7 win season (depending on the SEC schedule) could be hard to come by moving forward.

You're not wrong.

At a surface level, I'd put our talent level this year up against many SEC teams. The difference has been coaching, preparation, playing the wrong players (Rocket and DJ), inexplicably not playing good players (Ty Washington, Sategna, E'Marion Harris) which has been an issue throughout the Pittman era, and situational coaching and game management.

Pittman continues to fail at all the stuff you need to do to put players in a position to be successful.

[Trigger7672]

Pittman is a very bad head coach. I'm glad Enos is gone but the real problems won't be solved until Pittman is replaced. No one should take this program seriously until we hire a real coach.

[animal]

pittman understands nil, you don't have to be young to know how that works.

a coach can only offer what's in the pot. the football program just doesn't have the support it needs when it comes to nil, despite all the big money people in arkansas like to brag about.

I feel like this team was more than capable of winning SEC games this season with better game management, an offensive line, and a better OC...you could probably overcome two of those issues with a working offensive line. Having all three in serious doubt was a death blow to the team. We can blame that on NIL money...certainly hard to compete when other programs have their entire O Lines paid very well even if they don't play. Defensively this season I think it's safe to say we are as talented there as we've been in 20 years. Sadly it's going to go down as wasted.

I don't follow the NIL thing very closely and just wonder if fans are attributing us losing with our betters not opening their purse strings. We have to find something to blame it on so it must be the Waltons.

[Mazeppa Pompazoidi]

We need to recruit more ambulance chasers for NIL money.

[DirkPiggler]

we can argue NIL all day but let's be frank - coaching is still going to matter and that is our biggest problem right now because the offense and special teams are not good and the 2 weakest spots (o-line and kick returns) are coached by sam's guys.
Add to that the fact the 4th year head coach can't make a critical decision and doesn't want to take a timeout to think about it.

Yes NIL can get the players on campus, but they still need to be coached up.
We're not going to out recruit the majority of the SEC - we don't have the name or recruiting base - and we are not going to outspend many either, everyone in the SEC has money and great facilities and it's only going to get harder with OU and teasip coming into the SEC in football.

there is only so much NIL available per school - we also have basketball and baseball to consider.

really - it all cancels out (nil, facilites, blah blah) doesn't it and come down to coaching - evaluating and then coaching players. Muss and DVH prove this and that's why they win here on lowly Arkansas. Pittman is not one of those coaches.

if the SEC goes to 9 games we lose a non-conferce game and 7 win season (depending on the SEC schedule) could be hard to come by moving forward.

This is true.  If all the games this year had been decided on talent alone we would be probably 5-3 now.  We have equal or better talent than BYU, Ole Miss, and Miss State among teams we've played, and Florida, Auburn, and Missouri among the remaining games.  Head coaching has been the difference between 5-3 or better and 2-6. 

Despite what I said above, it's hard for a coach to bitch about NIL when he isn't coming close to maximizing the talent he already has on his roster.

[Texzilla]

This is true.  If all the games this year had been decided on talent alone we would be probably 5-3 now.  We have equal or better talent than BYU, Ole Miss, and Miss State among teams we've played, and Florida, Auburn, and Missouri among the remaining games.  Head coaching has been the difference between 5-3 or better and 2-6. 

Despite what I said above, it's hard for a coach to bitch about NIL when he isn't coming close to maximizing the talent he already has on his roster.

Correct.  We have to separate the now from the later.  Sam has the players he has for this season.  A veteran good qb. Talent that is competitive. Bad coaching has been the factor that has killed this season.  Enos with a bad scheme for his talent, blind arrogance, and awful playcalling.  Sam with his general lack of organization, poor game decisions, lack of involvement and tying a general philosophy together, terrible position coaching in Oline, qb room, and o line. 

HY needs to "retire" Sam.  Another year sets us back another 3.  The new coach will need big $, and boosters will need to deliver big NIL $.

Sam needs to keep doing what he does and obviously cause losses.  If the team somehow stumbles into some wins a lot of the fan base and media will push to keep him.

[buff2.0]

What would our NIL situation look like if we were winning and had that kind of 2010-2011 excitement around the program.

[DirkPiggler]

What would our NIL situation look like if we were winning and had that kind of 2010-2011 excitement around the program.

Considering those years were directly responsible for all the facilities upgrades, I'll say it would be pretty damned good.

[vegashog]

courtney crutchfeild decommits.

[buff2.0]

courtney crutchfeild decommits.

Can't blame him.

[mde114]

courtney crutchfeild decommits.

MIZ...

[vegashog]

MIZ...

lsu. it was down to us and them when he committed. same with the 4* dlineman who will probably join him.

[Feral]

courtney crutchfeild decommits.

This is where we're going to start taking it in the shorts in recruiting.

Kids either see the writing on the wall with Pittman or don't want to come play for a lame duck coach.