Anonymous coaches burn Arkansas: 'Roster looks like NCAA sanctions hit them'
Arkansas has turned the page from the Chad Morris era to the Sam Pittman era; however, the Pittman era has been delayed due to the coronavirus.
Canceling spring practice hurts all coaches, but Pittman’s Hogs could be hurt the worst.
The Razorbacks are scheduled to kickoff the season against the Georgia Bulldogs on September 26, and ESPN’s FPI only gives the Hogs an 8.8 percent chance to win the game. Furthermore, the FPI predicts the Hogs will finish with a 2-8 record during the 10-game conference-only schedule. It truly is one of the toughest schedules ever.
AthlonSports.com recently spoke to some anonymous SEC coaches, and their comments prove that Pittman has a tough job rebuilding the roster and program.
“It’s a total mess from top to bottom,” one coach says.
The switch in schemes over the last few years certainly didn’t help things too much either. The team went from power running game under Bret Bielema to a spread-it-out attack under Chad Morris.
“What’s the identity of this program?” a coach asked. “Are they a hard-nosed smashmouth team? That didn’t work. Are they going to beat you with spread and tempo and use Texas kids? That didn’t work.”
Kendal Briles now takes over the offense, and he’s known for a potent attack. Still, any offense to be successful has to have guys who can bust a grape, and one anonymous coach isn’t even sure they can do that.
“(Offensive coordinator) Kendal Briles is a strange hire,” another coach said. “They don’t have the bodies to run that system, and he’s had chemistry issues on other staffs. That hire told a lot of coaches that Sam wasn’t alone in making the decisions.”
“That they landed on Sam (Pittman) is really telling. He’s a well-respected career assistant who is great at his job, but it’s hard to find what he can say or do with that program that could suddenly turn things around. They’ve got no personnel. The roster right now looks like NCAA sanctions hit them,” one coach said.
This is what I’ve been saying as the reason for Morris’s’ failure at Arky! He didn’t have the personnel to succeed in his system. I’m not saying he’s a phenomenal coach by any means, but he isn’t as bad as his Arky record/rankings indicate. He’ll do well at Auburn.
There is talent on the Arkansas football team, but it is not deep. If you actually watched the games from 2018 and 2019 with an objective look, what you will see is the team gave up. They gave up over and over again. Morris never won the locker room, and the players quit on him. Morris was proven as an OC at Clemson. Look at his record at SMU, 14-22 over three years. He may do okay at Auburn as an OC, but I imagine Gus will keep him on a short leash. Morris is not a good HC.
Morris is definitely not a good HC but neither was Steele. If you look at my past posts about Morris I do highlight that there were bright spots on the team but the lack of personnel was still the main issue. You’re correct that the team didn’t buy into Morris and his philosophy and pretty much gave up on him. Morris and Arkansas was a dumpster fire and never a good fit to begin with.
Why did the AD hired Morris like the other Arkansas fan pointed out his record at SMU? Also why did the boosters went along with the hiring? I was shocked when they hired him!
Well there wasn’t really an AD at the time, as you recall. They fired Jeff Long because the board of trustees didn’t trust that he would fire Bert. The interim hired Morris before the current AD- Yurachek, was hired.
Yea he’ll do well calling the plays he’s told to hes allowedto choose from. He gets too much credit for what he did at Clemson. Wish the guy the best but he definitely wore the Arkansas fan base thin with watered down responses.
I sure do hope that Chad will be at all Auburn games. He likes to go watch his son play, this year he’ll finish up HS in Dallas so Friday nights your OC is missing. Next year the kids at OU, so you may not have an OC come gametime.
Every coach likes to watch their kids play. It hasn’t seemed to have affected any other coaches that I know of.
cant help but affect the outcome
Imagine trying to say that when you’ve gone 2-10 the past two years with 0 SEC wins, then you have a winnable game and your coach is back in Dallas Friday night.
Morris was terrible. He gave Arkansas its worst years in program history. They’ve had plenty of other Philosophy changes that never came close to the lousiness that Morris delivered! Look at how fast Petrino turned them around. Morris and his staff were out of their league.
Bobby Petrino didn’t turn the program around. They were a 8 and 10 win team before he got there. Arkansas actually trended backwards with a 5-7 record his first season. Also, the systems between Nutt and Petrino were similar so the personnel was more than adequate to make for a smoother transition than it was for the Bielema-Morris transition. But yes Morris is not head coach material. He is a decent OC though.
Actually Nutt was more ground and pound than Beliema was. Remember the Wild Hog?? To say that Nutt had similar system to Petrino is incorrect. Petrino had to recruit skill players to fit his system because we had none when he arrived. Something that Morris tried to do but failed. Everywhere school that Morris left has improved dramatically once he does leave. See SMU/Clemson. You can credit Morris for building it or blame him for underachieving previously. It depends on what you are trying to make yourself believe. I know where I fall on this and I can guess where you do as well. Time will tell.
hogcall24, So you think Sam Pittman will turned it around and get to a bowl game in year 3?
Of course I think he can turn it around. I’m hoping before year 3. I know that we’ve been terrible lately but I think just making a bowl game at Arkansas is an extremely low bar. From 1998 to 2017 we only missed a bowl game 4 times. Two of those were under Beliema in 2013 first year and 2017 his last year.
Whatever makes you feel better about Morris, he may do well as an OC but Gus will still be calling the plays. Ar Days of being a push over are behind us now. The team will fight for Pittman and new coaching Staff from what I’m hearing. No we’re not gona make a bowl game this year. But other teams better be on there toes when they play Ar. this season cause the talent is there, and now the coaching staff is there to maybe win a few games this season. WPS
Nah he’s that bad
What were they coach of, PeeWee football? We’ll never know since they are hiding behind their words. Whatever.
Also no razorback fan is expecting him to suddenly turn it around. Playing four top 10 teams and won’t be favored in any other games either. When you are down in the SEC West it won’t be too forgiving.
Sam is going to bring respectability back. Ark has never been a recruiting haven but has a long history of success. We are just as good as Mizz, Vandy, Misstake, Miss, KY, SC and Tenn. Just having that punk Morris after getting rid of that blowhard bielema put us in the hole.
Your comments go back to my post above. Morris was the real problem, and people who don’t follow the program closely don’t understand that point. It’s easy to blame the problems on personnel, because like you said, Arkansas is not a recruiting haven, but does have a history of success.
Just because a program is currently down because of mismanagement by Jeff Long and the Razorback Foundation does not mean this team cannot and should not win football games.
The team seems to be all in with CSP and his staff, so I expect a couple of wins this season. I am realistic in thinking that it will take three years to get this program where it needs to be after the gross mismanagement by former staff members.
Lmao you are no where near as good as KY, UT, MSU, or Mizzou
Thanks for your expert opinion.
Well the scores from the last few years tell the truth, you’re not close to MSU, UT, or UK for sure.
Maybe Arky will win an sec game and shut people up but I doubt it. The Sun Belt would be a better place for this dumpster fire.
Maybe I should retract KY, but the other three don’t have much.
Wildhogzzz, I hope you know my comment was meant for the Tenner fan with the fine opinion on football. The guy didn’t mention Ole Miss in his response, so hey, according to him, the Hogs are better than someone in the SEC.
Keep in mind Joe freakin Moorhead scored at will on Arkansas. Yea but y’all are close to MSU lol
I think he meant as an overall program. Not necessarily this season.
You are so funny! Your team may be winless this season.
Please give me this anon coaches name.PittBoss is gonna prove him wrong and its starts week 1 in Fayetteville.
Chad Morris was a high school coach who got in over his head at Arkansas. Beliema recruited players for a smash mouth style. He just failed to
get enough quality players. Then Morris tries to install a finesse game without out any speed. He tried to red shirt for the future and all the expectations were over hyped. He actually did an excellent job recruiting but some of his goofy comments and actions (celebrating a win over Colorado State by turning locker room into a disco) made him look like Gomer Pyle) instead of Bear Bryant. An SEC program does not tear down goal post when they beat a mediocre team.
I miss Beliema based on the fact that we had an identity each and every time we came out to play football. We were going to beat you up, run the ball, and be more physical. I think he got fired because he tried to move too far away from that style with Austin Allen’s arm. Either way he’s 1000x the coach and man that Chad is.
Nearly the same article 6 months later repeated, same quotes and everything. The players are bought in, the fans, for the most part, love him. I can’t wait to see him prove some people wrong. This team has SEC level talent and beginning to build some depth, though there is a long way to go in that department. I think these hogs will be competitive and surprise a team or two along the way. Jimbo, I’m lookin’ at you… Go Hogs!
Arkansas hasn’t been a “power running” or “a hard-nosed smashmouth team” since Jim Chaney left in 2014. Dan Enos did not run a power-run game. It was a pass happy pro-style built on run-blocking linemen(which is why it sucked). These “coaches” are full of it or this is just complete nonsense.
I agree 100 percent. Now that I think back, the only success the Hogs had was doing the opposite of what Coach B said he was going to do. The second half of the Mizzou and Virginia Tech game set the program back 10 years. Evidently Coach B quit on the team and a coach with a completely different philosophy was brought in. Morris failed to recruit the players who remained from Coach B years and proved to be a terrible and inept manager of players.
Geezzz o pete, Should Pittman be winning 2/3rds of his games before he gets to coach one??? Stupid mud slinger at Pittman. I’m not saying he will every win a game there, but I’m sure saying it’s 3 years too soon to know. DOES ANYBODY GET THE FACT THAT THE ARKANSAS FOOTBALL DECISION MAKERS ARE NOT ONLY BAD AT HIRING BUT A LOT WORSE AT DECIDING HOW LONG TO KEEP SOMEONE AND EVEN TERRIBLE AT HAVING THE CLASS TO CHANGE COACHES WITH GRACE. I support the players, coaches, and fans in our brother Ozark-land program, but my oh my the last decade plus, the firing and somewhat less the hiring has been clearly among the worst in the NCAA.
We feel you at UT. Almost 10 years in the darkness of incompetent AD’s and coaches. Hopefully Pruitt is the answer and same for you with Pittman. ANY school can win with the right coach. Vandy was successful with the current PSU coach, and certainly the 1998 season with Arkansas was spectacular and would have been mind-blowing if not for the quirky loss at UT. Perino is a less than admirable person, but was certainly successful there. Good luck this season except when you play UT.
Can’t argue with you about the debacle that has been the last 10 years. all I can say is I like everything Pittman has done so far. He is a classy guy and that has translated into good recruiting even though he has never coached anywhere near this level before.
also good luck with Drinkwitz as well. He is an Ark Tech alum and I hope he does well
Who cares what an anonymous source says? Arkansas has failed on all levels lately, but the main one is offensive and defensive lines. They were good under Pittman with Beliema, but started to falter after he left and was the main reason Beliema failed. Then, they were beyond awful under Morris. It was mixture of young players and bad coaching. One of the worst in the country on both sides of the ball. Pittman has a long road to hoe to get us back, but I believe it all starts with O Line and D Line. Good thing is, he knows how to do O Line and hopefully steel sharpens steel. Whether he can do that as a head coach remains to be seen. Why throw shade on the Briles hire?? I thought it was a pretty good one. Am I missing something?
Sorry,,there is no way I beleive any coach said anything…I’ve worked with a all of coaches,,,and if ever a reporter said,,”I’ll keep this amonymous” they would walk away..
Wouldn’t be surprised if this was Ole Gus stirring the pot. He’s been know to throw shade at others when their backs are turned.
SDS must really be lacking for content since this material is several months old and a contributor is not listed. Do your job kids and actually pretend to work.
Morris was essentially a gamble. There appeared to be the potential to break out and have something special. I’m sure Gus wooed the Foundation into thinking so. I don’t think he has all the tools to be a SEC HC and he certainly couldn’t adapt. He hyped people up and then totally flopped. If you can’t beat the cupcakes, then you loose everybody. Pittman is not promising anything grand or getting in the left lane with the hammer down. He’s just promising that we will play hard and I think he’ll definitely deliver on that. We won’t change coaches anytime soon. I think you will see a noticeable improvement this year despite the lack of practices and Pittman will have the time to recruit the guys he’s needs. Also, the “anonymous” thing is a bunch of BS.
This is the 3rd or 4th time I’ve seen this story, find some new material…