Chad Morris

[BB30]

So we have talked about Pruitt what about the other new guy to the league Chad Morris?

Obviously a rough start. I really didn?t think he was left with as bad of a situation as it appears he has been. They are pretty terrible. Any chance he gets them competitive in the near future or do y?all think he has a pretty hefty rebuild on his hands?

I guess it is probably a bit worse since he is running a completely different offense and doesn?t have anyone that really fits his system yet.

I have been wanting to get to a game in Fayetteville. Anyone been? Good experience?

[Choctaw Dawg]

He has a hefty rebuild on his hands, to me, he seems like the guy to do it considering he has Texas connections and the only way for Arkansas to be successful is through Texas recruiting.

He also starts a 250lb QB in a spread offense that was originally built to be used for heavy backfield I-formation type of offense. He has a three to five year process on his hands to right that ship.

[Maroonandwhite]

He has a hefty rebuild on his hands, to me, he seems like the guy to do it considering he has Texas connections and the only way for Arkansas to be successful is through Texas recruiting.

He also starts a 250lb QB in a spread offense that was originally built to be used for heavy backfield I-formation type of offense. He has a three to five year process on his hands to right that ship.

Bert recruited on a level reminiscent of Croom. The cupboard is absolutely bare. Cole Kelley is beyond horrible. He has no business playing D-1 football in any league. Ty Storey and Connor Noland are much better. I knew Saturday night when Kelley came in after Storey faultered, they were in serious trouble. I think Morris is likely a good coach; but, this is a long term project in the most unforgiving conference in the country.

[Todd4State]

I think Chad Morris won one game his first year at SMU so I'm guessing he can use that to get some leeway.

Arkansas is weird in that it's like they have two distinct and very different fanbases- the Little Rock fanbase and the Fayetteville fanbase. The Fayetteville fanbase is pretty nice. No problems going there. One guy asked me and my friends if we were lost. That was the "worst" thing that happened. So it's pretty good. It was also REALLY COLD. The stadium is sort of strange in Fayetteville because it's built kind of inside the side of a mountain I guess? You actually look down into it sort of when you first arrive. I think Davis Wade is nicer. Park at their baseball field and take the shuttle and you will thank me later. The Little Rock fanbase can be pretty mean. I've never watched a MSU game at the Vet in Jackson but that's about the caliber of stadium that War Memorial is. It's a dump and you have to tailgate on a golf course.

[Dallas_Dawg]

So don't take the Hogs and lay the 7.5 against UNT this weekend?

[WPS]

So don't take the Hogs and lay the 7.5 against UNT this weekend?

Wouldn?t surprise me if UNT won. I think there?s a chance we could end up 2-10 this year, and I picked us to win 5 or 6 games before the season. Wouldn?t be a good start for Morris with our worst record ever.

We did make some questionable coaching decisions against CSU. Not going to judge him too harshly in year 1 though since the roster is a mess. The good news is we should have our first top 20 recruiting class since 2009 but that would still only be 5th at best in the West.

In the last five years, we have lost 15 games where we had the lead going into the 4th quarter. That’s 3 per year which is just insane to me. Our players must have serious conditioning or mental issues.


I live in AR and follow the hogs casually because of friends over here. I?m not a fan though. Razorback sports is the only topic daily on talk radio. Bert recruited on a level reminiscent of Croom. The cupboard is absolutely bare. Cole Kelley is beyond horrible. He has no business playing D-1 football in any league. Ty Storey and Connor Noland are much better. I knew Saturday night when Kelley came in after Storey faultered, they were in serious trouble. I think Morris is likely a good coach; but, this is a long term project in the most unforgiving conference in the country.

Bielema recruited some really good NFL-caliber players like Hunter Henry, Alex Collins, Frank Ragnow, etc. but neglected positions like OL and LB so badly later in his tenure that it crippled the team when those players left. I would take Kelley over Storey but they both suck. One of the freshmen could be starting at QB by the time we get to Starkville.

[ShotgunDawg]

Wouldn?t surprise me if UNT won. I think there?s a chance we could end up 2-10 this year, and I picked us to win 5 or 6 games before the season. Wouldn?t be a good start for Morris with our worst record ever.

We did make some questionable coaching decisions against CSU. Not going to judge him too harshly in year 1 though since the roster is a mess. The good news is we should have our first top 20 recruiting class since 2009 but that would still only be 5th at best in the West.



Bielema recruited some really good NFL-caliber players like Hunter Henry, Alex Collins, Frank Ragnow, etc. but neglected positions like OL and LB so badly later in his tenure that it crippled the team when those players left. I would take Kelley over Storey but they both suck. One of the freshmen could be starting at QB by the time we get to Starkville.

Would be pretty embarrassing for Arkansas to out recruit MSU considering the states of the two programs & the amount of in-state talent in Mississippi this year. That would not be a good sign for MSU.

[TUSK]

Wouldn?t surprise me if UNT won. I think there?s a chance we could end up 2-10 this year, and I picked us to win 5 or 6 games before the season. Wouldn?t be a good start for Morris with our worst record ever.

We did make some questionable coaching decisions against CSU. Not going to judge him too harshly in year 1 though since the roster is a mess. The good news is we should have our first top 20 recruiting class since 2009 but that would still only be 5th at best in the West.



Bielema recruited some really good NFL-caliber players like Hunter Henry, Alex Collins, Frank Ragnow, etc. but neglected positions like OL and LB so badly later in his tenure that it crippled the team when those players left. I would take Kelley over Storey but they both suck. One of the freshmen could be starting at QB by the time we get to Starkville.

Dang, Pig... that post depresses me. Sorry, buddy.

[WPS]

Would be pretty embarrassing for Arkansas to out recruit MSU considering the states of the two programs & the amount of in-state talent in Mississippi this year. That would not be a good sign for MSU.

The more I follow recruiting it seems that relationships with coaches mean more to most kids than how a team is currently doing on the field. Most 17 year old athletes are pretty cocky and think they will succeed no matter the situation. Petrino had a better recruiting class here coming off of a 5-7 season (finished 16th) than he did after a Sugar Bowl which didn't make any sense to me.

I feel the same way when fans think sanctions or off-the-field scandals will hurt recruiting but more often than not it doesn't make as big of an impact as they think. I don't think players care about that as much as we do.

[Maroonandwhite]

I stand corrected as I stopped and thought about it a little more. Bielema did have the players mentioned and also the Allen brothers at QB. The Allens were both very talented and showed flashes of great success. The problem was the linemen. Austin Allen was on his back or running for his life most of the time. How does a former, successful, midwestern, B10 coach not recruit a stable of linemen? Hasn't that always been a Big 10 strong point?

Another huge flaw was his 4th quarter coaching. I actually liked Bielema though. He is one of the funniest coaches that I can remember in the SEC. Some of his press conferences were solid gold.

When the hogs upset the landsharks in 2015, it was a great moment for me personally. It destroyed any shot the rebels-turned black bears-now land sharks had of getting to Atlanta. It made my year. Best of luck with Chad Morris. I think it's going to be a rough couple of seasons until he gets those lines shored up. Having a healthy AR program is good for the SEC overall.

[thf24]

I stand corrected as I stopped and thought about it a little more. Bielema did have the players mentioned and also the Allen brothers at QB. The Allens were both very talented and showed flashes of great success. The problem was the linemen. Austin Allen was on his back or running for his life most of the time. How does a former, successful, midwestern, B10 coach not recruit a stable of linemen? Hasn't that always been a Big 10 strong point?

WPS may need to correct me here, but my guess is that the hulking "midwestern mauler" types that Bert brought in didn't translate well to the athleticism of the SEC. The commentary would always rave about how Arkansas had these 320-350 pound OL, and my thought was that those kind of guys would need to be some freak athletes to have a prayer of staying in front of guys like Myles Garrett.

[gravedigger]

And if Arkansas gets busy there, the rankings will be similar.

Texas has turned into a 7 on 7 non hitting football state and it's recruits and programs show it.

At the end of the day, this is my best example of why recruiting rankings mean squat. There is no way we should be better than Texas based on the rankings. And yet, we've out performed them nearly every year since their national championship on the field.

That cannot be possible if recruiting rankings are correct.

[Johnson85]

Arkansas has made it hard on themselves by switching styles every time they hire a new coach. They went from Nutt and his run heavy offense to Petrino's air it out offense to Beliema's Big10 ground and pound offense and not back to a pass heavy attack. Beliema and now Morris have had to basically completely rebuild the roster because what they wanted to do was so different than what the predecessor did.

[NWADAWG]

From the fans I've talked to up here in UPig land, the honeymoon is already over. Morris apparently went to his son's ball game on Friday night instead of traveling with the team. I believe in family and don't personally fault the guy for that but some of the folks that buy season tickets and contribute to his multi-million dollar salary weren't very happy. If hogs had won, not a big deal. When they lose a game like that, those little things seem to explode. He also sounded completely clueless in the post game interview.

I think he will make the hogs competitive again if given time.

As for Bert, I heard someone explain why he failed fairly simply. You can't out Alabama the Alabama's when you don't have Alabama's players.

[IMissJack]

I lived in Arkansas for 6 years, mostly as a teen. At least in those days, 80% of the population had never been to an Arkansas game in Fayetteville, because Fayetteville is so out of the way up in NW Arkansas. Most people were fans, and worshipped the hogs because that was all that was in the papers or TV or radio. Their entire season was the Texas game, since they were the only team in the SWC outside of the State of TX. At least where I lived, HS football was very weak, and several schools concentrated on basketball only. Arkansas is the poster child for a school that has no competition in the State. The press is all theirs, the legislature, the media, etc. The problem is, when all the media, etc. do nothing but talk about how great you are, reality is hard to accept some times.

[fishwater99]

Is he kin to Todd Morris ?

[Pit Bull]

He has a hefty rebuild on his hands, to me, he seems like the guy to do it considering he has Texas connections and the only way for Arkansas to be successful is through Texas recruiting.

He also starts a 250lb QB in a spread offense that was originally built to be used for heavy backfield I-formation type of offense. He has a three to five year process on his hands to right that ship.

Jimbo & JoMo are going to be real thorns in his side while rebuilding. He has got to get back into Texas where they used to recruit strong. Morris seems like a good coach and stole a couple recruits away from us, so he might get it done, but will be impressive if he can get to where they compete with TAMU regularly.

[Bothrops]

Hogs are light on depth, and will be very lucky to get to 6-6. They may lose this weekend vs N. Texas, who is probably better than Colorado St.

[WPS]

WPS may need to correct me here, but my guess is that the hulking "midwestern mauler" types that Bert brought in didn't translate well to the athleticism of the SEC. The commentary would always rave about how Arkansas had these 320-350 pound OL, and my thought was that those kind of guys would need to be some freak athletes to have a prayer of staying in front of guys like Myles Garrett.

Sam Pittman might be the best OL recruiter in the country. He got us a ton of highly recruited linemen that a lot of teams wanted. He left for Georgia and then Bielema hired some assistant to the assistant OL coach from the Buffalo Bills who only had college experience at Eastern Michigan. Our OL play and recruiting went completely down the drain after that. Meanwhile Georgia is recruiting better than anyone right now. We just had a first round pick at center and still had one of the worst groups in the NCAA.


From the fans I've talked to up here in UPig land, the honeymoon is already over. Morris apparently went to his son's ball game on Friday night instead of traveling with the team. I believe in family and don't personally fault the guy for that but some of the folks that buy season tickets and contribute to his multi-million dollar salary weren't very happy. If hogs had won, not a big deal. When they lose a game like that, those little things seem to explode. He also sounded completely clueless in the post game interview.

I think he will make the hogs competitive again if given time.

As for Bert, I heard someone explain why he failed fairly simply. You can't out Alabama the Alabama's when you don't have Alabama's players.

Eh, his son is a probable 4* QB for 2020 and plays in a high classification in Texas with a lot of talent. I get why people would be mad that he will spend Friday nights away from the team though.

You can't out-Auburn Auburn with their style without their players either. Never understood why people say that. Bielema lost to Alabama 14-13 in 2014 which is closer than Petrino's style ever got. He failed because he lost to teams like Missouri, A&M, Toledo, Rutgers, etc. Not because of Alabama.


Arkansas is the poster child for a school that has no competition in the State. The press is all theirs, the legislature, the media, etc. The problem is, when all the media, etc. do nothing but talk about how great you are, reality is hard to accept some times.

This is very true. The media here never ask the tough questions for fear of losing access and everything is glass half full with nothing but Razorback coverage 24/7. There are a lot of politics involved with it. We do have an extremely passionate fanbase but there are absolute lunatics who take things way too far among Arkansas fans too.

[ShotgunDawg]

Hogs are light on depth, and will be very lucky to get to 6-6. They may lose this weekend vs N. Texas, who is probably better than Colorado St.

6-6?

They'll be lucky to win 4

[1bigdawg]

I never got the Chad Morris love when all the job openings happened. He had one winning record at SMU in Conference USA. I suppose he is very likable and a great interview, but that does not necessarily equate to a great coach.

[WPS]

I never got the Chad Morris love when all the job openings happened. He had one winning record at SMU in Conference USA. I suppose he is very likable and a great interview, but that does not necessarily equate to a great coach.

For us it was the style of offense (actually getting into the 21st century) and Texas recruiting connections that we wanted. He did improve SMU from 2-10 to 7-5 but that’s still pretty mediocre. Clemson winning so much and him being a Dabo Swinney disciple was a bonus.

Also doesn’t hurt that his son played on the same high school team as Jerry Jones’ grandson who we signed after Morris was hired. Jerry was pretty adamant about hiring him since they obviously were familiar with each other both being in Dallas.

[LC Dawg]

For us it was the style of offense (actually getting into the 21st century) and Texas recruiting connections that we wanted. He did improve SMU from 2-10 to 7-5 but that’s still pretty mediocre. Clemson winning so much and him being a Dabo Swinney disciple was a bonus.

Also doesn’t hurt that his son played on the same high school team as Jerry Jones’ grandson who we signed after Morris was hired. Jerry was pretty adamant about hiring him since they obviously were familiar with each other both being in Dallas.

Getting coach hiring advice from Jerry Jones doesn't seem like the greatest idea but I assume you have to based on the size check he writes to the school.