Arkansas fire Chad Morris to the surprise of no one
- Thread starter rgw
- Start date
Morris would be fine if he had beaten San Jose State and Western Kentucky. He got blown out by the latter with a QB in Ty Storey who he ran off from Arkansas. He needed to show some improvement, no matter how small, but we have arguably gotten worse and he had a top 25 recruiting class up until a few months ago when players started decommitting because of all the losing and our recruiting class was approaching #50 before he was fired. Our schedule gets tougher next year...there was just no way he was ever going to do anything if he hadn't shown a glimpse of it yet.
Plus looking at players tweets they hated him and our best offensive player (TE Cheyenne O'Grady) was kicked off of the team because he approached Morris about playing favorites and not playing the right QB. Then he was arrogant and clueless in press conferences. Just a terrible coach all around.
Don't you mean "Even a blind squirrel finds a Nutt - let's all hope Gus the Go-to Groundhog ain't found in Arkansas any time soon."
I don't think the losses in and of themselves are/is (<---apply the correct one. LOL!) what gets someone terminated quicker. It's the perception of the losses that matter. There are some situations that you don't need four years to see when someone is in over their heads. As a HC you have to sell your vision to not only your recruits but the players from the last coach. There has to be a perception of "getting better", even with your losses. In today's recruiting landscape kids want instant success. Does a program really have the time to give a guy four years when after each losing season in which they don't even appear to be getting better, the quality of his recruiting class continues to decline BECAUSE recruits don't perceive they're getting better?
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I generally agree. However, donors with large wallets tend to disagree and stop donating to the University academic side (as well as cutting out athletics), start pulling political levers, take the school out of their wills, etc. until change happens. Also, enrollment and applications for enrollment begins to drop on the academic side which means acceptance rates go up (not a good thing in academic college rankings calculations).
When your athletic budget depends on anything besides what you generate internally, you have to at least listen to those that have the power of the purse.
The bigger issue is why did they hire him in the first place? That is what I would be demanding attention to if I were Mr. Moneybags Donor.
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Jerry Jones will send Garrett to Arkansas (yesterdays Dallas loss sealed his fate) so he can throw the bank at Lincoln Riley! So, now who goes to Oklahoma? 
Today's recruit will pull the rug out from under you unless you prove that you can get him ready for the next level and be a contender. It's not about school/regional pride anymore, it's about training and a shot at the next level. If you don't get the horses to pull the wagon, you end up selling tires somewhere.
Local businesses also depend on you t draw people in for $$$$.
Since you brought it up...that was pitiful last night. Garrett must have some dirty pics of JJ.
I'm sure they didn't want to fire Morris this quickly, but what choice did they have? He's been an unmitigated disaster.
He was a bad coach at SMU (14-22 in three years) and now SMU is ranked and fighting for a NY6 birth. He never had any credentials other than being plugged into the Texas HS coaching scene. He was a terrible hire and frankly they ran the risk of running the program into the ground.
Arky is a tough gig. You're in the SEC West, the best division in CFB and you're the only program in the division that doesn't have top notch in-state talent. I'm curious who they get.
He was a bad coach at SMU (14-22 in three years) and now SMU is ranked and fighting for a NY6 birth. He never had any credentials other than being plugged into the Texas HS coaching scene. He was a terrible hire and frankly they ran the risk of running the program into the ground.
Arky is a tough gig. You're in the SEC West, the best division in CFB and you're the only program in the division that doesn't have top notch in-state talent. I'm curious who they get.
Well, they have painted themselves into a corner.
With that quick release, they will have to give the next coach a humongous buy-out clause in his contract to even get his attention... :cool2:
Supposedly, Bret Beliema is still on the payroll there too even though he is a position coach for the New England Patriots. From what an understand, Arkansas is trying to get out of having to pay him the balance of his contract because they claim he did not seek gainful employment at the same income level once he was terminated. I”m not an attorney but I bet they lose on that one and will be stuck paying two, former HC’s for a while. MY question is, if they have a case, then why hasn’t Tennessee done the same thing to Butch Jones?
They have the money -- the Walton's -- of Walmart -- are headquartered in NW Arkansas.
LOL, it's always fun when people bring up the realities of a situation as if others aren't completely aware.
That said, were I AD, I'd make it clear that firing someone this quickly sends a REALLY BAD MESSAGE to a potential hire - there's ZERO job guarantee. Not only that, but at a school like Arky they had Petrino (wide open offense), switch to Bert (old-school ground and pound), then hire Morris (wide open offense). The personnel is TOTALLY DIFFERENT for these teams.
I get the way the world works, but at some point, the AD (or president) has to step in and give these boosters the cold water shock. Arky isn't going to be competitive any time soon, no matter who they hire, and they just shot themselves in the foot wrt hiring an up-and-coming coach as who wants to walk into a situation where they better win, no matter what, in 1.5 years or they'll be fired?
Arky is just stupid here.
That said, were I AD, I'd make it clear that firing someone this quickly sends a REALLY BAD MESSAGE to a potential hire - there's ZERO job guarantee. Not only that, but at a school like Arky they had Petrino (wide open offense), switch to Bert (old-school ground and pound), then hire Morris (wide open offense). The personnel is TOTALLY DIFFERENT for these teams.
I get the way the world works, but at some point, the AD (or president) has to step in and give these boosters the cold water shock. Arky isn't going to be competitive any time soon, no matter who they hire, and they just shot themselves in the foot wrt hiring an up-and-coming coach as who wants to walk into a situation where they better win, no matter what, in 1.5 years or they'll be fired?
Arky is just stupid here.
So many things on this one.
First, I think we all agree that Chad Morris wasn't a great hire to begin with. That said, I don't know what their other realistic options were after Jimmy Sexton played both Arkansas and Auburn like Itzahk Perlman plays a Stradivarius to get the contract extension and massive buyout for Malzahn.
Second, once they did settle on Morris, they knew from the beginning that he would change the fundamental offensive philosophy 180 degrees -- from Wisconsin pound the rock to Big 12 basketball on grass. As crimsonaudio points out, that also represents a total change in the type of personnel you recruit -- both skill positions and OL. Not counting the few weeks between his hire date and the February signing date (remember, he would have missed the December early signing date), he had only one true full recruiting cycle to get that type of player in.
If you're going to go with radical change, there are going to be growing pains. You know going in you're probably going to go through three transitional seasons where you're neither fish nor fowl -- trying to run an offense that your upperclassmen are totally unsuited for, and the players that are suited are 1st and 2nd year players -- and you're not recruiting the new players at an Alabama-like level of talent. If that's the case, and if you're worried about the patience of the big-money donor base, you get their buy-in before you make the formal offer.
I understand that with big money comes big egos, and being used to barking orders and watching minions scurry. Memories and patience can often be short. So even if you remind them that they signed up for it up front, that inconvenient fact might not change behavior when the team hasn't won a conference game in a couple of years and gets waxed by a directional school.
Still, that's the way to address it -- before the decision is made. Maybe the AD did consult the donors. Maybe he didn't. I don't know.
Regardless of the history, Arkansas is now facing yet another transition. Only this time, they have a tainted image amongst the coaching fraternity. Not to mention, buying out Morris. Not to mention buying out whoever it is you hire.
This is a dang expensive proposition, both monetarily and otherwise.
First, I think we all agree that Chad Morris wasn't a great hire to begin with. That said, I don't know what their other realistic options were after Jimmy Sexton played both Arkansas and Auburn like Itzahk Perlman plays a Stradivarius to get the contract extension and massive buyout for Malzahn.
Second, once they did settle on Morris, they knew from the beginning that he would change the fundamental offensive philosophy 180 degrees -- from Wisconsin pound the rock to Big 12 basketball on grass. As crimsonaudio points out, that also represents a total change in the type of personnel you recruit -- both skill positions and OL. Not counting the few weeks between his hire date and the February signing date (remember, he would have missed the December early signing date), he had only one true full recruiting cycle to get that type of player in.
If you're going to go with radical change, there are going to be growing pains. You know going in you're probably going to go through three transitional seasons where you're neither fish nor fowl -- trying to run an offense that your upperclassmen are totally unsuited for, and the players that are suited are 1st and 2nd year players -- and you're not recruiting the new players at an Alabama-like level of talent. If that's the case, and if you're worried about the patience of the big-money donor base, you get their buy-in before you make the formal offer.
I understand that with big money comes big egos, and being used to barking orders and watching minions scurry. Memories and patience can often be short. So even if you remind them that they signed up for it up front, that inconvenient fact might not change behavior when the team hasn't won a conference game in a couple of years and gets waxed by a directional school.
Still, that's the way to address it -- before the decision is made. Maybe the AD did consult the donors. Maybe he didn't. I don't know.
Regardless of the history, Arkansas is now facing yet another transition. Only this time, they have a tainted image amongst the coaching fraternity. Not to mention, buying out Morris. Not to mention buying out whoever it is you hire.
This is a dang expensive proposition, both monetarily and otherwise.
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The adage of “you better be pretty sure of what you can get before you get rid of what you got” applies here. I believe the Arkansas PTB felt certain they could lure a proven guy (ie: Malzahn) when they canned “Bert”.
I think they went with Morris almost as a last resort, hoping his Texas ties would strengthen recruiting in that state. As mentioned previously, the state of Arkansas doesn’t consistently produce top flight talent to complete in the SEC. When they have been at their best, they have depended on a Texas base in recruiting.
It’s hard to turn a program around in two recruiting classes, especially as 4Q stated, you’re flopping from completely different personnel needs from Petrino to Bert to Morris.
What killed Morris was the fact the team in his tenure showed little in terms of improvement or fight. Revolving QBs, bungling special teams, and play calling. I believe the AD and/or President felt Morris was becoming their “Gerry Faust” (for you youngsters, Faust was a legend in HS football in Ohio at Moeller High and his love for Notre Dame was well known. He was given the job at Notre Dame in the early 1980’s, only to flounder in his four years there).
So this program has basically been in a rebuild mold for seven years. And now they are looking at extending it to 9-10 years.
It would seem to me you should look at what you’ve recruited the last several cycles and hire a guy whose philosophy would come close to matching that talent.
I think they went with Morris almost as a last resort, hoping his Texas ties would strengthen recruiting in that state. As mentioned previously, the state of Arkansas doesn’t consistently produce top flight talent to complete in the SEC. When they have been at their best, they have depended on a Texas base in recruiting.
It’s hard to turn a program around in two recruiting classes, especially as 4Q stated, you’re flopping from completely different personnel needs from Petrino to Bert to Morris.
What killed Morris was the fact the team in his tenure showed little in terms of improvement or fight. Revolving QBs, bungling special teams, and play calling. I believe the AD and/or President felt Morris was becoming their “Gerry Faust” (for you youngsters, Faust was a legend in HS football in Ohio at Moeller High and his love for Notre Dame was well known. He was given the job at Notre Dame in the early 1980’s, only to flounder in his four years there).
So this program has basically been in a rebuild mold for seven years. And now they are looking at extending it to 9-10 years.
It would seem to me you should look at what you’ve recruited the last several cycles and hire a guy whose philosophy would come close to matching that talent.
Did Butch immediately join Saban's staff after he was fired from Tennessee? Can't really remember. Bielema took pretty much a whole year off from coaching. Also not sure if Butch applied to other head coaching jobs or not, he should have as part of the buyout.
The other issue is that Bielema is only being paid $150,000 with the Patriots while the market value for an NFL DL coach is $800,000+ so that he can keep getting paid from Arkansas. Makes it pretty obvious he is circumventing it. Not sure if that's technically against the terms of his contract but it's disingenuous at best.
Morris could have gone 0-16 in the SEC and kept his job (which is a little crazy to begin with unless you're Vanderbilt). It was losses to San Jose State and being blown out by Western Kentucky that did it, on top of losing to North Texas and Colorado State the previous year. I don't care what system you change to, an SEC team should never get blown out by a C-USA team, especially with a QB that was on your roster the previous year. Plus the players had revolted against him and his recruiting started to fall off. We weren't all of a sudden going to get any better in 2020 when we drop San Jose State for Notre Dame and Kentucky for Tennessee. It's really no wonder the players didn't like him after one of them admitted the other day that one of the first things Morris said to them in their first meeting was "If you were doing your job I wouldn't be here".
I don't profess to know how the Arkansas HC search will turn out, but if they are serious about trying to lure Gus to Fayetteville then they should all be "put down".
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