Arkansas
- Thread starter Fab5Coug
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I'm sure Leach will be mentioned and wouldn't be a bad choice (a more with less school) but don't see it happening.
there was a petition to get Leach hired that got several thousand signatures for arkansas
Petrino did sorta something similar to Leach and they hired him
Arkansas admin are some real good ol boy assholes though so don't know if they have anyone with real vision like WSU had
Petrino did sorta something similar to Leach and they hired him
Arkansas admin are some real good ol boy assholes though so don't know if they have anyone with real vision like WSU had
I like Leach and I hope he never leaves. I think he’ll draw interest from other programs, but I don’t think his system will succeed in the SEC. Not against the big boys, anyway. You HAVE TO run the ball in the SEC.
Yes, he’ll have access to more talent at Arkansas, but comparatively, the gap between Arkansas and Alabama, LSU, Florida, Auburn, Georgia, Texas A&M, South Carolina, and Tennessee will be much wider than WSU faces vs. USC, Oregon, UW, Stanford, and Utah.
I think Leach probably recognizes this. Tennessee would have been a much better gig than Arkansas.
Yes, he’ll have access to more talent at Arkansas, but comparatively, the gap between Arkansas and Alabama, LSU, Florida, Auburn, Georgia, Texas A&M, South Carolina, and Tennessee will be much wider than WSU faces vs. USC, Oregon, UW, Stanford, and Utah.
I think Leach probably recognizes this. Tennessee would have been a much better gig than Arkansas.
hes high on the list I think hes 38-39 years old. Leach will probably be contacted. I think the fan base wants a return to the Petrino days-they are looking for high scoring offense. Totally inept administration there though.
The speculation is justified, but I don’t think Arkansas is a better job than ours. Playing in that division against Alabama, Auburn, LSU, A&M, Mississippi, Mississippi State. When do they finish higher than 3rd?
I dont see them finishing high than 5th. Arkansas needs a super star coach to get by those teams.
A fourth place finish would be a great season. Figure that's 4-4 in league and four OOC wins. Liberty Bowl is your ceiling?
Tough conference, but plenty of Sam Walton money. They have top-notch facilities.
Not sure that they would offer . Arkansas is a weird place and culture. They are basically elitist red-necks.
That said I would not have bet that Leach would be headed anywhere a couple of months ago, but lately he is showing signs of being pretty burned out . He is not pulling the right strings with this current team and he is frustrated. Would not be surprised in the least if he goes the Bob Stoops route at some point .
That said I would not have bet that Leach would be headed anywhere a couple of months ago, but lately he is showing signs of being pretty burned out . He is not pulling the right strings with this current team and he is frustrated. Would not be surprised in the least if he goes the Bob Stoops route at some point .
There's always a possibility that a coach leaves for more money, but how much more are we talking about, and what are the trade offs?
I know this is an apples to oranges comparison, but I've been in medical device sales most of my life. Great career, pays well, but I live in King County. I could EASILY move to Arkansas, or Texas, or Arizona, or Florida, and with the equity I have in my home alone, purchase something outright and live a much more financially comfortable life. That's true for many of us. Why don't I? Because I'm settled here, and my life is good.
If Leach wants to leave for another job, a different challenge, more money, better geography, that's his (and his wife's) decision to make. If he's looking at it from a coaching and livability standpoint, Arkansas sounds dreary to me. No way would I trade WSU for Fayetteville. Knoxville, TN is a different story. That's a great town and a college football mecca. I can see the appeal there, but Arkansas?
As I mentioned in an earlier post, in the P12N you face off against UW, Oregon, OSU, Cal, and Stanford. Every season, Leach has a legit chance to be competitive against all but 1, maybe 2 of those programs. That is most certainly not the case in the SEC West. Money talks, I suppose, but Leach basically holds the key to the city of Pullman. Win 6-8 games/year, earn $4M/year or more for the rest of your career. Why leave that for Arkansas?
It could happen, but I don't see him as being burned out. Frustrated with the close calls and poor fundamental play this season, but what coach doesn't face that? Oregon last season. UW this season, USC the past several seasons.
Leach was mentioning the roster next year after the game vs. Cal, and how he expects guys to lose their jobs if they don't step up. That sounded like a coach who expects to be back.
Leach lives in a semi modest home in Pullman. I imagine he’s sitting in a pile of cash. I wouldn’t be shocked to see that at some time either.
The path to a P5 league title game is prob easiest in the PAC 12. Sure, there are some teams that have more $ than your school. But they are not the same animals you see in the SEC.
The arkansas job is a major rebuild. At almost 60 years old, is it the job you’d be looking for???
The arkansas job is a major rebuild. At almost 60 years old, is it the job you’d be looking for???
It sure as Hell wouldn't be for me. If I were Leach, I'd rather take a job in a city I love and a program that needs to be built up. A coastal city in the ACC, or South Florida, or Central Florida. That would be a great pre-retirement gig. Personally, I couldn't think of a worse experience than being an also ran in the SEC.
It wasn't that long ago that Arky was good, and Leach could win some recruiting jump balls down there with talent that doesn't exist on the west coast. However...
Even if in their current drought they would pay champagne prices for a sippie cup of warm Hamm's, once he gets them above .500 in conference and bowling again, the hue and cry from Razorback fans impatient for a return to the Petrino era and thinking they ought to be competing for conference titles would be HUGE in a way it is not in Pullman.
WSU's pedigree is so ugly in football, he can have an "off" year in which he is still alive for bowling. But staring down 4-5 in Week 10 at Arkansas would likely invite a far more psychotic and impatient reaction than you see here.
Even if in their current drought they would pay champagne prices for a sippie cup of warm Hamm's, once he gets them above .500 in conference and bowling again, the hue and cry from Razorback fans impatient for a return to the Petrino era and thinking they ought to be competing for conference titles would be HUGE in a way it is not in Pullman.
WSU's pedigree is so ugly in football, he can have an "off" year in which he is still alive for bowling. But staring down 4-5 in Week 10 at Arkansas would likely invite a far more psychotic and impatient reaction than you see here.
You nailed it. The other angle for those idiots (not an Arky fan) is they hire Kiffin. And as he gets them approaching some respectable level he will bolt for the first job that comes open on one of the coasts.
I mean that division has LSU, Alabama, Auburn and A&M EVERY YEAR. Pretty much 4 guaranteed L's on the schedule year in and year out. Then you see how the Mississippi schools are doing and you're barely bowl eligible if one of them is up. Viewed from the standpoint of competition, Arky actually has to be one of the worst jobs out there; I don't see how one could say it's not the best division in CFB almost every year. You don't want to be a "more with less" guy in a division with a bunch of "more with more" teams.
At least the East has a bunch of sap teams to pad your record.
Leach has a ton of other interests and that keeps him sane and not getting burned out.
I personally have no desire to live in Arkansas.......but the pictures above are all within a short drive of Fayetteville.
These things are cyclical and Arkansas isn't at a systemic disadvantage against the rest of it's conference they way WSU has been. Every team in that division has had very beatable teams in the past decade except for Bama. But Leach would instantly be able to recruit top 25 classes at Arkansas and could have opponents lamenting trips to Fayetteville immediately
I personally have no desire to live in Arkansas.......but the pictures above are all within a short drive of Fayetteville.
I'm sure it has some nice qualities. I think it ranks 99th in livability. Pullman was 25th on the same list. Then there's this:
With a crime rate of 56 per one thousand residents, Fayetteville has one of the highest crime rates in America compared to all communities of all sizes - from the smallest towns to the very largest cities. One's chance of becoming a victim of either violent or property crime here is one in 18.
Your best case scenario is doing what Dan Mullen did at Mississippi State- build it up to a consistent point of challenging but not beating the big boys, and bolt when a better opportunity comes along. Only Leach will be too old for the "better" opportunity.
I personally have no desire to live in Arkansas.......but the pictures above are all within a short drive of Fayetteville.
My assumption is that is a reservoir that is 12 feet deep and a breeding ground for mosquitoes. Bass fishing is probably pretty good though.
The good thing for Arkansas is that they play 8 league games. They can go 4-0 against a weak non con sked, find 2 league wins and be bowling.
Unless your coach loses to two of the four non con teams that you paid $1.5m each....
It is definitely a job where you work is cut out for you.
Holy cow, some of you are not only trying to get inside the mind of another adult human being, but you're trying to get inside of the mind of Mike Leach to somehow determine how he would approach a hypothetical job offer. Well, let me be a hypocrite and join in...
Some of you are giving reasons why Mike Leach would turn down a hypothetical job offer from Arkansas. Reasons such as it being more difficult to win in the SEC, loftier expectations/more pressure to win, etc. Do you honestly think that experienced, successful head coaches are wired to think this way? Do you think they try to navigate around challenges? Do you honestly think Mike Leach thinks this way? This guy wins. He's confident in his coaching ability and system beyond the point of being stubborn and perhaps beyond the point of being arrogant. We've all witnessed this. He believes in himself and his system. He thinks it can, and will, beat anybody. He came to Washington State at the end of the Paul Wulff years believing he would win. He has.
Is there anything about Mike Leach that tells you he gives a rat's a$$ what other people think, and/or do you think feels outside pressure? I agree that he will evaluate an athletic department and their willingness to support the football program, leave him alone and let him be Mike Leach. He has it good here in that regard. But he was willing to leave WSU for a dumpster fire athletic department and football program like Tennessee, where it's unlikely he would be given free reign like he is in Pullman. Tennessee has higher upside, more resources, more money for himself and an adequate coaching staff (which is a BIG DEAL and really what Mike Leach needs to succeed)...it also presented a new challenge.
Mike opinion: If Arkansas offered Mike Leach the job, with more money (they would) and more money for his coaching staff (they would), he would accept it. Yesterday. He would go in believing he would rebuild that program and win big. People saying otherwise probably do not believe the words they are typing but are trying to make themselves feel better about the reality of the situation.
Some of you are giving reasons why Mike Leach would turn down a hypothetical job offer from Arkansas. Reasons such as it being more difficult to win in the SEC, loftier expectations/more pressure to win, etc. Do you honestly think that experienced, successful head coaches are wired to think this way? Do you think they try to navigate around challenges? Do you honestly think Mike Leach thinks this way? This guy wins. He's confident in his coaching ability and system beyond the point of being stubborn and perhaps beyond the point of being arrogant. We've all witnessed this. He believes in himself and his system. He thinks it can, and will, beat anybody. He came to Washington State at the end of the Paul Wulff years believing he would win. He has.
Is there anything about Mike Leach that tells you he gives a rat's a$$ what other people think, and/or do you think feels outside pressure? I agree that he will evaluate an athletic department and their willingness to support the football program, leave him alone and let him be Mike Leach. He has it good here in that regard. But he was willing to leave WSU for a dumpster fire athletic department and football program like Tennessee, where it's unlikely he would be given free reign like he is in Pullman. Tennessee has higher upside, more resources, more money for himself and an adequate coaching staff (which is a BIG DEAL and really what Mike Leach needs to succeed)...it also presented a new challenge.
Mike opinion: If Arkansas offered Mike Leach the job, with more money (they would) and more money for his coaching staff (they would), he would accept it. Yesterday. He would go in believing he would rebuild that program and win big. People saying otherwise probably do not believe the words they are typing but are trying to make themselves feel better about the reality of the situation.
I've spent time in Fayetteville. There are a few really nice months...mostly in the fall. The rest of the time it is humidity, ticks, chiggers, mosquitos and the worst...leaches. Get one of those hooked into your foot...the White river is full of them. Highway 33 from Tulsa (the nearest city) has been drastically improved; it used to be much worse than US 95 and is now merely bad. The Walmart Waltons have poured some money into Fayetteville over the past 30 years, since Sam would not let his kids move to Tulsa. The campus is pretty. I'm not sure if Arkansas or Miss St has the toughest recruiting situation in the SEC; neither is a good HC job.
I just can't see CML being interested. It might be a useful bargaining stick, but to actually move there???
I just can't see CML being interested. It might be a useful bargaining stick, but to actually move there???
Leach would fit right in at Arkansas If they offere he will begone. However i do see them offering him because of his age and how his teams have looked this year.
He'd surely have almost no shot at winning the SEC West, but honestly, Leach is probably in about the same position at Arkansas with C+ through B-level talent playing against A+ and A-level talent (Bama, Auburn, LSU, A&M) and equivalent or worse talent (Mississippi schools) as he is playing with D+ or C- talent against talent ranging from C+ to A- in the Pac-12 North. Maybe better off since he can at least recruit more elite athletes at spots there. Sure, Bama and LSU would boat race Arkansas pretty much every year, but I think he'd put a scare into Auburn and, especially, A&M most years, beat the Mississippi schools most of the time, and beat most of the SEC East teams he played while winning all of the OOC games.
I'd have to do more research to be better-informed--stuff can play into this, like number of sports, etc.--but it looks like Arkansas is or has been a top-20 school in budget in the recent past. Leach has never been at a place that could pay to hold onto assistants, pay a lot of recruiting staff, etc., like he would be there, subject to the truly big boys still poaching if they wanted.
TL;DR -- he'd have a rougher road there but I don't think it's the living hell some have made it out to be. It would just be another variant of what he's always had -- trying to do more with less.
I'd have to do more research to be better-informed--stuff can play into this, like number of sports, etc.--but it looks like Arkansas is or has been a top-20 school in budget in the recent past. Leach has never been at a place that could pay to hold onto assistants, pay a lot of recruiting staff, etc., like he would be there, subject to the truly big boys still poaching if they wanted.
TL;DR -- he'd have a rougher road there but I don't think it's the living hell some have made it out to be. It would just be another variant of what he's always had -- trying to do more with less.
So you think Arkansas would beat most of the SEC East? Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Missouri? I don’t.
I love Leach. I love his system...at WSU. In a league where you would face 7 teams a year with NFL talent all over their defensive rosters, and power rushing attacks, I think they’d get smothered. All of those programs have the back 7s to chase receivers.
Leach’s system was made for the P12.
