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Morris’ change in culture a fresh restart for Razorback football

After five years of listening to a coach talking about what he had done it’s a nice little change of pace to hear Chad Morris talk about what he wants to accomplish.

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After five years of listening to a coach talking about what he had done it’s a nice little change of pace to hear Chad Morris talk about what he wants to accomplish.

Let’s face it, the previous coach waddled into town with a resume that was built by basically riding on the wagons built and driven by other people. He never coached outside the Hayden Fry coaching tree (which means, basically, he only knew one way).

Morris basically nearly sprinted to. the podium for his first press conference and you don’t see him taking a casual stroll very often.

“This is a sleeping giant,” he said again this past Monday about whether he basically had second thoughts. “It can be done or I promise you I wouldn’t be here. I can promise you that.”

He expected some growing pains. Maybe not 2-10 last year, but just about everyone knew it was going to be tough.

“There’s times you throw cold water on somebody to wake the giant up,” he said. “You may have to throw a couple of glasses on ’em.

“This is not an overnight fix. I’ve said that since I got here.”

It took basically 10 years to drive it into the ground. Those 10-11 win seasons weren’t going to continue because Bobby Petrino was more interested in drawing up plays than getting players to run them. He proved that at Louisville.

It’s probably not a coincidence there was, for all intents and purposes, no adult supervision over the football program.

One coach ran to the sorority house parties (yes, that actually happened) and one basically had a man cave on Dickson Street while an interim provided comic relief for a few months.

Morris has done more with two recruiting classes off two of the worst seasons in program history than those other guys did over a combined 10 years.

The effort is apparent and it really wasn’t realistic to expect it to get fixed quick.

“Especially when you look at a snapshot of Razorback football over the last 10-12 years,” he said. “We’re building something special. I’ve talked about building a program and I’m committed to doing that.

“Our culture is established and it will continue to be defined every day.”

You can get out of Morris comparisons with things he’s done at his other stops, going back to his high school coaching days in Texas. The last few places he coached there were bigger than every college program in Arkansas until you go through the tunnel on Interstate 49 headed north.

When he was hired, Morris said he would walk backwards to Fayetteville for the job. There hadn’t been a coach express anything close to that since John Barnhill called Frank Broyles in Missouri in late 1957.

“Without a doubt, I would walk backwards again to Fayetteville,” he said. “This is going to be a special place.”

When he was hired in December 2017, he asked the fans to give him a chance and said he wouldn’t let them down.

For many, they were willing to do that last year. Expecting that same level of patience this year is probably too much to even begin to ask about.

The guess is Morris isn’t that patient, either and that’s another change.

The previous coach liked to talk about being close, but you never felt like deep inside his considerable gut he HAD to win.

Morris HAS to win.

Not for his job. You get the idea he simply can’t stand piling up losses.

He inherited a mess at SMU and had the program on the upswing. Morris wasn’t leaving Dallas for just anywhere because the Mustangs were on an upward path while the Hogs were wallowing around, not making much progress.

It was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up, mainly because he didn’t have to change anything that was already successful. He could do it his way.

Which, I’m guessing, is the only way he wants it.

And that should be a pleasant change to Hog fans.

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Thu, Aug 29vs UAPB (Little Rock)W, 70-0
Sat, Sep 7@ Oklahoma StateL, 31-39 2OT
Sat, Sep 14vs UABW, 37-27
Sat, Sep 21@ AuburnW, 24-14
Sat, Sep 28vs Texas A&M (Arl)L, 21-17
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Sat, Oct 26@ Mississippi StateW, 58-25
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Sat, Nov 23vs Louisiana TechW, 35-14
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2024 High School Rankings

Following is the Arkansas Sports Media High School Football Poll including the Overall Top 10, the top five in Classes 7A, 6A, 5A, 4A, 3A and 2A, plus the top three in the 8-man division, as voted by a panel of sports media from around the state for the week ending August 24. Ranking is given with first-place votes received, records, total points and ranking from last week's poll:
OVERALLRecordPtsPrv
1.Bryant (25)10-02681
2.Greenwood (2)10-02343
30Conway9-12022
4.Little Rock Parkview9-11714
5.Bentonville7-31625
6.Benton9-11486
7.Fayetteville8-21117
8.Pulaski Academy8-2898
9.Rogers7-3439
10.Joe T. Robinson9-122
Others receiving votes: Valley View 8, Mountain Home 7, Cabot 6, Little Rock Catholic 6, Shiloh Christian 6, Elkins 1, Farmington 1.
CLASS 7A
1.Bryant (27)10-01351
2.Conway9-11022
3.Bentonville7-3813
4.Fayetteville8-2454
5.Pulaski Academy8-2395
Others receiving votes: Rogers 3.
CLASS 6A
1.Greenwood (27)10-01351
2.Benton9-11082
3.Mountain Home8-2623
4.Shiloh Christian7-3494
5.Little Rock Catholic9-1345
Others receiving votes: Marion 6.
CLASS 5A
1.Little Rock Parkview (27)9-11351
2.Joe T. Robinson9-11062
3.Valley View10-0793
4.Farmington9-1484
5.Hot Springs Lakeside8-2205
Others receiving votes: Camden Fairview 7, Harding Academy 7, Morrilton 3.
CLASS 4A
1.Elkins (20)10-01261
3.Arkadelphia (5)8-2913
2.Little Rock Mills (1)10-0682
4.Warren8-2554
5.Dardanell (1)9-123
Southside Batesville10-023
Others receiving votes: Malvern 12, Gravette 5, Highland 2.
CLASS 3A
1.Bismarck (12)10-01051t
2.Fordyce (10)10-0961t
3.Prescott (1)9-1704
4.Osceola (2)8-1543
5.Booneville (1)9-1395
Others receiving votes: Mansfield (1) 23, Rivercrest 10, Rison 4, Salem 4.
CLASS 2A
1.Carlisle (20)10-01271
2.Conway Christian (7)10-01152
3.Des Arc8-2595
4.East Poinsett Co.7-352
5.Bigelow6-4183
Murfreesboro7-3184
Others receiving votes: Mount Ida 6, Junction City 4, Cross County 3, Poyen 3.
8-MAN SANCTIONED
1.Strong-Huttig (27)5-0811
2.Midland9-0532
3.Cedar Ridge8-1253
Others receiving votes: Woodlawn 3.

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ESPN ARKANSAS 99.5 IN FAYETTEVILLE, 95.3 IN THE RIVER VALLEY, 96.3 IN HOT SPRINGS, 104.3 IN HARRISON-MOUNTAIN HOME.