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Don’t expect big changes, which will only fuel fire around Hogs’ football
Coaches don’t usually get fired after two seasons and it’s a good bet Chad Morris won’t be, either, regardless of what fans or anybody in the media thinks … for a variety of reasons.
Regardless whether fans on message boards, radio yakkers and talking heads or writers agree or not, you’re probably not going to see Chad Morris fired at the end of however this season unfolds.
Most of the above have fallen into the depths of despair while some have just flat given up. Don’t look for a packed house at Razorback Stadium on Saturday when Arkansas hosts Auburn.
Even with Darren McFadden in the house. Sorry, D-Mac, but about the only way you could draw a crowd is if you could put on a uniform and go like you did over a decade ago.
It has fallen to that level.
It’s a good bet, based on a very unscientific gauge of listening to fans, is Morris should be gone and the coaching staff with him.
Okay, that’s your opinion and while I may agree or not none of it matters. The folks that do have a vote really aren’t that worried one way or the other what rank-and-file fans think.
As usual, it’s probably going to come down to financial matters. The Razorbacks’ problem has always been that while there are some folks that rank in the nation’s wealthiest, they either aren’t THAT big of fans and they aren’t going to write a huge check for somebody to NOT coach here.
All of that means Morris probably isn’t going anywhere, regardless of what happens. There probably won’t be sweeping staff changes, either.
In this day and age of college football, when you get down as as far as the Hogs have fallen with an entire program, you’re not going to get it overhauled quick.
Are there things on the field that should be better? Absolutely, in my opinion. Placing the blame, though, is a little more difficult.
On offense, Morris has got to figure out the quarterback and offensive line situations. I’m not convinced the two don’t go hand in hand.
For reasons that I don’t particularly agree with, he’s trying to save the redshirt year on freshman K.J. Jefferson. What he’s waiting on to see what redshirt freshman John Stephen Jones can actually do under live fire remains a mystery.
Jones might be one of those guys that may show better in a game situation than he does in practice. It was that way with Matt Jones and it’s a good bet every fan reading this would take him back today.
As for the offensive line, the guess here is they need about 2-3 more warm bodies.
At times listening to Hog fans, they almost think the right coach could get a mule to win the Arkansas Derby. Especially when you have a program that has undergone three head coach changes with three completely different systems in less than a decade.
Throw in a goofball placeholder and a completely lost recruiting year and you have the makings of big time problems.
With the biggest difference these days being the shift in recruiting to a signing period in December add in there that Morris really has had one full recruiting season.
He’s really not the only coach dealing with issues. Chip Kelly, the coach who guided Oregon to the national title game against Auburn after the 2010 season, is exactly 4-14 at UCLA after failing miserably with two teams in the NFL.
But, some will point out, he did beat Mike Leach’s Washington State team. Yeah, the same Leach many believe is dying to coach the Hogs because he made a comment once about Little Rock being so loud in a game over 20 years ago.
There’s no evidence he wants the gig, although he’ll probably listen to anybody. The Arkansas job isn’t exactly the envy of coaches across the country.
It’s a different world. Money’s not as big of a deal anymore because, quite simply, the top assistants aren’t exactly living on Ramen noodles these days. Most wait for the right opportunity where they can have success.
Which isn’t with the Razorbacks.
None of this explains the no excuses in the coaching mistakes that have contributed mightily to at least three losses this year and a couple last season.
But if you add it all up it might be why Morris isn’t going anywhere this year.
And that will stoke the flames of his hot seat hotter for a full year.