Go ahead, put the hammer down on expectations, too

Chad Morris hasn’t been on the job for a week yet and Arkansas fans’ expectations are high.

Some, like fellow cynic Mike Irwin, are urging caution with expectations. Nah, that’s not the way things are going to proceed with this coach.

Hey fans, get in the left lane and put the hammer down.

When Chad said that Thursday he was referring to the offense, but he might as well been referring to the fans.

The hammer has been put down.

Historically, Hog fans have been cautious with a new coach.

In 1977, most didn’t know what to expect from a team coming off a 5-5-1 record in Frank Broyles’ final season. Nobody was overly excited about a skinny-looking coach that looked like a nerd taking over a lackluster team.

Well, my old buddy Jim Harris and I sat in the parking lot of the Sears store in Pine Bluff (that one on 6th St., not the newfangled one in the Mall) and we came up with a 10-1 regular season. The only loss we had penciled in was Texas, which happened.

And we even came up with Arkansas in the Orange Bowl. Our mentor Frank Lightfoot at the Pine Bluff Commercial basically thought we were either drunk or had lost our minds when we told him.

Guess what? We could look at the roster, do some analysis, throw in some youthful overconfidence and we decided the Hogs would be in Miami on New Year’s.

We were right.

When Ken Hatfield took over a 6-5 team from Lou Holtz in 1984, he completely changed everything and went 7-4-1 with a Holiday Bowl win.

That set the stage for a 48-13 run over the next five years. It was the best run for any Razorback coach in the modern-day era.

Jack Crowe inherited a team that he had to scramble to keep together. When Broyles announced before Crowe had coached a game the Hogs were headed to the SEC he nearly lost 75 percent of his team because they were from Texas.

Crowe went 9-15 before getting fired after an opening-game loss to The Citadel in 1992. He never coached against a single SEC opponent.

Danny Ford took over in 1993 and warned everyone it was going to be tough sledding. He was right. The Hogs were 10-11-1 in his first two seasons, but then won the SEC West in 1995 before collapsing again.

Houston Nutt took over in 1998 and most were simply concerned about beating SMU. Yes, things had fallen to that point. Fans weren’t expecting anything and when the Hogs got off to an 8-0 start and as high as No. 9 in the country before stumbling at the finish.

By then the fans had high expectations again. They were so high that a 10-4 season in 2006 seemed like a massive disappointment.

Bobby Petrino got the expectations up there again, going 21-5 over his last two seasons. That, combined with some unrealistic projections for 2012 (they were never going to be better than a 7-5 team if Bobby hadn’t sailed through the handlebars because they lost the big-time playmakers off those two teams), set the stage for the six-year fall into mediocrity the Hogs find themselves now.

Timing is everything for coaches.

According to some of the former assistants on Bret Bielema’s staff, many of the players they had recruited were better suited for an offense like Morris’. They didn’t have a choice. The overwhelming number of high schools play it and that’s about the only option out there.

And Bielema wasn’t going to change, despite the objections of some of his offensive staff.

That’s why Morris may be set up for more success than many are ready to expect. Fans and some in the media have become accustomed to mediocre expectations.

This isn’t the time.

One thing research on Morris has shown is that the biggest positive he has is that he tailors his offensive approach to what the players he has can do best.

His track record shows Morris can get it done. He inherits a roster right now that’s better than anything he had at SMU. He probably won’t say it publicly (there’s no need for him to embarrass his former players), but the Hogs are better.

Bielema talked about being close on several occasions this year and he was right.

This team lost very winnable games against TCU, Texas A&M, Mississippi State and Missouri. One or two plays in each game would have made a difference and we might not be having this discussion.

But they were losses and that’s why Morris is here now.

It’s also why he could have success immediately.

With a nonconference schedule that is favorable (thanks to Michigan cancelling their series), the Hogs should be penciled in for four wins there. Throw Ole Miss and Vanderbilt in the likely win column and you’re at six wins.

The guess here is Mississippi State and Missouri aren’t going to be as good in 2018, pick up wins there and you’re at eight.

That leaves Alabama-Auburn-LSU-Texas A&M and winning one of those is not out of the question.

Get the picture?

Put the expectations up there. This schedule sets up nicely for some high expectations.

And the guess here is Morris has those same expectations.

At least you’d hope so.