Colorado State coach Larry Eustachy talked about the youth on his team not being able to hold momentum after hot start against Hogs.
Internet reacts to Morris hire at UA
Look no further than your local ‘Twitter’ feed and you will see several members of the social media and internet sphere reporting that Arkansas has hired SMU’s Chad Morris to be the next head football coach.
With the anticipation of the new hire drawing a mixed bag of emotions from the Hog faithful, it is not surprising to see a variety of reactions from sports enthusiasts in and out of our state.
Nationally, at least one pundit is confident that Chad Morris is a good hire:
Re Chad Morris, I had perception of him from his time at Clemson. Then, went & spent a day with him at SMU. He is real. I came away very impressed. Presuming Arkansas closes the deal (which I expect), #Hogs getting a very good one.
— FootballScoop Staff (@FootballScoop) December 6, 2017
However, how are some of the members of the Hog Nation feeling about the possibility of the current Mustang coach leading our boys in cardinal and white? Some of the Hogs faithful are not sold:
It’s like the Arkansas brain trust created an Ishikawa Failure Diagram.
— Lew Harper (@Harper1Lew) December 6, 2017
Not all are so negative in the Natural State. Some are sticking moderate with pros, cons, and a few thoughts on our new athletic director, Hunter Yurachek:
So, we get an AD that will have benefits for us down the line, but nothing to show immediately. Now, he’s possibly bringing in an HC that has a 14-22 record and no SEC experience. That’s worrisome. Positives? Maybe good TX recruiting and maybe bringing Venables. #TNisthankingus
— lovethosehogs (@lovethosehogs) December 6, 2017
And there are even several people posting their excitement and enthusiasm for Morris being rumored to be our new Head Hog:
Morris was the highest paid assistant in the country while at Clemson from 11-14. Tells you something about Dabo’s value in him. I think we are gonna like where this goes people! https://t.co/6gtOLzGFpz
— Ozark Hog (@Ozark_Hog) December 5, 2017
Solely for some neutral perspective outside of the state and the SEC, this football fanatic from Central Florida chimed in leading his followers to believe that is confident in Morris’ capabilities:
Who has put together a better staff than Dabo Swinney?
Clemson hasn’t won fewer than 10 games since Dabo hired Chad Morris. He hired Venables the year after. Both could be head coaches in the SEC next season, and Tony Elliott just won the Broyles Award for top assistant.
— fantasyheisman (@fantasyheisman) December 6, 2017
Furthermore, some are even asking for early Christmas presents from the new AD and possible coach hire:
My only request is getting these uniforms back? @HunterYurachek @coachchadmorris #WPS pic.twitter.com/8350QIzmSI
— Jarad Hannegan™ (@JaradHannegan) December 6, 2017
Finally, just for laughs, enjoy a video of the likely new coach:
Great video featuring @coachchadmorris!#FinkleIsEinhorn
Clemson Football || Chad Morris’ Tempo https://t.co/ay7xoWsk9b via @YouTube
— WOOPIGSOOIE (@W00PIGS000IE) December 6, 2017
Regardless of what we feel as fans, we must unite behind this new hire and show him (and the recruits) how passionate and dedicated we are for our student-athletes and our program.
Reports tab Morris, ‘smashmouth spread’ to Hogs
Multiple reports from ESPN and others are saying the decision has been made that SMU coach Chad Morris will replace Bret Bielema at Arkansas.
There is a press conference scheduled for Wednesday morning with new athletics director Hunter Yurachek and Chancellor Joe Steinmetz.
Morris is a legendary Texas high school coach that has blended several offensive styles into what he calls his version of the “smashmouth spread.”
At SMU her inherited a program that one one game and has slowly turned it into a 7-5 team while recruiting with SMU’s strict academic requirements that are not relaxed for athletics.
Morris’ offense was being developed in the mid-2000’s and a lot of it came after watching what Arkansas was doing with DArren McFadden, Felix Jones and Peyton Hillis.
He had just replaced Art Briles at Stephenville High School and tried to implement a power-I scheme and, well, it wasn’t working at a school that was an original spread team.
Morris had several brainstorming sessions with Malzahn, developed his offense. He won a state title at Stephenville, moved to Lake Travis and won back-to-back titles.
When Malzahn left as offensive coordinator at Tulsa, he was replaced by Morris, then went to Clemson where his offense turned things around for Dabo Swinney.
The best way to describe it is a run game using old-school wishbone schemes in a multiple spread attack.
Victoria, Rippee collect all-region volleyball honors
FAYETTEVILLE — In recognition of their standout efforts this season, redshirt senior Pilar Victoria earned a place on the AVCA All-South Region Team and sophomore setter Rachel Rippee was awarded the first regional honor of her career with an honorable mention nod.
Arkansas now has at least one all-region performer in seven-consecutive seasons. Victoria and Rippee are now eligible for AVCA All-America consideration.
With Tuesday’s selections, the program has 40 all-region certificates spread among 25 student-athletes. Victoria becomes the 12th Razorback with multiple honors while Rippee is the program’s first all-region setter since the 2013 season.
Named an All-SEC performer last month, Victoria is the NCAA leader with 634 kills and 705.0 points and is the only player in the country to eclipse 600 kills and 700 points this season.
She is first in the SEC and ranks second nationally with 5.47 kills per set and 6.08 points per set, both figures representing single-season program records.
The newest member of the program’s 1,000-kill club, Victoria tallied double digits (kills) in 29 of 30 matches with at least 20 kills in 16 matches including four 30-kill performances.
Victoria is third in the SEC with a team-leading 15 double-doubles including the program’s first 20-20 effort — 26 kills and 20 digs at Ole Miss — since 2010. She was second on the team with 312 digs and 2.69 digs per set, both career highs.
Victoria served up 33 aces, the first 30-ace season by a Razorback since 2010. She also collected three or more blocks in 10 outings and matched her career high with six blocks at LSU.
From her setter position, Rippee ranks second in the SEC and 21st in the NCAA with 11.23 assists per set. She directed the offense to 17 matches with a .250 or higher hitting percentage including seven outings with a .300 or higher efficiency.
In a straight-set win over Mississippi State, Rippee set the team to a season-high .430 hitting percentage that tied the sixth-best mark in program history. While also averaging 2.16 digs per set, she finished the season with 12 double-doubles.
Rippee finished the season with 1,303 assists to become just the fourth setter in program history to reach 1,300 assists in a single season and the first to do so since 2003.
She also became the fourth Arkansas setter with 50 assists in a three-set match in the team’s sweep of Yale.
Twice named SEC Setter of the Week, Rippee moved into sixth place on the program’s career assists list and currently sits in sixth place with 2,295 assists through two seasons in Cardinal and White.
Anderson welcomes Yurachek to Razorbacks
Arkansas coach Mike Anderson welcomed new athletics director Hunter Yurachek to the Razorbacks after the win over Colorado State.
Morris leading list in search for new Hogs’ coach
More and more we keep hearing SMU coach Chad Morris is the leader in the search for Arkansas’ next football coach.
Again, that’s what we’re hearing. To the best of our knowledge, nobody knows a whole lot about what’s going on in the search.
With new athletics director Hunter Yurachek being on board already and apparently comfortable with the candidates the Joe and Julie Show have put together, Morris’ name is the one we keep hearing.
Here’s who is not in the mix, according to what we hear:
• Lane Kiffin, Florida Atlantic … He never has likely really been under consideration. While the upside potential is certainly there, you also have to consider the downside. It’s doubtful Chancellor Joe Steinmetz wants to deal with worrying about what the football coach might tweet, among other things.
• Kevin Sumlin, former Texas A&M coach … Again, someone who has never seriously been in the mix, likely because he has no interest in coaching at Arkansas.
• Charlie Strong, South Florida … Arkansas native reportedly made a phone call about the position, which sounds tremendously suspect just on the surface. It has since been reportedly denied. Who knows whether it actually happened or not, but he’s not in the mix.
• Mike Norvell, Memphis … The talk surrounding him has slowed down considerably in the last couple of days. There are reports of a problem in the vetting, but we have no idea what that is. He signed a new deal with the Tigers on Tuesday, so he’s out of the mix.
Names mentioned, but not likely to be seriously considered:
• Dana Holgorsen, West Virginia … Other than a couple of mentions of “names to think about” type things, we haven’t heard his name in the mix at all. The former Oklahoma offensive coordinator appears to be happy with the Mountaineers.
• Mike Leach, Washington State … While a favorite of some fans, we haven’t heard of him being seriously considered. The problems are too numerous, but he’s a wildcard for anybody and nothing indicates he is even remotely a good fit for Arkansas, especially after you do a little talking to people who are familiar with him.
• Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State … He’s not leaving Stillwater. He gave Tennessee a cursory conversation (we heard it never got close to an interview) because he was in Dallas and John Currie just showed up to talk. It didn’t last long and was reportedly dismissed as soon as it started. Until he starts losing don’t look for him to be leaving Oklahoma State.
Now here’s the names we hear still in the mix, ranked from most likely downward:
• Chad Morris, SMU … Apparently he’s the leader in the clubhouse. Obviously no decision has been made (that we know about), but we can’t find a single person to issue one negative about the guy. Even Brent Venables, in Little Rock for the Broyles Award, was singing Morris’ praises.
• Brent Venables, Clemson defensive coordinator … Talk about him has cooled in the last 24 hours and at the Broyles Award he talked in glowing terms more about Morris than anyone else.
There may be someone we have not heard of. Remember in December 2012 none of us had any idea Jeff Long was talking to Bret Bielema, either, until the deal was done.
But we are expecting it to be wrapped up this week.
There is a press conference at 10:30 Tuesday morning with Yurachek, but we would be completely shocked if there was any announcement about a football coach then.
Could Kiffin be target with Yurachek’s hiring?
The Joe and Julie Show got their first hire Monday, picking new athletics director Hunter Yurachek.
Welcome to the jungle, Hunter. Load up the Guns ‘n Roses track and proceed.
If he wasn’t aware of it, Yurachek is about to be hit with everything from a slobbering Hog logo to having to hire a football coach QUICK to dealing with some ticked-off financial donors.
Maybe all on his first day.
Apparently, this wasn’t a smooth hire and it wasn’t one that was unanimous, regardless of what any official vote may be called.
Some wanted Tulsa athletics director Derrick Gragg to have the job. He’d been at Arkansas before, had established relationships and at least knew the fastest way to get from MLK to Dickson St. when traffic was heavy.
Instead, chancellor Joe Steinmetz and interim AD Julie Cromer Peoples managed to push through a candidate with a name that sounds iike a European shooting guard in the NBA that might be able to find Arkansas on a map, but likely knows little else about the state, the people or the culture.
Some former players are mystified, confused and, in a couple of cases, downright ticked off. I know. I’ve heard from some of them and actually broke the news to at least one.
Some longtime donors are not happy.
Many fans are throwing up their hands in disgust and despair.
This was not the direction fans wanted to see after Jeff Long, who apparently had little use for most of the fans and none of the culture where Razorback athletics, particularly football, determines the entire mood of an entire state.
The first order of business is bring some sense of order to a coaching search that has appeared to have all the order of recess at playschool.
It’s likely the last chance the Joe and Julie Show has to get anything right in what has been a two-month drama with first Long, then coach Bret Bielema.
Before Monday’s announcement, which comes on the heels of Auburn coach Gus Malzahn turning down a reported $50 million offer, the pecking order was apparently Memphis coach Mike Norvell and SMU coach Chad Morris.
After Yurachek’s hiring, things accelerated past wild to full-blown craziness.
Lane Kiffin, Dana Holgorsen, Mike Leach and, yes, even Mike Gundy have seen their name mentioned. Who knows if any of these guys are interested or have been contacted.
Who knows what direction we’re heading.
Reportedly, Norvell’s name has dropped off the radar due to a vetting issue. No idea what or why, but that’s what has been circulating.
Kiffin? Former players like running back Madre Hill and tight end Chris Gragg have made their preference for Kiffin known on social media.
Personally, I think Kiffin would be a great choice. His previous issues were more from immaturity than anything else in my opinion. His social media craziness doesn’t bother me in the least and he’s never been criticized for his ability to coach.
He was reportedly the frontrunner at one time last year for the Houston coaching vacancy after Tom Herman went to Texas.
Yurachek was the athletics director doing that search and Kiffin was his choice, but was apparently not the choice of the school’s board.
But can Kiffin pass whatever vetting process is being used now?
At some point, somebody is going to have to get something done regarding a coach.
Right now, though, Yurachek is walking into the jungle.
And his first move might determine whether he makes it very far into that jungle.
Anderson previews matchup with Colorado State
Arkansas coach Mike Anderson takes a look at Tuesday night’s home matchup with Colorado State.
