June 19, 2013

The Blame Game

September 24, 2012 by

The sun is shining in Fayetteville today.  Birds were singing this morning.  Pretty roses are in bloom outside my window.  Cardinal red roses actually.

2442081 If these beautiful things were paying attention to Razorback football, they would surely be different.  The day would be dark and rain would be falling.  The birds would be silent, and the roses would be turning white.

Sad Razorback fans filed out of the stadium Saturday night to go through the motions of packing up their once joyous, but now depressing tailgates.  The mood was somber mixed with anger.

We want to blame something — recruiting, freshmen, coaches, schemes, play calling — surely if we can find the right thing to blame, this situation can be quickly fixed.

The word ‘execution’ comes up a lot.  Inconsistency in execution is said to be the main problem.  Why can’t the Hogs execute?  Without Bobby Petrino, this Razorback team no longer has the discipline and preparation in place that it takes to compete.

I’ll be surprised if this team wins two or three games the rest of the season.  The discipline and preparation needed can’t be regained inside of the season.

So do I blame Bobby Petrino?  Yes, it is true he was doing something stupid.  I blame Bobby Petrino for riding motorcycles and, in spite of reputation, not being ready with an effective lie when needed.

Do I blame John L. Smith?  A check of his job history should have let us know what we were getting.  Blame Paul Petrino?  Check out how his offenses performed at Illinois.  Blame those new defensive coaches that had never been coordinators?  Hmmm.

Jeff Long (AP Photo/April L. Brown) Do I blame Jeff Long?  He did do the right thing once, but not twice, when he hired John L. Smith and tried to keep a staff together that, in reality, had only coached one game together.

Long traded ‘doing right’ regarding Bobby Petrino for a situation that pretty much guaranteed a few years of suffering for the program.  He held the program in his hands and made the ‘right’ short-term decision and arrogantly thought he could manage through the longer term ramifications with no harm to the program.  Did he really do the right thing or did he take a short-term view and actually double down (or more) on the wrong?

Assigning blame gives no consolation.  The Razorback football program is bigger than any one person and will survive.  But at any given point in time, the program is only as big as the head coach has the ability to make it.

Long proudly hired the snake and the snake bit him.  He proudly killed the snake and then proudly stole a coach away from a contract to keep house for a year.  Personally, I’ve questioned every one of those decisions.

I’m really interested to see how he gets himself out of this mess.

Filed Under: Arkansas Razorbacks, Football
  • OwassoHog

    Ultimately, Jeff Long is in charge! Not matter what, he needs to stand up and take the heat and blame. Personally, I don’t have any faith that he will address the issue with a great hire. Going into this season, I felt that we could be 11-1 or 7-5. It appears that 7-5 may be too optimistic at this point…
    Thanks Jeff! :-(

  • http://www.facebook.com/patrick.jeffries.7 Patrick Jeffries

    Did Jeff Long have any idea about JLS’s finances before the hire? Thats one thing that I would like to know. Personally I think JLS needs to borrow a page from Jack Crowes playbook and resign. And Jeff Long needs to make sure he does it.

    • hog in iowa

      I’m pretty sure JLS said in a news conference recently he had told the U of A about his impending bankruptcy when interviewing for the job.

  • GolfHog

    The bizarre career of Jeff Long; hired by John White as AD in waiting, he has seen one disaster after another unfold, and, while having seeming good fortune, has managed to side step responsibility at every turn with beauracratic efficiency. He seems to do so little, it’s hard to blame him. It’s as if AD should stand for something other than Athletic Director when Jeff holds the title. He is athletic something, but what?
    And yet, someone is responsible. Someone approved the hiring of Dorrell. Someone was asleep at the switch after the crash, when Petrino was allowed to set his own news conference. Someone hired John L when other options were available and the risks were clear.
    When Frank was building the Lindsey Lohan of college football, he was clearly the one at the wheel. Now that Jeff has taken over, he seems more content to stay behind in the bar and simply not as Lindsey for the keys.

    • Roadhog

      I think a lot of this is the result of Frank Broyles establishing a sort of religious cult with himself as the leader. I believe he developed a kind of religious test for coaches, including Hatfield, Holtz, Nutt and Pelphrey, that was perpetuated through the Razorback Foundation. I don’t know for sure whether John White was a member of the cult, but Jeff Long definitely is. Will the next FB coach have to pass a religious test? If so it is illegal, and it is something we should know about.

      • GolfHog

        There are ton of issues there but at least you answered my question. Long is simply Frank’s boy. We are not rid of Broyles yet. I’m not surprised, only surprised that I missed it.

      • Jim Dogg

        Bobby Petrino is religious?

        • Roadhog

          I don’t know whether B. Petrino is religious or not. He didn’t seem like the religious type, but I think there were references to church on the day of the crash. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to hear that he had found or renewed faith as he tries to rehab his image. Sutton and Richardson didn’t seem religious, but there is a lot of pressure on public figures to cop to some form of religious observances, such as pre-game prayers, etc.

      • uvahog

        Roadhog, could you expound on both the religious test business and the bit about Long being a “member of the cult.” I’m not necessarily dubious just totally ignorant about your comment.

        • Roadhog

          I forgot to mention Rick Schaeffer, the holiest roller of them all. Jeff Long was a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, a long-time preseason matchup for Razorback basketball. It was recently reported on another site that Jeff Long has weekly prayer meetings at his house. That sounds right to me, but I can’t confirm it. These examples do not confirm a religious test, but many reports over the years have said that religion is pervasive in the athletic department and that the Razorback Foundation pressures athletes to participate in religious activities. Again these are just examples, but there is considerable evidence for religious proselytizing in the department and the foundation.

  • GolfHog

    The other thing that leaps to mind with the blame game is that it is not just one thing. If it was only Grandpa Smith or only Paul Petrino, or only Paul Haynes then a fix might be in order. But, when it’s your head coach and both coordinators then your worse fears have been realized. This was too big a risk to take. As you said, it’s one thing to turn your program over to assistants, it’s another for a group of assistants that don’t know each other.
    Long could not have hired a proven head coach in April. He could have hired a big name assistant. It is quite possible he will end up with someone in December that he could have hired last April. I hope not. He needs the best, proven coach available to fix this mess.

  • GolfHog

    This team reminds me so much of an old Danny Ford team. They play scared and make plenty of mistakes. The only difference is that they have a kicking game.
    They really need to shorten these games as much as possible. Most teams play to stop the run first. This team needs to play to stop the pass. Make the other team run clock. They have a much better chance of outscoring the other team if both teams have fewer possessions. The short passing game is as good as a running game only it requires less blocking. We have the talent to be a mediocre team. And we certainly have the coaching.

    • Jim Dogg

      I think that you may have hit on it. I have previously said that the Hog’s pass defense is the worst aspect of all this. But how to fix it? I have also said that the defensive secondary strategy seems to be play behind the recievers and hope they drop the ball or the QB throws errantly. The pass defense needs help. Your suggestion of concentrating on pass defense may be the only way out of this mess since desperation may require desperate measures. The problem maybe LB positioning to stop the run but not the pass. Another thing is to get more pressure on the QB, with a strong pass rush with blitzing schemes (where are they?) or covering receivers close enough to interfere with their routes. Opposing QBs have too much time or (I think opposing coaches are on to this) they get the ball out quick enough for a preprogrammed slant pass, especially on third downs. I am not a football coach or guru in any sense but I am apalled at the ineptness of Arkansas to stop critical third down pass plays. Whose responsibility is this? I don’t have a clue as to how to correct it. So Golf, you may have just hit on something that could be tried.

  • bri

    For sure JL has f’d it all up. The first mistake he made was hiring BP knowing BP’s record of crashing/betraying every program he’s been at…but JL took the risk and got burned. 2nd bad decision was firing BP for lying to him about hiring a staffer he was shagging. 3rd bad decision was hiring JLS. so he is 3 for 3 in football dept.
    And the weird thing is that i actually like JLS.

  • Daniel

    I blame losing our coach. I can’t believe as a hog fan and Saints fan this has happened in the same season thus I have nothing to look forward to on the weekend. Thanks Jeff!

  • T-towner

    This is so screamingly obvious——–the helmets did it to us! At least they did us against Rutgers. It was other things the previous two weeks. But, for sure, the white helmets need to be permanently retired from service.

    • Jim Doggg

      My first reaction exactly when I read the above commentary before I read your post. The loss was bad enough but those white helmets were an embarassment. Whose idea was this, an addition to the staff from Oregon or Maryland? Whatever happened to tradition? Gradual Change is OK but Punctuated Equillibrium?

  • Bleed razorbackred

    I’m not one to blame players, HOWEVER, Knile Davis needs to put up or shut up! In hind sight, the coaching staff did a diservice to him and the team by not letting him have contact sooner. If a player is going to get hurt, it’s just gonna happen. All this talk about being the best RB in the SEC is BS! If I see him take a dive into the pile from the line of scrimmage again I’m going to scream. I wonder if he hasn’t totally written off the year in fear of getting hurt because of future draft implications. I say just sit him and go with Johnson and Williams. The freshman will need reps before our rebuilding season next year. I still love the HOGS and will continue to watch faithfully, but I will no longer invest my emotional energy.

  • Roadhog

    “The word ‘execution’ comes up a lot.” Yes it does, but I doubt I could get away with it. Some would consider it justifiable.

    There is plenty of blame to go around, but I am more interested in responsibility than blame. The players and coaches are the only ones who can improve on matters this season, and it is their responsibility to try. The administration is responsible for the future of the program: Jeff Long (good picture) and his committee and their ability to find the money to hire a top-notch coach. I’m sure the usual suspects are on it full-time, not just Long.

    It is a helpless feeling to sit and wait for something to happen, but that is all i can do as a fan, that and vent on the message boards. Except for the players and coaches who can take out their frustrations on the field and on opponents, the rest of us must practice patience. This season, this situation must play itself out. Jeff Long will not tell us what’s going on behind the scenes till he announces the new head coach, probably after the season.

    • Jim Doggg

      “the rest of us must practice patience…” ” I still love the HOGS and will continue to watch faithfully, but I will no longer invest my emotional energy.” Best advice yet. I’ll work on it guys.