Ever notice how a ride at an amusement park works…particularly a roller coaster? You start by getting on and fastening your safety harness, not knowing what awaits but anxious with anticipation. The ride (season) starts, and you have highs and lows, twists and turns, excitement and trepidation, but in the end…you end up right back where you started, completely stopped and ready to exit the ride so that others in line can get a turn.
For me, Razorback basketball since 1999 has been one gigantic roller coaster ride that has been so up and down and full of twists and turns that, after Friday night’s loss to USC in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, I’m left exiting the ride full of nausea, ready to hurl into the nearest set of bushes.
It’s been over a decade since Razorback basketball was significant after February. This program has become merely another among the nearly 200 other Division I schools. We have become irrelevant and are rarely discussed in serious college basketball conversations, unless decade-old tournament or Final Four stats are being referenced.
How did we get here? There is plenty of blame to go around.
I blame Frank Broyles for running a good ol’ boy network filled with double standards, and his mishandling of Nolan.
I blame John White for the search committee process, and his mishandling of Frank and Nolan.
I blame Nolan Richardson for the lack of recruiting late in his tenure; the many remarks attacking the administration, fans and media; and for the state he left the program in.
I blame the media for the many critical, biased and venomous articles early on and late in Nolan’s career. It’s the same media that has fueled the coaching replacement discussions three weeks before the end of this season. Where were they during the two losing seasons in football? Apparently, the gloves come off when dealing with basketball.
But last, I blame the fans. Yes, the same fans who watched and cheered as the program rose to heights others dream of…those same fans helped tear and burn it down. We had a coach who had taken his teams to three Final Fours, two championship games, and won a national title. But when lean times hit, the fans were too quick to turn on a coach that may have actually earned and deserved a two year pass.
If you think I’m wrong, just ask yourself how the football coach would be treated with a NC under his belt, two championship game appearances and three BCS bowls? He’d have a lifetime contract and AD chair waiting on him.
Fans have a double standard when it comes to basketball. Attendance at Bud Walton began to erode in Nolan’s final years, and the same has been happening with Stan Heath. “Fans” will tell you that it’s because they don’t like the boring and predictable style of play. Are we still talking about basketball? (I recently had a friend tell me he’d gladly trade two basketball championships for one in football.)
The slide from National Champions in 1994 to National “Who Cares” in 2007 has been a long, slow and painful process that has become, like a lot of things lately on The Hill, a mess of epic proportions. What happens to this team and Heath over the next few weeks and months will have a lasting impact on the future of the Razorback program. Razorback basketball cannot take another year off of the national college basketball map, much less three to five more.
As Nolan once said, “All sickness is not death.” Well, my friends, this program has been sick for many years and after Friday’s blowout loss, appears to be on life support. Is there a doctor in the house?
Good post, it'll be interesting to see what happens in the next week for sure.
I just read Wally Hall's latest "Like it is," and I have to say that I'm a bit perplexed. Hall, and several others, have mentioned that Bill Self is considered a candidate for the job (if there's a job available, that is).
…uh, really? Why would Bill Self leave a basketball powerhouse like KU for Arkansas? He's not even on the hot seat.
With all the rumors swirling around the 2 Bills (Self, Gillespie) coming here to replace Stan. I'm not sure I buy it, especially when the same sources are whispering names like Doc Sadler.
The next few weeks will be telling on the direction of this program.
I can't see Bill Self coming here either. As a matter of fact, if there is going to be a change, it will be a long shot at Gillespie. Texas A&M won't sit back, and not up the ani. I could see Frank & Co. going after Doc Sadler. He would probably be the cheaper route. Anyway, I feel sorry for Stan, being brought in the middle of all this mess, after the Nolan fiasco.
2 Bills? Come to Arkansas? Get real. Might as well throw in names like Mike and Roy.
Great post. The degree of this 'mess' is absolutely amazing.
I'd add to the 'blame' list the 'big money' supporters as well as the Board of Trustee members. There are too many 'cooks in the kitchen.'
5 prognosis – not so great in either football or basketball.
Yep Hogballer. I think we're about to see what the state of Hog basketball is over the next few weeks. If Heath stays then we'll know that nobody big wants this job. If he goes then that may not mean much either. It wouldn't surprise me if we end up with another unproven coach.
It is amazing what Eddie and Nolan accomplished in this state with basketball. In the south Football is King. It is also true that both Eddie and Nolan had a very strong and distinct philosphy that made their teams hard to beat and fun to watch. All of this rebounding and watching the stats is CRAP. You will have to make a final four every three years to get people to watch that at the same level as Hawgball.
It is possible that Arkansas is on its way to being the Vandy of the West. White appears to be inclinded that way and so far the BOT and big money insiders have shown no ability to exert real influence over the program. Frank still controls the big money in the Razorback Foundation and the uses for that go far beyond Razorback Athletics. He hasn't shown any interest in spending it before, I don't know why he would change now.
It is not a good time to be without an AD. Clearly the Bills are beyond our reach at this point. With a strong AD and check from the Foundation we might make a run at one of them but without I don't see it. It looks like Doc or Stan and that really is a shame. With this group of players and 7 scholarships to give next year there is a hot young coach out there that would jump at the chance. The fact that we haven't heard those names is not encouraging.
What Nolan did was shameful but, he and Frank share that fat cat disease. When you become a legend in your own mind you can imagine all kinds of crap that is pretty crazy. People of that stature need someone around them to tell them the truth but seldom have anyone. During this critical time I hope that our media will grow up enough to see that that is their job.
The other night, I heard someone talking about Rick Pitino and the job he did this year. About how bad Louisville was at the beginning of the season and how far they'd come during the course of the season. So ask yourself "How much better are we now than in the Old Spice Classic?" That answer is telling. As far as replacements, I was listening to Rick Majerus last night. Damn, Rick please get yourself healthy so you can return to Coaching. I'd take him in a heartbeat! Look at what he did at Ball State and Utah and think of what he'd accomplish with our resources.
"If you think I’m wrong, just ask yourself how the football coach would be treated with a NC under his belt, two championship game appearances and three BCS bowls? He’d have a lifetime contract and AD chair waiting on him."
If that football coach exhibited extreme mood swings that included verbal abuse of the people of Arkansas and his own players then the answer to your statement is incorrect. Ask those players on that last team how their coach behaved.
Nolan had lost the ability to win at the high D1 level [see hand check rule] and his recruiting had fallen off to the point where he thought the only way to get good players was to mimic Miss St and bring in JC kids, most of which never made it.
He was a shell of the 1994 coach.
I was never a Stan Heath fan and hope he moves on.
The program needs a young coach with ties to the SEC and Big 12.
You missed the point Kevin. I was comparing the double-standard that fans have between the basketball and football programs.
Houston Nutt has had just as much controversy as Nolan, yet he still remains in place. Just imagine what it would be if Houston had some BCS and championship appearances under his belt.
You guys who are wanting Stan out may get your wish without having to kick him out since his name is being mentioned for the Michigan job.
I also think if we fired Stan now it would give just a little weight to what Nolan said. I mean how can you fire Stan at this point and he has reach the big Dance 2 years straight reguardless of the outcome and you have Nutt go 2 years with loseing season and stay.
You are comparing apples and oranges or in this case maybe grapes and walnuts.
Stan has under performed every year he has been here. I know we excuse those first two years although it is easy to imagine a good coach winning more than 9 games. Stan's road record is unbelieveably bad. His ability to motivate the team is clearly poor. Three years ago they had to turn down the NIT because the kids had just quit and the last two years they pulled a little run out of their ear to make it one and done in the dance. There is just no record there to defend if you stop giving him the benefit of all of the doubts. There is a mountain of doubt. The only real question with Stan is 'are you in a position to get someone better?' and that is not at all clear.
No longer a Houston fan I will only say that Houston started strong, has been in the post season 7 out of 9 years, and has some significant wins to his credit. Whether he will last much longer than Stan remains to be seen.
The main difference though is that the fans continue to buy football tickets, at least as far as we know. It will be interesting to see order numbers this year.
BlindHog, I have to agree with a lot of what you say here but… I will use your "grapes and walnuts" with your perspective on ticket buying take the following into consideration:
As a fan, I am more willing to buy football tickets because of the limited number of games vs. basketball (for any sport – hockey, baseball, etc). Also, having USC and a number of other good teams in town will have a larger interest and draw. Changes such as Malzahn will continue to add interest.
Having said all of that… with a bunch of "junk" games in Fayetteville and all of the "other" stuff… it would not surprise me at all if our football attendance heads south big time for next season.
One other minor note is that you don't see to many football games impacted by driving conditions and/or holidays. This does reduce attendance (unless attendance is tickets sales vs in-person) somewhat in basketball but obviously not to the degree that you are discussing.
I remember in years past when the waiting list at Bud Walton was 3000 and people filled the place to capacity during a snow storm. 2 or 3 kids will make a basketball team if they have a supporting cast and a good coach. Nolan is not the first coach to 'retire' once he won his national title. He might have awakened for a second run if he kept his mouth shut and got lucky but, he was itching for a fight.
It is time for Stan to go and stop the bleeding.
You are right though that next year's schedule makes it a little easier for unhappy fans to voice their discontent through ticket sales. That is an unlucky coincidence for Dale. It will be an interesting year to say the least. People are complaining about the soap opera but the next installments should be quite entertaining. We paid the price, now we should get the show.
We can compare apples & oranges,or grapes and walnuts all we want, but the bottom line has come to this: Ticket revenue will be down next year, with the return of Stan Heath. Recruiting will be made a top priority, with 7 scholies availiable after next year. Frank Broyles is looking to redeam himself with a great coaching hire, after the Malzahn blunder, especially right before he retires on his 50th annaversary of being named head coach of the football team. Does anyone think Frank need's a better excuse to fire Stan? Frank is a great businessman, and this will be typical business for Frank, as usual. Frank doesn't want to fire Stan, but personal feelings won't get in the way of financial prosperity for the university,or Franks ego, whichever comes first.
Frank can't fire Stan without questions about why he didn't fire Houston. Nolan will be all over this again! Just watch for it via your local news.
My prediction is that Stan stays (see below for why):
1. Stability of the program–no big time coach is coming to Arkansas knowing that there will be a new AD after Frank leaves.
2. Success is not just about wins/losses–Overall, the program is getting better in ALL facets.
3. Bad racial image for Arkansas if they do fire him–Let's see…Houston Nutt, white, 10 years, 2-6 bowl record, "vote of confidence" from university; Stan, black, 5 years, improvement each year and 1st back to back 20 win seasons, 0-2 in NCAA 1st round, "silence from the administration"
4. Players will leave–If Stan is gone, Beverly is for sure gone; remaining players may "protest" the new coach by not playing.
5. We don't have the same basketball prestige in the past–Face it Hog Fans. We are in basketball, as Alabama is in football. It used to be that people were beating down the door to coach at Alabama; look at what happened this year with their coaching situation (they got EXTREMELY lucky with Saban).
Argue what you want, but the above is true no matter how you slice it.
Go Hogs!
Owasso makes a good point about Houston not being fired, and Stantheman makes one too about the comparison of Houston & Stan's records. All of that being said, I still don't believe it will be enough to deter Frank from pushing the issue. Frank's legacy will come first, unless someone else is really in charge now. As far as the university having a bad racial image, it probably wouldn't be as bad as Alabama's anyway you slice it. Saban came too Alabama because money talks. If they had not offered the incredible amount they did, then they would've been exstreamly lucky, or it would've meant Saban is exstreamly stupid.
I am sad that Coach Heath is leaving. One more year was deserved. However, I was afraid that this would happen after the team did not proceed past the first round in NCAA tournament. It says a lot for the NCAA whenever you fire a good coach with an improving record. Sad! Sad! Look no further than Hunter's attitude of Heath's firing to see what some of the problem was in their not having reached their full potential this year. He was on tape bad mouthing Heath before Heath even left town. Said something about not getting to play enough. Does that sound familiar? Attitude will sink a company, team, or army. Attitude seems to be a problem with Hunter saying what he did. The next coach will have to conquer that through instilling a new attitude. Without a great attitude you sink, but with a great attitude you can soar! I have seen this over and over and over again throughout life..
As far as Houston Nutt, you are forgetting that he was the SEC coach of the year, That s=ss a huge accomplishment. He also won the West championship and except for a dropped ball in the end zone for a TD would have beaten Florida. The football program is on the rise! We shall have to wait and see what happens in basketball, as to who they can bring in. I do not see UA outbidding TAM if they want to keep Gillespie…if that is who they are pursuing.
Nevertheless, Go Hogs! Go!
Defense, You hit the nail right on the head about Hunter's comments. If you had any disipline at all, why would you say that about a good man like Stan Heath? Is this not consistant about the basketball team as a whole? Stan did not disipline his players. They played by the seat of thier pants. The old saying is "You reap what you sew", and Stan Reaped what he sewed. Hunter's comments reflects the exact same way this team plays. No disipline!!