Arkansas Hires John L. Smith As Interim Coach

#51
#51
tripper said:
Except for the fact that Arky keeps their whole staff intact while searching for a quality coach.
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This is it right here. If they had signed him to a 4 year contract, then I would have thought this to be the dumbest move ever. But this is not a bad strategy. They are not going to get the coach they want right now, so why not wait until the moves start happening next year.

Pretty solid. JLS is not horrible, he is just not very good.
 
#57
#57
A couple of quick thoughts:

First: He would have been a fool not to take this opportunity. He has a chance at the end of his career to try to turn his image around, even if just a little. The guy has done well everywhere he coached, except for Michigan State.

Second: He took a Michigan State program that was in complete disarray thanks to a 3 year stint by Bobby Williams. He leveled out some issues, and he put the ship back on course.

Third: He made MSU competitive again. Sure, he would have a great comeback win against Northwestern one week, and then snatch defeat from the jaws of victory against O$U the next week. But they were competitive.

Last: He recruited better than he is given credit. He took a poor MSU program and left a cupboard with a pretty decent level of talent for the next coach to win with.


What the L.? - LSJ Blogs: Hey, Joe
 
#58
#58
GatorBill said:
A couple of quick thoughts:

First: He would have been a fool not to take this opportunity. He has a chance at the end of his career to try to turn his image around, even if just a little. The guy has done well everywhere he coached, except for Michigan State.

Second: He took a Michigan State program that was in complete disarray thanks to a 3 year stint by Bobby Williams. He leveled out some issues, and he put the ship back on course.

Third: He made MSU competitive again. Sure, he would have a great comeback win against Northwestern one week, and then snatch defeat from the jaws of victory against O$U the next week. But they were competitive.

Last: He recruited better than he is given credit. He took a poor MSU program and left a cupboard with a pretty decent level of talent for the next coach to win with.
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That's spinning things a little. Yes, Williams left MSU in disarray, but Smith did nothing to improve it. In fact, he finished with a worse overall winning percentage than Williams did. His only winning season at MSU was his first, playing with Williams' recruits.
 
#59
#59
bamawriter said:
That's spinning things a little. Yes, Williams left MSU in disarray, but Smith did nothing to improve it. In fact, he finished with a worse overall winning percentage than Williams did. His only winning season at MSU was his first, playing with Williams' recruits.
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He took a team who's Quarterback was up to his nose in a drug issue (Jeff Smoker), and that had one of the most embarrassing loses to the university of michigan in school history. (Has the team quit on you? "I dont know") and who was absolutely not competitive in the Big Ten. The team was an embarrassment under Bobby. And dont get me wrong, I LOVE Bobby Williams as a coach. GREAT assistant who gave some very good years to MSU. Also a great recruiter. But he sucked as a HC.

John L came in an set the Smoker issue straight. He got the team's head of straight. He made them competitive. They lost a few that were very frustrating, especially the ones that were snatched from the jaws of victory. The 06 ND game was an epic meltdown in the rain. The faceslap in the presser was embarrassing, but he was trying to make a point about Jabba the Weiss LYING to the refs and to the press about getting slapped by a player (Matt Trannon) that never happened. He even showed the tape to the media. He backed up his players. He brought in some very good talent, but the coaches screwed them up. (himself included)

His last year, MSU was much less competitive, but they still put up a fight in most games. The game against OSU, at home, where Spartan Stadium was filled with Buckeye fans was the last straw. He lost the fanbase, but never lost his players.

He was out of his element, out of his league. I truly do not expect more that 7-5 out of him at Arkansas, but I expect the 5 losses to be competitive.

He is not a long term fix, but I think it was the right move for this season.
 
#60
#60
OhMYGolly, Im gonna have a seizure.

Ok, I will admit that maybe I was suppressing some pain. I just heard the name Damon Dowdell on the radio and it brought up some gawdawful memories.

The LaTech loss, at home being the worst of them, holy smokes. But Dowdell was one of Bobbys boys, and was not a BigTen QB.

The OSU loss at OSU, the kids are playing their tails off and the coaches are screwing it up. . . sigh. . .

and of course this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjGxfiebm
 
#61
#61
Found this pic on theCHIVE :)

awesome-college-parties-funny-girls-47.jpg
 
#62
#62
weber frickin state if im a arky fan i am PISSED give me the proven scumbag over the guy from weber st

they just started gettin used to being good too lol
 
#64
#64
did they even reach out to charlie strong or some of the other coord's in line for a big HC job?


i woulda loved the strong hire if i was a arky fan this tho :eek:lol:
 
#65
#65
BIG BOI 23 said:
did they even reach out to charlie strong or some of the other coord's in line for a big HC job?


i woulda loved the strong hire if i was a arky fan this tho :eek:lol:
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It is the wrong time if the year to get someone to jump ship. You can bet that there will be a season long interview process going on. Meaning, they are looking at everyone, and making a list of who they will interview after the season is over.

They didnt hire JLS to take over the program, they hired him to get them to the next head coach. His contract even states that he has no control over hiring and firing of coaches. He is just there as a placeholder until the next coach is hired. I dont see a problem with that.

As for Weber St, they will get over it. JLS now only has to coach 1 year to make the money he was going have to coach 8 years to make at Weber St. He is close to retirement, and this gets him closer. I dont see the big deal in it.

As for the scumbag comments. . (further up in someone elses post). . those I do not understand. JLS has only had one bad stop, and that was Michigan St. And his problem there was that he was over his head as a coach and recruiter. He fixed a lot of problems there academically, socially, and legally. He set that program up so that the next guy didnt have to worry about that stuff. He didnt win much, but he ran a very clean program.

If you are calling him a scumbag because he left a 100k job after just getting hired, to take an 800k job that could set him up better in the long run? I think most of us would do the same thing. Plus he has a bigger connection to the kids at Arkansas than he does WeberSt. No brainer.
 
#66
#66
This selfish attitude that's it's okay to screw people over for your own personal gain is one reason America is in the shape it is in today.
 
#70
#70
BIG BOI 23 said:
weber frickin state if im a arky fan i am PISSED give me the proven scumbag over the guy from weber st

they just started gettin used to being good too lol
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It's an interim; he's pretty much only there for this year



The whole point's someone to keep the ship on its current course for a year while they find a new captain rather than (possibly panicking) finding just whoever they can get to take the job this late and being bound to that as "actual head coach" for several years
 
#71
#71
BIG BOI 23 said:
did they even reach out to charlie strong or some of the other coord's in line for a big HC job?


i woulda loved the strong hire if i was a arky fan this tho :eek:lol:
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Most likely they tried; it is extremely hard to get most of those guys to jump ship this late

Really, they did what might be a smarter move made here (not saying the best possible, just a course of action): take their likely wounds this year coming from the fallout of all this and get a full year to go look for an actual legit head coach

Rather than hire just whoever said yes or the best out of lesser/hindered options this late first to a long term...
 
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