Tommy Tuberville…. Yes. Maybe. Maybe not. No.
Tommy Bowden…. Yes. Maybe. Maybe not. No.
Jim Grobe…. Yes. Maybe. Maybe not. No.
By my own count, they have been in the church (if not at the alter) at least three times only to watch their “next coach” walk away.
There is going to be a lot of finger pointing in the days ahead at Arkansas, and maybe some of the criticism is valid.
Is the search too public? At this point, I would say yes. Arkansas thought they scored a coup with Tuberville, but being spurned in public (by three different coaches) has severely hurt the Razorbacks image. It is abundantly clear that whomever is hired is the fourth choice candidate, at best. You would think that the Razorbacks learned their lesson last year when Altman left them at the alter after being introduced to the media….
Are too many people involved in the search process? I’m not familiar with Arkansas’s exact arrangement, but somewhere along the line this coaching search is leaking like a sieve.
Should Arkansas have hired a search firm? While a professional search firm could cost eighty to one-hundred thousand dollars, this attempt byt the Razorbacks is proving it would have been money well spent. The university president and athletic director need to get a handle on the process, because there is remarkably little being done to conduct a private search.
At this point, I almost want to feel for the Arkansas fans, but… I think the biggest culprits are the Arkansas football fans.
It bears repeating that the way Nutt was… basically abused… by the Razorbacks fan base poisoned the pool at Arkansas.
If you’re going to have fans digging through your personal life, blasting you in the media, booing you at public appearances, and running banners calling for you to be fired during games — all while your team is winning — then why would any coach in their right mind willingly step into that environment?
The Arkansas fans are reaping what they sowed and until they own up to that… it may be a long couple of years for the Hogs.
Source: Hog fans reaping what they sowed in coaching search
