It should be noted that LSU has only been "LSU" this decade. They spent decades in mediocrity, for whatever reason. Bama is coming off a bad stretch of finishing mid pack in the west, Auburn appears to be taking their place there.BeeDee wrote:That's just it. Arkansas has BEEN good. They've been about as good as one could reasonably expect Arkansas to be. This is nothing new. I don't think that Petrino makes a HUGE difference at Arkansas. He might come away with a better winning percentage in bowl games and maybe he actually WINS the SEC - but it was just a matter of time until Nutt did the same. I seriously doubt that Petrino ever plays for a NC at Arkansas. In fact, I'm willing to go on record with a standing bet with any Arkansas that that's willing to put his money where his mouth is. $500 says that Petrino's team never plays in the BCS title game while he's HC at Arkansas. He's a good coach, no one is disputing that. He's proven than he can win in the Big East - but that's a far cry from the SEC and he's coaching at Arkansas, for goodness sake, which isn't a whole lot different than coaching at Ole Miss or State or Kentucky for that matter. A trip or two to Atlanta every decade and a top 10 BCS finish now and then should be considered stellar performance. A run at the NC once in a career should be grounds for deification (no, not DEFECATION). Those have always been my personal aspirations for Ole Miss. If we could be considered:
1. A real threat to win EVERY game, no matter who we play.
2. Have a real chance to win the division and go to Atlanta most years
3. Not be anyone's rent-a-win or homecoming special
4. Get rid of the '45 years since a football championship of any kind' stigma
I'd be happy. Sure, we all WANT to be a UGA or a Florida or an LSU, but that's not a realistic goal at this point - who knows if it ever will be, given our size and location.
The point is any team can have their "time in the sun". It takes having the right coach and being able to get the right players. With the scholarship limits its unreasonable to think that certain teams can't rise up to the top, on the other hand its not realistic to think that traditional powers will stay there. Nebraska and Washington or absolutely horrible right now.
Its hard to honestly say Nutt would have won the SEC at Arkansas "in due time". 10 years is along time to be a coach at a school with out at least one conference championship, it just doesn't happen. Clemson didn't allow the 10th to be finished this year for Bowden. Yes while Nutt did have 3 opportunities to do so, that is an accomplishment in itself and up there with the rest of the West "powers" in a decade's span. The thing that is somewhat overlooked is the misconception that Nutt built Upig to that point or that it was a new accomplishment. The fact is it wasn't Danny Ford had them there in 95 where they lost to Georgia. He followed that with back to back losing seasons and was fired. That followed Holtz and Hatfield being let go after winning seasons so the precedent was there for high expectations, even if they are or not justified. What is often over looked before the 06 season, Nutt is coming off of back to back losing seasons and a major let down in the 03 season that ended with him publicly flirting with the Nebraska opening. His back was against the wall from that point on, had he won the 06 game against Florida and didn't have the two players transfer to USC and a coordinator resign, he might still be there.
You can believe or disbelieve with the statements about the players. It however doesn't change the fact they went to a school that embarrassed Arkansas 2 years in a row with some of the worst loses they have witnessed. Basically its a slap in the face to the average fan.
Nutt was faced with the same situation Cut had at ole miss and Hatfield before at Upig. The fans wanted changes in the assistant coaches, Hatfield refused and was let go after back to back 10 win seasons, Cut was obviously fired. Nutt gave the fans what they wanted, not many was complaining about the pass/run ratio at that time as Mcfadden/Jones was an exciting tandem. However if you watch the 06 LSU game the offense was completely inept for Arkansas and they lost. Back that up with the loss after leading in the SEC championship game, an embarrassing loss to Wisconsin in which they didn't look prepared at all, and you have all the "good" built over the year erased and the bad from 03-05 snowballing to an obvious end in 07. Nutt may have overachieved in 99-02, but he greatly underachieved in 08, IMO. Fact is its a "what have you done for me lately" type deal. It wasn't that long ago Penn State and Florida State were both wanting a new coach, if there is any team where a coach should get a pass for building a program, it is those two. It looks like it may pay off for Penn State this year and Florida State appears to be on the rise as well.
Point is I wouldn't be running my mouth to any team who is making a coaching change because they feel they can be better themselves. LSU would still be mediocre if they would have kept Dinardo. It takes years to know how it ends as you have Spurrier at USC doing just what Holtz accomplished at USC. Then you have Meyer taking Flordia back to the top after replacing Zook. On the other end there is Ogre taking a major step back for Ole Miss.
love Oxford, but it's not exactly a mecca for most high school kids) and the comparatively poor alumni/donor bases that we have. I strongly feel that Petrino is more likely than not, going to get about the same results at Arkansas as Nutt did. Maybe slightly better (he may manage a winning bowl record or to actually WIN one of the SECCGs he gets U-Pig to), but I don't think there results are likely to be dramatically different than what you've experienced in the past 10 years.
