BOL Round Table

Maybe, but the smell of the UNC situation is all over Davis and considering the dumpster fire Arkansas is trying to move on from, don't think they could go there.

I'll be interested to see if Long has the stones to go outside if Smith wins 11 games in 2012. Smith obviously thinks Long doesn't.

TR

I think Arkansas is at best a 9 win team this coming year. The media and their fans want us to believe they are significantly more talented than their recruiting has made them. I've heard constantly how they think they are a national title contender. They needed to improve significantly from last season to this season to make up the difference between them and Alabama and Lswho.

Their defense is on par with maybe Auburn in terms of talent in excution. Their offense is great against bad teams but struggles to produce against good teams, of which they will face a few.

Lastly, they are going to throw the ball even more this season with Paul running the O. All that will do is give teams like us more opportunities to run our offense on a short field.

Think you may be right re: Smith and McGee's willingness to do interim. If you're Smith it's worth the shot at this point in his career. Not like another opportunity at a BCS school was going to come around for him.

TR

I'm guessing here's the problem Long had: new DC, so he wasn't an interim option and the OC's last name is Petrino, which tells you all you need to know about his chances.

Pre-Smith interim Taver Johnson, like the DC, is new to the staff after being hired in January. The perception is that Arkansas is a legitimate BCS contender for 2012 with no guarantees of being such beyond the season. Long felt like he had to have guy with BCS head coaching experience to give them the best chance at fulfilling expectations (while also showing the fan base that he did everything he could to make good of a bad situation).

All that said, I agree with your second sentence. If he wins 10 or 11, then what? Long-term, Smith getting the job would be a win for Arkansas opponents.

TR

So, in other words, Long got to Smith by process of elimination - which seems like a pretty terrible way to choose an SEC head coach.

Should have had the nads to go interim from within the staff, whoever that may be. If Brother Petrino's last name is a problem - or if his loyalty is in question - hard to see how keeping him on staff as the OC makes any more sense than just moving him up.

Here is the biggest reason you take the Job. John L. Smith will get paid $850,000 at Arkansas. At Weber State he was going to get paid $125,000 a Year. It was going to take him 7 years to make that kind of money at Weber State. He can now retire and let Paul Petrino take over if they have a good season.

If Smith has success at Arky this year you might as well change his name to Larry Coker Jr.

The reason they didn't promore an interim from with-in is b/c it would take time away from actual coaching.
They want the coaches to gameplan and coach, and an interim coach to manage the overall program and deal with the media.