Browns Draft Taylen Green

    The Cleveland Browns' trade with the Denver Broncos allowed them to use the first pick of the sixth round, and the Browns took a flyer on Arkansas quarterback Taylen Green.

Green has the physical tools to be a star at 6'6 235 pounds, a plus arm, and excellent running ability.

However, Green's been inconsistent as a thrower (completed sixty percent of his passes in 2025) and threw eleven interceptions last season with nineteen touchdowns.

Green rushed for 777 yards for Arkansas last season after rushing for over six hundred in 2024, so he can move around well, but his decision-making has been questioned during his college career.

Green played the last two seasons in Fayetteville after starting for two seasons with Boise State.

The tools are all there for a successful quarterback, and Todd Monken did a great job with the mobile Lamar Jackson when he was the offensive coordinator for Baltimore, so Green certainly makes sense as a developmental quarterback.

Green might find a place in gadget plays, and with his size, Green could see some time as the designated short-yardage quarterback.

There is a lot to like about Taylen Green, but he's very raw and has many edges to refine, so he's far from a sure thing. I do like taking a shot with a late pick and seeing what can be done with him.

This could be the end of Dillon Gabriel with Cleveland, whether it's now or sometime in training camp.

If you take a quarterback like Green, he needs time to develop and learn, and if you are only giving him a training camp to impress you, why bother?

Taylen Green has NFL size and skills; Dillon Gabriel doesn't. Gabriel looks to me to be the odd man out in the Browns quarterback room.

I Tell Ya' Herbie

   Here are a few scoops from the college football dessert that we call I Tell Ya' Herbie.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                             It's been another week since we warned about a coach in trouble and said the coach was fired.

This time, it's Arkansas, which dropped Sam Pittman after a home clobbering against Notre Dame.

The Hogs (2-3 0-1 SEC) have a brutal finish to the season as six of their final seven games are against Top 25 teams.

Pittman was unlikely to keep his job against that schedule, so I can understand the decision to cut ties early.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                              I'm not on board with the decision to make offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino the coach for the remainder of the season.

The well-traveled Petrino was fired at Arkansas in 2012 after a motorcycle accident exposed Petrino's affair with a former Arkansas athlete and his involvement in hiring her to a job in the athletic department.

Considering all of that, it's questionable that Arkansas hired Petrino as offensive coordinator, let alone the interim head coach.

I understand that time is precious and coaches aren't being hired at this stage of the season, but tabbing Petrino doesn't reflect well on the program.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                            It seems increasingly likely that the Group of Five bid will come from the American as the league has three unbeaten teams (Memphis, Navy, North Texas), and two with one non-conference loss (Tulane to Ole Miss and South Florida to Miami) to top ten teams.

Unless they all beat the crap out of each other, which could allow a Boise State or James Madison to slide in, that slot is going to the American.

The first step towards unlocking the group looks like next Saturday when South Florida meets North Texas.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                           Game that I'm looking forward to this weekend (Non-Buckeye/Red Raider division)?

Boise State at Notre Dame in a loser-leaves-town game for the postseason.

Boise State (as mentioned above) likely has to win out after their loss to South Florida, and a loss for the Irish would be their third and hammering them as a longshot.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                             Nice to see another loss for "Big Game James" Franklin in a big game as Oregon dropped the Nittany Lions in State College.

To be fair, the Lions did rally to force overtime before succumbing in the second session, and one loss doesn't destroy their season, but it's hard to see Franklin's bunch doing damage in the postseason, considering his track record.

Remember that despite Penn State's trip to the National Semi-Finals last season, those wins were over SMU at home and Boise State.

I Tell Ya' Herbie

     

      Another edition of I Tell Ya' Herbie with a few takes from the world of college football.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                             The ACC is in big trouble.

I can forgive Clemson's thumping against the hands of the powerful Georgia Bulldogs but Florida State's upset losses to Georgia Tech in Ireland and Monday's even bigger shocker at home to Boston College is very hard to let slide.

Clemson could still bounce back with a playoff berth ( if they can survive a sneaky game this weekend with Appalachian State) and maybe if Florida State could win out (something I find very doubtful after watching their first two games), the conference could be okay but it seems to me that the ACC might have their hopes pinned to N.C. State this weekend against Tennessee to bolster their non-conference resume'.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                            One thing that has been overlooked about Deion Sanders and his Colorado Buffaloes' close win over North Dakota State has been how Deion himself allowed North Dakota State to have a final drive that fell five yards away from a miracle win.

Colorado could have run the clock out with a few runs (and first down) but Colorado kept calling pass plays that fell incomplete and gave North Dakota State a chance that they ordinarily would not have received.

Whether it was Deion attempting to run up the score or juice up his son's (quarterback Shedeur) passing numbers, neither was worth placing the game in jeopardy.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                             I wouldn't write Oregon yet but they didn't impress in a win over 1-AA Idaho by only 24-14.

Boise State will be a bigger test this Saturday night but one thing that was discussed when the game was a three-point game in the fourth quarter.

This would have been the biggest upset ever with a 1-AA team dumping a top-five team on the road.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                             Interesting game in Stillwater, Oklahoma with a ranked Oklahoma State team hosting Arkansas.

Arkansas coach Sam Pittman enters a pivotal season and was considered on the hot seat entering the season but scored seventy points in their opener against I-AA Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

Oklahoma State returns the nation's top running back in Ollie Gordon and some have the Cowboys as the preseason favorite in the Big 12, so it's a crossroads game for both teams.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                            The CyHawk trophy is one of the more underrated rivalries and this year both Iowa and Iowa State have teams capable of winning the trophy.

The game is in Iowa City this season and Iowa did score forty last week against 1-AA Illinois State but scored only two field goals at the half.

Iowa State dumped North Dakota 21-3 and Matt Campbell thinks that his Cyclones are the most talented team that Campbell has had in the last several seasons.

Iowa has a fortunate Big Ten schedule playing only Ohio State among the league powers, so a win over Iowa State might bode very well for a potential playoff challenge.

I Tell Ya' Herbie

 I Tell Ya' Herbie is our weekly take on topics from the world of college football.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                            The Michigan sign-stealing scandal continues to gain steam and more details seem to emerge every day but so far the one smoking gun appears to be that Michigan's staff never expected to play TCU in last year's playoff.

Michigan apparently did their video work for most of the Big Ten teams and a few teams that they thought they could face in the playoff but not TCU, who dealt them a humiliating upset defeat in the playoffs 51-45 and was tipped off about the Wolverines scheme, dealing with it with dummy signals.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                             I'm not sure if Caleb Williams will be the top overall pick in next year's NFL Draft but someone needs to talk to Williams and his representatives and explain two things.

The first is demanding ownership in whatever team selects Williams is not only a bad look but it's also against NFL rules.

Patrick Mahomes attempted to do just that and was told it was against league rules.

The second is that it looks really bad to be dropping demands for the NFL before your college season ends-especially when you have lost your last two games.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                            Another year North Carolina raises hopes that they are going to finally break through to the top of the sport and disappoint by losing to a team that they should defeat.

This year, the undefeated Tar Heels fell for the first time to a Virginia team that had won only one game entering the game and the game was in Chapel Hill!

North Carolina has traditionally lost when they appear to be past their reputation and oops, they did it again.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                            Arkansas has changed from loving Sam Pittman two years ago to being ready to be rid of Pittman now with the Hogs at 2-6 overall, holding a current losing streak of six games, and lost to almost as woeful Mississippi State last week by the stimulating score of 7-3.

Pittman fired offensive coordinator Dan Enos after the game but with remaining conference games against Florida, Auburn, and Missouri, only a non-conference game against Florida International looks like a win in a season that could place Pittman firmly on the hot seat for 2024.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                             It's funny how the swagger of Dabo Swinney left as soon as Clemson started losing games inside the ACC.

The Tigers have already lost three games for a mediocre 4-3 record and could lose more with games against Notre Dame and North Carolina still to be played.

Swinney has been an advocate of not using the transfer portal to shore up weaknesses on his roster and though I might even agree with his stand on principle, programs will have to adapt to the times.

Still, it is somewhat fair to think of how Swinney was so full of himself when the times were good and lacked the same personality when they were not.

Cleaning out the Inbox

   Cleaning out the inbox returns with several nuggets that hopefully will catch one's eye for a few minutes of interest!

Mike Oravec sends this ESPN article on Gary Davidson and the World Football League.

Davidson was also involved with the creation of the ABA and WHA but it was the WFL that Davidson was most involved in and served as the league's commissioner.

It's a long article with interesting portions on how and why the Memphis Southmen targeted Paul Warfield, Larry Csonka, and Jim Kiick to poach from the Miami Dolphins, the always hilarious financial stories, the only World Bowl and others...

The Athletic has been working on a series based on football programs that have struggled to reach the level of their previous success.

The Texas Tech article discusses the Red Raider's struggles since the departure of Mike Leach and the three coaches that have tried to win in Lubbock Post-Leach and how they (Tommy Tuberville, Kliff Kingsbury, and Matt Wells), how they managed to not win with Patrick Mahones, and the hopes that Joey McGuire can return to Texas Tech at least a perennial bowl team.

The article on Arkansas might have been even better as it wrote about the Razorback's steep decline from the day that Frank Broyles took the Hogs from the now-defunct Southwest Conference for the trip to the SEC.

One fact that I didn't know and always wondered about was a claim by the now-deceased Broyles that had Arkansas not headed to the SEC and waited for the eventual Big 8 to add four SWC teams (Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, and Baylor) which would have seemed to be a better fit with long-time rivals than the SEC, Arkansas would not have been invited to join the new Big 12.

I didn't know that and it would have sent Arkansas to either an independent or group of five status in the AAC.

While the Razorbacks may have struggled on the field since joining the SEC, the financial coffers swelled by multiples over what they would have received had they decided to pass on the opportunity.

The article on Kansas shows just how easy it is for a program to go south with one or two wrong decisions.

It details how then-athletic director Lew Perkins was determined to fire head coach Mark Mangino, who has been the only coach in the last fifty years to get any kind of momentum going in Lawrence (Mangino actually finished 12-1 and won an Orange Bowl? I still can't believe that a decade and a half later) and hired Turner Gill over Jim Harbaugh, who actually interviewed for the job!

Kansas would later run through Gill, Charlie Weis, David Beaty, and Les Miles before their current hiring of Lance Leipold.

It's a great series and there are other schools written about as well.

The Athletic scores again as Brendan Quinn writes about what it is like for the regular everyday golfer to play at Augusta National during Masters week.

The Masters holds a media lottery each year before the tournament and allows the winner to play the course.

Quinn writes of his round, how the experience felt, and took questions from his readers.

Fred Landucci sends this from the New York Post as columnist Phil Mushnick writes of just badly the analytics crowd is damaging baseball.

I could write about the awful changes to the game that I once loved but Mushnick does a better job and hits all points as the Ivy League invaders that think that they are revolutionizing a game that they are actually slowly choking to death.

ESPN writes of the thirty-year anniversary of the basketball film "White Men Can't Jump", which I haven't seen in years but always enjoyed the many times that I have viewed the film.

The article tells the stories of the casting, filming, and the many bets that were placed during filming on the Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson led cast including the many bets placed on Harrelson's ability to actually dunk and how the bests were actually settled.

We wrap with this Washington Post article on Chiney Ogwumike, who not only plays for the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks but spent her off-season this year on ESPN's NBA studio show as an analyst and I was impressed with her performance and besides her future with the Sparks and judging by this article Ogwumike has an excellent head on her shoulders and certainly has a future outside of basketball when and if she chooses to travel that path. 

I tell Ya' Herbie

     Part of me trying to get back to normal will be the return of I tell ya Herbie, which I did last season as a weekly column with a few notes from the college football world.

I didn't watch closely Ohio State's 59-7 pasting of Akron last week which is why I didn't do a review.

I tell ya Herbie:   I didn't see the surprise return to prominence of the Arkansas Razorbacks this season.

With wins over Texas and Texas A&M, Arkansas seems to be building a winner under Sam Pittman, who had his hiring questioned by just about everyone before the 2020 season.

Pittman has been a tireless recruiter and a tip that the Hogs could be improved this season could have come when looking at the results of 2020 with Arkansas losing three of their seven losses by a combined seven points.

Arkansas will be heavy underdogs at Georgia this Saturday but even with a defeat, Arkansas seems to be headed in the right direction.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:    Conference realignment is always a fun topic for me to think about and discuss and I haven't written anything about the SEC gaining Texas and Oklahoma or the Big 12 responding with a raid of the AAC in adding Cincinnati, Central Florida, and Houston along with independent Brigham Young.

The SEC hasn't decided whether to shuffle their divisions a bit when the Longhorns and Sooners arrive or to go to a "pod" system, where you play the same three teams every year and the schedule changes from year to year by playing different pods to fill out the schedule remainder.

I'm not a fan of the pod system, because sooner or later you will have more than two teams that qualify for the conference title game, and chaos and unfairness ensues.

So assuming the divisional format is kept the easy fix is to move Alabama and Auburn to the East Division and add Texas and Oklahoma to the West division but in order to do that (and keep Alabama and Auburn together), one team would have to go to the West from the East.

My pick for that would be Missouri, which would add neighboring Arkansas and former Big 8/12 fellow member Oklahoma as regulars on their schedule.

That's the best fit.

I Tell Ya Herbie:  As for the Big 12, I've heard different rumors for their move from ten to twelve teams which have mentioned a return to divisional play or using a mini-pod system that would see teams play the same six teams every year and the other five would rotate in and out off a schedule.

My guess for divisional play would likely see things break down in this manner:

Division One: Cincinnati, West Virginia, Central Florida, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State.

Division Two: Oklahoma State, Baylor, Houston, TCU, Texas Tech, Brigham Young,

But there are rumors that the Big 12 may not stop at the four schools that they have added and could add two or even four more schools within the next year in an attempt to shore up the conference before the next round of conference checkers.

I will mention a few possibilities in the next edition of "Herbie"

I Tell Ya' Herbie;  This is a year that may be looked back at as an aberration.

Powerhouses such as Clemson, Ohio State, and even Oklahoma, although the Sooners are still unbeaten, are struggling while other schools are surprising with their starts such as Wake Forest, Michigan State, and Arkansas.

One reason that this could be happening is that powerhouse teams lost players to the NFL as usual but the middle-of-the-pack teams has been able to improve this season with players gaining an extra year of eligibility due to the Covid crisis.

It'll be interesting to see if things level back to normal next season.

I Tell Ya' Herbie: Here is our inaugural Top Ten, which is based on who you beat and how you are playing not on reputation.

1: Alabama 

2: Georgia

3: Oregon

4: Iowa

5: Penn State

6: Cincinnati

7: Oklahoma State

8: Oklahoma

9: Ole Miss

10: Florida   

I tell ya' Herbie

I tell ya' Herbie returns with more thoughts on the coaching silly season and the conference championship game weekend.

I tell ya' Herbie:
                           I figured Lane Kiffin was going to be elsewhere before his Florida Atlantic Owls played their bowl game, but I wasn't sure that word of wherever his future home would trickle out before their Conference USA title game against the UAB Blazers.
It appears that Kiffin has decided on Oxford Mississippi and the Ole Miss Rebels as his future home selecting the Rebels over Arkansas, where Kiffin had also discussed the Razorbacks open position.
I'm back and forth on which is the better job between Mississippi and Arkansas.
Arkansas has their state to themselves, while Ole Miss has to deal with Mississippi State and you would likely give the edge to the Hogs as far as tradition.
I'm not sure which team has the edge in facilities and recruiting tools, but I must admit that I'm mildly surprised that Kiffin selected Ole Miss of the two,
Arkansas claimed that they were going to hire a big-name coach to hasten the recovery from the Chad Morris debacle and in one year turn their top two programs (they hired Eric Musselman as their new basketball coach) over to high profile and exciting coaches.
Arkansas may now either have to go to their second choice and that selection may not be what the Razorback fan base had been promised.

I tell ya, Herbie:
                           Rutgers did about the only thing that they could do in going back to the table and hiring Greg Schiano.
Schiano's success at Rutgers made him the only affordable option that would satisfy their fan base and although the odds of Schiano's success of even building Rutgers to the level of an Indiana or Purdue are long, they aren't impossible.
Now should Schiano be given a four or five-year shot at this and Rutgers is no better at the end than they are today, then I have no idea how this program survives in the Big Ten as anything more than a squash opponent that would be cashing a paycheck.


I tell ya' Herbie;
                           I'm writing this after Oregon defeated Utah in the Pac 12 title game, but before the other championship games, so it looks like it will come down to this- the fourth team in the playoff (assuming that the three undefeated teams all win their games in Ohio State, LSU, and Clemson) will be either the winner of the Big 12 title game between Oklahoma and Baylor or Georgia or even Alabama.
If it's Oklahoma, I would say that the decision is easy. but if Baylor can win this rematch and finish as a one-loss champion that avenged their only loss that would put quite a wrinkle into things.
Does the committee take a one-loss team that played Stephen F. Austin, Texas-San Antonio, and Rice over a two-loss Georgia or Alabama?
In my opinion, Baylor should go under that scenario, but I'm not sure the committee will see it that way, especially if LSU wins a close game over Georgia.

I tell ya' Herbie:
                          There are plenty of interesting games today that have plenty of importance, but the most fun just might be in Boone North Carolina for the Sun Belt with Appalachian State hosting Louisiana (hold the Lafayette).
Appalachian State won their first game 17-7 and UL has been on a rampage since.
Considering App State still has a chance to hit the New Years Six, if Cincinnati beats Memphis and Boise State would lose to Hawaii (or look very unimpressive while Appalachian State would win a great game), the Mountaineers will have plenty to play for and with their game at noon, perhaps more eyeballs than usually expected for a Sun Belt game.

I tell ya' Herbie:
                           So far a few jobs that opened up that few expected entering the season (Florida State, Ole Miss, Arkansas, and Washington) and one huge position that most thought would be open surprisingly was not as USC decided to keep Clay Helton.
The Trojans did go 8-4, which was an improvement from 2018's 5-7 record, but still far less than the Fight On crowd is happy with.
Helton will likely have to improve even more in 2020 to retain the job and USC may regret it as one candidate often mentioned there in Penn State's James Franklin, just signed a six-year extension.
Keeping Helton looks like a huge gamble as next year could see several glamour positions opening and a fight for coaches, but it could be helpful that future coaches know that they will have every chance to succeed.

I tell ya' Herbie:
                          I plan on the next Herbie post to work on some group of five jobs, but one conference has been hard hit as the Mountain West has four openings.
UNLV (Tony Sanchez) and Colorado State (Mike Bobo) have fired coaches, New Mexico basically allowed Bob Davie to jump before he was pushed and now health reasons have caused Jeff Tedford to leave Fresno State.
Add to the possibility that Boise State's Bryan Harsin could be in play at Arkansas and Missouri next week and the Mountain West could have five new coaches next year.

I tell ya' Herbie

I tell ya' Herbie returns with our weekly look at the college football world starts with a win that I didn't see coming and a look back with what proved to be a prescient thought.

I tell ya' Herbie:
                           I'll admit to being very surprised with Minnesota's victory over Penn State last week and I'll be even more surprised if P.J. Fleck's Gophers can survive Saturday's trip to Kinnick Stadium in what looks to be a trap game immediately after what could eventually be looked at as a program-defining win over the Nittany Lions.
However, you have to give P.J. Fleck credit for what he has been able to build at Minnesota.
How many times in the past under Glen Mason would Minnesota start 5-0 after rolling over three non-conference weak sisters and then eat a few bottom-dwellers before melting like a Kit Kat left in the car in their first test against a conference heavyweight?
Answer: Every Time.

I tell ya' Herbie:
                          I saw this coming with P.J. Fleck dating all the way back to 2015 and I'm not talking about the ability to turn programs around.
In 2015, Fleck brought the Western Michigan Broncos to the Horseshoe in Columbus and I didn't know much about him as a coach, although I did remember that he had spent one season with Ohio State under Jim Tressel as a graduate assistant.
Fleck spent the game running up and down the sideline like a nut, screaming non-stop and I remember telling Ryan- "if this guy ever gets a Big Ten job, he's going to be very annoying'.
SHAZAM!!!

I tell ya' Herbie:
                          I know Iowa State's two-point attempt was stopped by Oklahoma with 24 seconds to go as the Cyclones played for the win on the road rather than kick an extra point to go to overtime, but I still love the mentality in going for the win by Matt Campbell's Cyclones.
In my mind, if you have a lesser team and especially if you are on the road, you go for the win in these situations.
The longer the game goes, the more likely that the more talented team will be able to win.
Unless the coach in question really blows the actual play call, I wouldn't criticize the coach that goes for the win,
Campbell's name continues to be a name in play after the job that he is doing in Ames with Iowa State with his name mentioned as a candidate at the two jobs already open for 2020 (Florida State and Arkansas) and as a dark horse at the biggest of them all at USC, should that position come open.

I tell ya' Herbie:
                          I wrote a post on the mess at Arkansas with their firing of Chad Morris and the corner that the Razorbacks have put themselves in with their run of recent bad hires over the last ten years.
I intended to write a small blurb for " I tell ya' Herbie", but there were so many things to discuss on the Hogs that as I was writing the post that it easily grew into its own post.
I haven't heard anything about a leading candidate other than the possibility of Auburn's Gus Malzahn, but the surprising news that I have read is that so many fans want Bobby Petrino to return.
Petrino did lead the Razorbacks to their last strong seasons but considering Petrino's exit from Arkansas (fired for deceiving the school on finances that involved paying a far younger mistress in the athletic department) and Petrino's final year at Louisville (2-8 last season), I'd be surprised if Petrino would actually be given consideration.

I tell ya' Herbie:
                          The Pac 12 is getting their fair share of publicity for potentially grabbing a playoff spot for their champion (assuming that it's the one-loss survivor of an Oregon-Utah title game) and that's a fair point, but what I find odd is the conference as a whole.
Entering today, other than Oregon and Utah, the remaining ten teams in the league have records no better than 6-4 (Washington and USC), no worse than 4-6 (Colorado) and the remaining seven teams are either 5-4 or 4-5.
On one hand, that is a remarkably balanced league that can arguably see any team beat any other, including Utah, who lost to USC in their only loss, but on the other hand, it could be looked at as a league filled with a bunch of mediocre teams that can play a large number of competitive games, but with few standouts.
For the Pac 12 to thrive and begin to attract more notice for their quality of play, one or two more schools are going to have to jump up to a higher level,
                         

The State of Arkansas Football

This started as the first note for this week's I tell ya' Herbie, but I started writing so much that it worked out as a stand-alone post.

Remember last week's edition of I tell ya' Herbie about teams firing coaches not only earlier in the season than normal, but firing coaches earlier in their tenure than usual as well!
Last week, it was Florida State dumping Willie Taggart after a year and a half and eating a large contract and this week?

Arkansas and Chad Morris- C'mon down!
The Razorbacks cut ties with Morris with less than two years finished on his contract and with this one I can see both sides of the coin.
Arkansas is seeing some absolutely humiliating losses under Morris such as last years' loss at home to North Texas and this year has been worse with home losses to San Jose State and Western Kentucky with a narrow escape in their home opener against 1-AA Portland State 20-13.
Morris compiled a record of 4-18 and Arkansas was winless in the SEC during his tenure.
Add to those embarrassments, Western Kentucky's 45-19 win in Fayetteville was led by former Hog passer Ty Storey, whom Morris allowed to leave as a graduate transfer and things really look bleak.
And you can make a real case that allowing Morris to stay and if things continue along the same course, the hole gets even deeper to dig out.

However, I can see a case for giving Morris more time as well.
Morris inherited a team that had won only won four games before he arrived, Morris' son is a four-star recruit that had committed to Arkansas for the 2020 season (Fat chance in keeping that commitment now), Morris' teams at SMU didn't begin to turn the corner until his third season and the success that the one-loss and ranked Mustangs are having now with players that Chad Morris recruited there and Morris installed a completely new system from the run-oriented style of former coach Bret Bielema, so you can make an argument that Morris didn't have enough time to have the players to run what he needed to fit his style of play.

Arkansas has quickly become a difficult job with lack of success, playing in arguably the toughest division in college football, with high fan expectations and now an athletic department that isn't showing a lot of patience for a revamp of the program.
It's going to be very difficult for them to attract a big name when you look at the big picture unless the said name has an attraction to the state or the school.
The only names that I can think that would apply and would be considered a hot candidate might be Memphis head coach Mike Norvell, who played at Central Arkansas or Auburn coach Gus Malzahn, who might return to his Arkansas roots if enough money is thrown his way.
I'm not sure that Arkansas will spend what it takes to pay Malzahn (considering they are still on the hook for so much money on Chad Morris) and Norvell might decide that openings at Florida State , potential openings such as Michigan State, etc or even staying pat in a year that may have very few Power Five jobs available.

So what do you do if you are Arkansas?
They tried doing something different with Bret Bielema bringing a run-based power style and tried Morris with a spread offense that was heavy on throwing the football, but at the same time doing the things that the other SEC teams do with less talent doesn't seem to be a great idea either.
I'd hate to see Arkansas with all of their tradition turn into Ole Miss, a faded has-been that celebrates a 9-3 season every dozen years, but it appears that they already are there.
I'm almost ready to say that Arkansas might have been doomed from the day they joined the SEC from the old Southwest Conference and size-wise and considering the recruiting area that the Hogs need to recruit well, they might have (money income aside) been much better suited to stick around the SWC and join the Big 12 when the SWC dissolved.

My answer?
I don't have any.
You got yourself into this mess, get yourself out of it.

I do have one piece of advice though- Play Arkansas State!
It can't make it worse, can it?
Um, maybe it can.

I tell ya' Herbie

Things I think, our weekly column on college football has been proven to be popular thus far (OK, one person has mentioned it) and I'm enjoying it, so it stays for at least as long as I remember to write it. that is!

Why the new name?
Well, Ryan and I often break into full Brent Musberger mode and usually use the phrase most often associated with Brent and his former boothmate Kirk Herbstreit- "I tell ya, Herbie", so being that college football should be in full Musberger I thought the phrase was a perfect fit.
Even if Musberger never actually said it that way (Keith Jackson never actually uttered Whoa, Nellie, you know) it sounds like Brent and what better way to salute one of the announcers that make college football great as well as my son, with whom I've shared so much in sports.

I tell ya, Herbie:
                           Jim Harbaugh's gimmick has once again worn out its welcome at a coaching stop and even though it's not a firm conclusion, Michigan and its fans are at least thinking about life after Jimbo following the Wolverines dismal effort in a 35-14 loss to Wisconsin that was not as close as the final score indicates.
It's more than Harbaugh though, as his Alabama import for offensive coordinator Josh Gattis has had his bumpy spots this season and the once renowned defensive coordinator Don Brown has never recovered after Ohio State slapped 62 points on his defense last November.
Entering this season, most figured that this was Michigan's year to beat Ohio State with OSU using a new head coach, a freshman quarterback and getting the Buckeyes in Ann Arbor with the notion that if they couldn't do it under those conditions, when would they?
Suddenly, that looks less likely a month into the season than when it started and Harbaugh could need that game to keep his job, should this season continue to spiral downward.

I tell ya, Herbie,
                          I'm not sure where Michigan goes, should they decide to part ways with Mr. Harbaugh.
The last three hires have been an "Offensive Guru" (Rich Rodriguez), "Old School Michigan Man"  (Brady Hoke) and now the "Michigan Man Savior" in Harbaugh and even though Michigan hasn't become Minnesota under any of these coaches, none of them have brought the program to what it once was.
Put Harbaugh's hefty salary (7.5 million a year, second only to Nick Saban) aside and the cost of buying him out of his contract at the end of this season would be a heavy fifteen million more off the grid and ask-Just where do they go?
A big name coach might be leery after watching Harbaugh and a smaller level coach might cost the school donations, so I'm not sure what would make the fan base happy unless they try what they did in basketball (hiring Juwan Howard without head coaching experience) and throw the hail mary with a former big-name star off television like Charles Woodson and pray for the best.
I don't like saying this, but keeping Harbaugh around might be their only hope.
Who has it better than them, indeed?

I tell ya, Herbie,
                           The transfer portal with its accompanying new rules isn't working either and needs to be tuned up or rehauled completely.
I'm not against players being allowed to play four games without it counting against a players eligibility and a resulting redshirt, but we have moved from a system that was totally controlled by the schools (forcing players to sit out a year and controlling what schools the player could transfer to) to one totally controlled by the players.
Let's take the case of D'Eriq King, the quarterback for Houston, who recently announced his intention to redshirt as a senior after the Cougars stumbled to a 1-3 start under new coach Dana Holgorsen.
King stated that he will return to the Cougars for next season, but there is nothing to hold him to that decision and should we continue to travel down the road of players cashing in seasons because the team is not playing well?
If Houston signs off on this and King does return, I suppose it wouldn't be totally bad, but still, I wonder how fair it is to the seniors that aren't the marquee players that have to trudge through a bad final season without that option?
When you add the issues of players in the transfer portal that get approved for transfer to avoid sitting a season that doesn't seem to be always viable reasons for immediate eligibility, you have a system broken differently than the previous one.
Ohio State profited from this as much as anyone in enabling Justin Fields to eligible for this season, but that still doesn't make it the right thing.
The NCAA really needs to do some corrections for next season or for 2021 at worst.

I tell ya, Herbie
                          Bowling Green for years has been one of the better teams in the MAC along with Northern Illinois and rival Toledo, but at the group of five level, if you make one poor decision in coaching as Billy Beane said in "Moneyball" you hit the floor with a thud and not a bounce.
After two successful seasons under Dino Babers throwing the football using his version of the Air Raid, the Falcons hired Mike Jinks, who was an assistant at Texas Tech but had never been either head coach or coordinator at the college level.
MAC schools often have to hire first-time head coaches, but the coaches are usually from the midwest where MAC schools have to thrive in recruiting, so relationships and connections with high school coaches, etc are perhaps more important than in any conference in the country.
Jinks lacked all of those with his entire coaching career being spent in Texas and it's going to be a tough sell for Texas high schoolers to play for any Ohio school that isn't named Ohio State.
Jinks was fired midway through last season with a record of 7-24 and the Falcons with new coach Scott Loeffler are still paying for the hiring and mistakes of the Jinks era.
BG whipped I-AA Morgan State in their opener, but since was shutout at Kansas State 52-0, came home to face Louisiana Tech for a 35-7 homecoming loss and a humiliating 62-20 loss to Kent State, who entered the game with one win- an overtime win at home over Kennesaw State.
And who waits next for Loeffler's Falcons- Notre Dame in South Bend on national television.
Bowling Green will cash the check and pray Irish coach Brian Kelly is merciful as after all if you give up 62 to Kent State what will you allow to Notre Dame?
It will take time for Loeffler to turn things around and if he can't, it could be quite a while before the Falcons return to MAC prominence- A thud, not with a bounce.

I tell ya, Herbie,
                          And then there's Arkansas.
A once-proud program that looked to have a good hire before 2018 with Chad Morris.
Well, the Morris era isn't looking too hefty right now as his Hogs lost to another Mountain West team in San Jose State at home.
Arkansas fell behind 24-7 before rallying to tie the game and then allowing the Spartans to march down the field for the winning score with less than two minutes to play.
Arkansas was a 21 point favorite and one final kicker?
Arkansas paid San Jose State 1.5 million to come to Fayetteville and beat them.
Arkansas always says they have nothing to gain in playing Arkansas State, they could have played them and kept that 1.5 million in-state.

I tell ya, Herbie,
                           I ripped the ACC last week for being weak and Pittsburgh did give the ACC a big win with their late one-point victory over Central Florida but ranked Virginia struggled with Old Dominion, Boston College didn't dominate Big 10 doormat Rutgers and once-powerful Miami wobbled to a 17-12 win at home over Central Michigan.
At least those teams won though, as Mack Brown's Tar Heels lost to Appalachian State 34-31 in Chapel Hill.
Appalachian State is the perennial bully of the Sun Belt and looks to be a school that will likely be a possible chip that moves to a higher conference (still group of five) when the next shuffle of realignment occurs, but still, Appalachian State shouldn't be defeating North Carolina at home.



                         

Eric Musselman hired at Arkansas

Photo Credit: David Gottschalk-Whole Hog Sports

The Southeastern Conference performed well in the 2018-19 basketball season as the SEC placed seven teams in the "Big Dance", four of those survived until the Sweet 16 and were a controversial foul away from Auburn playing on Monday night for the national championship.

However, even in the best of years, someone has to be the weak sister that gets sand kicked in their faces and as teams have to finish at the top of league play there are teams that have to finish at the bottom as well.

Four of those teams decided to make head coaching changes and each decided to hire successful coaches, but from different backgrounds as their hire.
Alabama replaced NBA veteran Avery Johnson with Buffalo's Nate Oats, who had been very successful in making his Buffalo Bulls the bully of the Mid-American Conference in winning three of the four MAC tournaments under his watch and averaging 84 points a game last season.
Texas A&M decided to go with the more proven veteran as the Aggies swapped Billy Kennedy with Buzz Williams, who had won over 20 games in each of the last four seasons at Virginia Tech.
Vanderbilt released Bryce Drew and hired Jerry Stackhouse, a former NBA star that had served as an NBA assistant, but has never been a head coach at any level or coached at any college ever.
That left Arkansas and they hired a coach that blends all of the best qualities of the above three coaches and might give them the best of them all.

Eric Musselman has the NBA experience of Stackhouse (including a head coaching stint with the Warriors), the program building of Williams and the upbeat style of play of Oats and his hiring at the University of Arkansas seems to me to be a situation where the second choice is actually the better choice.
Arkansas had shown interest in Houston coach Kelvin Sampson, but with the continuing investment in Cougar sports by booster Lorenzo Fertitta, the Cougars don't pay their coaches like a mid-major school (as shown when they went after and grabbed Dana Holgorsen from West Virginia to head the football program) and signed Sampson to a six-year, eighteen million dollar extension to take what appeared to be the Hogs top choice off the meat market (pig pun intended).

Musselman's teams at Nevada averaged 80 points a game last season, won the Mountain West three times (regular season) in four years, appeared in the NCAA three times and finished with a four-year record of 110-34.
To put that into perspective, Nevada had losing records for each of the three seasons before Musselman's hiring and won only nine games in the season preceding his hiring.
In four seasons, Nevada increased their PPG by twenty and came within one basket on an elite eight appearance, so the turnaround was remarkable under Musselman's guidance.

Arkansas is a school that has basketball tradition, winning a national title under Nolan Richardson in 1994 and going to a Final Four under Eddie Sutton, but only occasionally have popped up with strong season since Richardson's departure in the 2001-02 campaign.
Arkansas has strong facilities, is the main school in the state and for a state of its size has a better than average pool of in-state players to recruit from.
Add those facts to a rabid in-state fan base and you should at minimum have a program that consistently in the top of their conference along with the capabilities of national contention.
Why hasn't Arkansas been able to live up to those standards?
I'm not sure, the Razorbacks appear to have everything, if not more than most schools that have been finishing ahead of them and even though I haven't seen any games recently, I've never thought that their last head coach, Mike Anderson was awful to the point of being a severe hindrance to contention.

Eric Musselman will bring a fun brand of basketball to Fayetteville and will hit the recruiting trail with intensity.
Musselman could use the JUCO and transfer route as he did at Nevada to give the program an instant jolt of energy or he could attempt to leap into the Arkansas recruiting class to immediately establish his credibility with the high school coaches of the state, but Musselman recruited nationally at Nevada and he'll have a larger and more visible platform at Arkansas to recruit from.

The other three SEC newcomers may have bigger names from their playing days, bigger coaching names from a Power Five school or even the hot young coach from a mid-major, but I have a feeling Arkansas just may have added the best of all to their bench and the Hogs will be returning to prominence in the next two to three seasons, if not sooner.
The energy and enthusiasm will be contagious in the Fayetteville area and I'm just glad that I can kick back and root for Arkansas without the worries of Eric Musselman coaching a team in Big Ten or Big East play!

15 College Football Games that should be Happening! 6-10

We now move to the middle point of our series of college football games that should be happening, but aren't.
The first part of the series can be found here.

6) West Virginia vs Marshall
This is one that almost made into our top five.
Marshall has only been D-I for twenty years, but being the only other D-I school in the state, they should be playing the flagship school in the Mountaineers.
The Thundering Herd has never beaten WVU in their eight modern meetings and went zero for seven in their series that ran from 2006-20012, but still, it makes sense for this series to be played.
The issue appears to be that Marshall wants the series to alternate between Huntington and Morgantown, while the Mountaineers want two home games for them for every trip to Marshall.
It's too bad that the state capital in Charleston doesn't have a suitable stadium to hold the game or that would be the perfect compromise for the third game.
Those that say there is no rivalry between the schools, well my response to that is-Wait until Marshall wins one ( and they will) and then watch it thrive.

7) Notre Dame vs Michigan
Longtime readers may be surprised since I don't like either of these teams and usually try to avoid this September game like the plague.
However, that game was usually a close affair, exciting and with two schools with deep tradition, this game needs to be played every year.
Like the Notre Dame-Purdue series, this series was one that was stopped by the Irish light affiliation with the ACC, which means that the Irish will play five ACC opponents a year.
Notre Dame being an independent meant they could have a lot of rivals with games with Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue, Navy, USC, Stanford etc and something had to give with their ACC agreement.
The two teams will play home and home in 2018 and 2019 and hopefully there can be a way to bring this back to every year status.

8) Texas vs Arkansas
This rivalry dating back to the days of the old SWC with Darryl Royal (Texas) and Frank Broyles (Arkansas) battling for SWC titles and occasionally even national championships.
The 1969 "Game of the Century" (Just watched this today on Longhorn Network,- BOOM, TV upgrade today) saw number one Texas nip number two Arkansas 15-14 and is still remembered to this day.
It just wasn't an SWC game in those days of one or two games a week without it involving one of these teams and their encounter usually had a national television audience
The teams have played five times since the Razorbacks left for the SEC (two of those bowl games), but not since 2008 in the regular season and have no future games scheduled.

9) Kentucky vs Indiana
The former battle for the Bourbon Barrel (both schools eliminated the trophy after an alcohol-related death in 1999, although they could have changed the name to Bronze Barrel, I guess) saw the Wildcats and Hoosiers play almost every year (a few gaps in the early 80's) from 1979 to 2005, but haven't played since.
Neighboring states with a big rivalry in basketball along with both usually being among the weaker football programs in their respective conferences make this a series that would be worth renewing.

10) Maryland vs Virginia
The Terrapins and Cavaliers were longtime conference rivals as the two most northern teams in the ACC (until expansion), they were the closest to each other and battled often for the same recruits.
A trophy was never involved between these schools and despite teams having other rivals (Maryland had various rivalries with other ACC schools, depending on who was strong during in a particular era while Virginia played Virginia Tech every year before VT joined the ACC), their conference rival was consistently each other.
The conference changes saw each add a "rival" in conference (Maryland with Penn State, who doesn't look at them as such and Virginia with Virginia Tech) and could use a non-conference rival currently.
The two will play home and home in 2023 and 2024, so maybe there is hope for reviving this rivalry.

Look for the top five sometime soon!

15 College Football Games that should be happening! 11-15

Today on conference championship
Saturday, I wanted to start our three-part series on games in college football that should be happening, but are not on a consistent basis.

A few parameters:
First, some of these games are actually scheduled or even have happened in the last year or so.
However, our argument is that they should be on schedules every year or at least every other year and either home and home or at a neutral site that would make sense.

Second, there are some schools that either are playing would be rivals already or simply don't have a suitable school in line to play, but some have multiples that would make sense.
For the purposes of this series, a school can be only used twice on the list.

11) Arkansas vs Arkansas State
A rivalry that has the potential to be a great one, but has never happened because of a long-standing policy by the Razorbacks to refuse to play in-state opponents in any sport.
The Red Wolves have become a perennial powerhouse in the Sun Belt with a parade of coaches that move up to the next level with success such as Gus Malzahn, Bryan Harsin, Hugh Freeze, and their current coach Blake Anderson is likely to join that list soon.
Arkansas is a small state that could gain by these two teams playing each other and I get the Razorbacks would have more to lose in the short term, but in the long run, this game could be a huge help to both schools.
Added bonus points, if they play the game in the above pictured (somewhat ) neutral field in Little Rock!

12) Cincinnati vs Louisville
These two schools have played each other often through the years, 53 times in fact, and played for a trophy as well- the Keg of Nails.
These teams moved together through four conferences through the years, building a great rivalry with the cities connected by I-71 and it ended by one thing-conference realignment.
Both the Bearcats and Cardinals tried to get into the ACC after the Big East breakup (the football schools formed the American Athletic with the basketball schools staying in the Big East), but only Louisville managed to get there and the series was last played in 2013 in the last season before the Cardinals joined the ACC.
I know Louisville has one rivalry in non-conference play (Kentucky), but Cincinnati doesn't- this one really needs to return...

13) Akron-Youngstown State
The only all smaller school game on the list, these teams used to be heated rivals from nearby cities and also played for a trophy- the Steel Tire incorporating the two manufacturing items that the cities were known for.
There is, even more reason for heat between the schools dating back to the late '90s (the last game between the two was 1995) when Youngstown State applied for MAC membership and was denied in favor of Marshall ( who left after a few years) and Buffalo.
Perception is that Akron and Kent State were involved to keep 1-AA Youngstown State from moving to D-I for recruiting reasons adds to the discontent and the resulting decision by the MAC to refuse to have their schools play road games at 1-AA schools to keep 1-AA schools from appearing to be at the same level killed the series.
Either with YSU in Division One or not (and there really isn't a lot of difference between the MAC and the better 1-AA schools other than depth), these teams should be playing each other.

14) Arizona-New Mexico
The neighboring Wildcats and the Lobos hooked it up every year for the Kit Carson Rifle from 1920-77 until Arizona joined the then Pac 10.
The two have played just six times (two of the six were bowl games) since then, most recently a 45-37 Arizona win in the 2015 New Mexico Bowl, haven't played in the regular season since 2008 and neither appear on each other's schedule in the future.
This article tells more about the history of the rivalry that was and should be again.
Each though has options for a cool non-conference rivalry if they REALLY don't want to play each other.
Arizona could establish a series against San Diego State (recruiting hotbed) or UNLV (neighboring state), while New Mexico could try Arizona State or go to their state to the east and try Texas Tech or even better- former WAC rival UTEP in what could be a fun series of games.

15) Tennessee-Virginia Tech
The Vols and the Hokies played just last year inside the Bristol Motor Speedway and it was a huge success.
I'm not sure if the speedway would want to make this an annual thing, but it would be a great thing to have these two play a schedule where every three years, each team gets a home game and Bristol gets the third game.
Bristol is halfway between both schools, neither has a non-conference rival (VT had rivals become conference games when they joined the ACC and they do have a game with West Virginia, but I have other plans for the Mountaineers later), it boosts the power rating with a Power five team every year.
This works all the way around...

These games just missed, so here are some honorable mention games in no particular order
Miami vs Florida- They do play each other every few years and it seems possible they could play even more in the future.

Nebraska-Colorado- Former Big 8/12 rivals renew a rivalry that was quite torrid in the Bill McCartney years in Boulder.

Notre Dame-Purdue- The battle for the Shillelagh Trophy was a casualty of the Irish's deal with the ACC to play five ACC opponents a year.

California-San Jose State or Fresno State-  Cal played San Jose all the time from 1962-1996, but the northern California schools haven't played since despite being just 45 minutes away from each other.
Fresno State is under three hours away, but yet have only played the Golden Bears three times and if they played now, it would be quite interesting with former Cal coach Jeff Tedford turning the Bulldog program around.

Houston-TCU- Former SWC rivals and former group of five bullies (TCU formerly, Houston currently) from the two biggest cities in Texas (TCU is in Fort Worth, but I'll still count it!) would make an interesting series and could incorporate their games against SMU into some type of three-game series for a trophy...

I'll have the Big Ten title game coverage later and look for part two of this later this week!