OT: Arkansas to hire John L. Smith
http://twitter.com/PeteThamelNYT/statuses/194501539845517312
Oh boy. This will be fun. RT @AP_Top25: Breaking: AP source: Arkansas hiring former assistant John L. Smith as interim coach
Obligatory
Hahahahahahahahaha.
I'm finished.
Your response is so perfect here and I know it doesn't even express how happy you really are about this hire.
I don't know about the people making the hire [in Fayetteville], but in general people in Arkansas (i.e., my brother, a newspaper photographer who knows a lot of people) think the Razorbacks have a very good team coming back this year, capable of challenging for an SEC title.
I wonder if the rest of the staff will stay, especially Taver Johnson and the other Ohio escapee who came with him -- if they do, then maybe they can hold the team together for a year.
Razorback fans are some of the most rabid fans in the country. My family lives down there now and all they have in that state is Arkansas football. That's what makes it all the more hilarious that they'd hire John L.
I'm sitting here trying to figure out how to embed the slap GIF down thread into an e-mail to my brother...
PS: Note that my brother doesn't always say the Hogs are going to be good -- he is usually pessimistic.
Funny - I honestly came on to post the exact same thing. Oh well, you're not going to ruin my party.
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
His name is my name too.
Whenever we go out,
The people always shout,
There goes John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt.
Dah dah dah dah, dah dah dah
Sorry, that's what immediately came to mind when I heard his name.
damn you.. now that song is in my head.. gah!
this is real... I thought it was a news story from The Onion.
Arkansas is still playing their butts off... but the coaches are letting them down.
Along with everyone else I enjoyed a good laugh when I heard about John L becoming Head Coach at Arkansas. Guffaws aside, what was the Arkansas AD supposed to do? You can't get a top notch coach in April. You're stuck with what you have. John L was on the staff, knows the coaches and players, has been a Head Coach and can handle the media (though how well I wonder). The coordinators can continue to coordinate, Arkansas gets through the season and then hires a long term solution.
Bonus: John L may slap his QB at a post game presser.
I haven't logged in to comment in a while but I did just now to +1 you for that. Well done, sir.
Wow! Thought it was a late April Fools joke...If I was a Razorback I would be so mad right now.
Did they just throw a dart at a map and it landed on East Lansing? Thefefore they decided to hire the last coach in East Lansing?
John L just got a head coach gig at weber state?
Twitter reporting again?
That he was only there since December. Weber St. to Arkansas, seems like a lateral move to me.
Confirmed. Link. At least by the AP, so it would seem legit.
ohhh boy, I thought their OC would get the job.
I wonder if he will have his star QB recruit covering kickoffs again? That was a brilliant strategy in my opinion.
Forever burning in your brain?
Haha, you know it.
Still, I think the better strategy was to completely abandon the run when you have a 17 point lead in the 4th quarter during a monsoon of a rainstorm.
What could go wrong?
What? How is bringing John L. Smith in for one year a better option than letting Taver Johnson keep the job on an interim basis?
HOWEVA....
Just because this isn't as *bad* as it sounds doesn't mean that it isn't as *funny* as it sounds. Because this is DAMN funny.
And I'm sure there will be even more in East Lansing, so it's not even Spartan bashing...I'm not sure it's a horrible move. He wasn't horrible at Louisville, and how many coaches are out there that will take a job at this date on an interim basis? As long as John L. is just using it to spring board into being a candidate to a lower job, and Arkansas is making sure he's just an interim, no matter how well they do with all that talent, and don't turn it into a "he won X games let's give him the full time gig" it's not a bad band aid on a bad situation. I mean, the only guy they could get to leave their team at this late a date to take over the Razorback program currently is.....the guy they just fired.
Louisville competed in Conference USA when Smith was their coach. And he only had 2 good seasons while he was there. He was an absolute train wreck at MSU. I don't see how he's capable of being anything other than a sub-par coach in the SEC. Taver Johnson is an up-and-comer and would have stood a better chance of holding the team together than an old dude who failed miserably in his last head coaching gig.
I think you're staying away from assistants because you want to make a clean break and not have a team rally and say "keep this guy around, we love him" because A) they should be pretty good regardless, so it might not be an accurate reflection and B) they don't want anyone who was associated with a guy who's on strike 3 taking over the program. Now, if they cave and keep John L. at the end of the season, well, nevermind.
Arkansas is fucked
Good LLLLuck with that!!
This isn't stupid - you can't hire a real coach in April, they all have jobs.
John L was already on the Arkansas staff, he has head-coaching experience at 2 BCS level schools, and has lead them to bowl games.
He's also coached this exact offensive scheme.
It's about the best they could do in the situation.
Technically he was no longer on staff. He left in the off-season to take over Weber State.
I do agree that this isn't necessarily a stupid move. It saves them from having to pick Paul Petrino (akward) or a defensive coach as HC.
Its still kind of funny though, don't ya think?
Stipulated. It still implies that at some point, they hired a guy that is most famous for slapping himself at a press conference. And had him on the same staff as Bobby Petrino.
Is it just me or does JLS and Gerg seem like a match made in heaven? After watching that clip, I think someone needs a furry little stuffed Hog to cuddle with and serve as a motivational tool
It's a one year move. They'll back the money-truck up on Malzahn in the off-season.
It seems like he is getting the "interim" tag.
Hopefully Little Rock radio can borrow Valenti for a year.
I think we could be a little more generous and let Little Rock radio have Valenti forever.
There's really not much you can do, but point and laugh, right?
I literally burst out laughing when I read this.
Maybe he'll slap himself with the other hand now?