Arkansas Should Hire a Contrarian To Be The Razorbacks New Football Coach

An open letter to University of Arkansas interim Athletic Director Julie Cromer Peoples, on the hiring of a new Head Football Coach at the University of Arkansas:

Ms. Cromer Peoples,

If the goal for the Razorback football program is to, as you said, “compete and win in the Southeastern Conference and nationally”, you need to hire a person – or people – who can deliver on that goal.

To me, this means you need to hire people who can build a program that is a consistent winner, regularly going 8-0 or 7-1 in the SEC, playing in the SEC championship game, and ultimately, in the College Football Playoff.

Unfortunately, attempting to achieve this in the same manner as the most successful programs in the SEC West – Alabama, Auburn, and LSU – will only prevent Arkansas from achieving the sustained success Razorbacks fans desire. Has this same-as-everyone-else approach worked for Arkansas Razorbacks football in the last 20 years? NO!

You must instead take a contrarian approach to developing a football program of which Razorbacks fans can be proud. This contrarian approach must produce two dividends:

• A consistently winning team on the field; and
• A program filled with student-athletes who abide by the principles of friendship, sound learning, and integrity.

That starts with a commitment to player recruitment and player development within the program.

• Build the best recruiting department in college football, one that lands that first- and second-tier players from within the state of Arkansas and within the SEC’s regional footprint, and one that also lands impact players nationally.
  • Players must be athletically and mentally talented.
  • Players must be open to being coached and developed, and must be willing to take responsibility for their own development.
  • Players must be good people; no jerks.
  • However, we should not be going after all of the same players the more recently successful programs in the SEC are going after.
    • Instead, let’s recruit players who can be effectively used in contrarian offensive and defensive schemes (see below).
• Create a redshirt and player development program to get a steady stream of talent flowing through the program. The best players on the field for the Razorbacks each year should be a collection of fourth-year juniors and fifth-year seniors.
• Recognize that no matter how contrarian we might be, football games are ultimately decided by the play of the personnel on the interior line of scrimmage. Make a special commitment to recruiting superior (and/or extremely coachable) offensive and defensive linemen.

The new coach you hire must have a business plan for producing seven to eight SEC wins per year that includes the following:

• An offense that is radically different from the offenses most other SEC teams run, so as to make it almost impossible for an opposing defense to prepare to face Arkansas.
  • The Razorbacks will get better and better at what they do on offense week-to-week and season-to-season.
  • Opponents will only get a handful of days to figure out how to stop the Razorbacks.
  • Play selection and game-planning should be based not only on a play-caller’s gut instincts, but also on analytical data that culls the best plays to call in particular situations against a particular opponent.
    • Use opponents’ strengths and habits against them.
  • The contrarian offense should use modular systems, game theory, and random numbers so as to thoroughly confuse opposing defenses.
• A defense that utilizes a combination of man and zone pass coverage, with an emphasis on putting pressure on the opposing quarterback and messing up the opponent’s timing.
  • There should also be a special emphasis on proper tackling technique. A great defensive scheme is meaningless if the defenders are not effective tacklers.
• An understanding in all three phases of the game that in football, there are really two opponents:
  • The opposing team; and
  • The time remaining on the game clock.
    • Generally, if we are trailing, there is not enough time on the clock; and if we are winning, there’s too much time on the clock.
  • Best practice clock management principles – including appropriate tempo on offense — should be followed religiously, so as to maximize or minimize the amount of time remaining in each game, as appropriate.

You might even consider splitting the Head Football Coach position into two roles:

• A Chief Executive Officer who is responsible for recruiting, player development, and all “sales” aspects of the program – such as dealing with the media and Razorback fans.
• A Chief Operations Officer who reports to the CEO but who has full bottom-line responsibility for on-field performance. Offensive, defensive, and special teams coordinators report to the COO.

I am available at your convenience to consult with you on any or all of the above ideas and attributes. Please contact me if you have questions, or need additional information.

#WPS

G a r r e t t   A.  G o s s e l i n k

Naperville, Illinois
(312) 375-4899 [mobile]
garrett.gosselink@gmail.com

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