Ask Mike: Hoops Road Woes, Football GM Talk, and The Jetsons’ Maid’s Big Head

Q. Our first question is from Marty Byrde’s Proxy who asks: Was this Tennessee game an outlier or are we headed back down last year’s path? I know it’s only one game but there were a lot of red flags.

A. First of all this team is better than last year’s team regardless. Of the lopsided outcome of the Tennessee game. Look around the SEC on Saturday and you’ll see that some really good teams suffered the same fate as Arkansas.

Oklahoma which had been 13-0 lost by 28 at Alabama. A&M beat Texas which was 11-2 by 20.
South Carolina which had some impressive non conference wins got slaughtered by Mississippi State in a 35 point loss. Auburn had a very good Missouri team down by 25 before letting off the gas. That was a 16 point loss. Georgia, another good team, lost by 12 at Ole Miss. Only two SEC teams played well on the road. Previously unbeaten Florida played Kentucky to six points and Vanderbilt got the only road win against a struggling LSU team in Baton Rouge.

Life on the road is going to be brutal in this conference. Get used to it.

Q. FireEric says: After not appearing on opening night of the Coach’s Show to attend Game 3 of the World Series and then to this past weekend cancelling a shoot around to attend an NBA jersey retirement. I believe we can officially call Arkansas Basketball the Calipari Cruise. Should fans be worried that Calipari is just cruising through his job after displaying a lack of interest in the fanbase as well as preparation for his job?

A. I find the term “official” interesting. And “we”. We are officially calling this the Calipari cruise? YOU are doing that. I have no problem with Cal occasionally letting his assistant coaches handle press conferences or even his radio show. I like to know what they think about certain issues and fans I have talked to feel the same. I wish Sam Pittman would do this more often. The NBA jersey retirement was for one of his former players. I like a coach who cares about his guys after they are no longer playing for him. As far as al not caring about the fans, the man went out of his way traveling around the state, meeting with fans last summer. He even took his players on a tour where they handed out sneakers to disadvantaged kids. That’s good for future recruiting.

Arkansas has a hall of fame coach and you’re already taking shots at him.

Q. Hawgredneck wants to know: Which SEC team impressed you most in week one of conference play and which one was the least impressive? I liked Alabama. I thought Texas looked bad against A&M which also wasn’t that impressive.

A. Most impressive would be a tie between Tennessee and Alabama. Both went full out for 90 minutes and outhustled the opposition. Both of them shot the ball well, rebounded like crazy, and played a smothering half court defense.

Obviously LSU was the least impressive because they lost at home but I was a little bit surprised by Auburn. They were ranked just below Tennessee and they did win by 16 but midway through the second half they were up by 25 and then lost some focus. They started missing shots, got outrebounded, fouled too much and their defense slacked off. If I’m Bruce Pearl I’m going to show my players a lot of video of that 9 minute stretch of basketball.

Q. sgiles says: I’ve heard that Nelly Davis got one of out biggest NIL deals. If so was that money wasted? He’s stayed hurt and is a shadow of the player he was at Florida Atlantic. He averaged 18 ppg there. It’s almost 10 less here.

A. The kid is injured. It’s not like Cal knew he was still gonna be struggling with this wrist issue at the start of SEC play. I wouldn’t give up on him just yet. As long as he’s back in his shooting rhythm by the SEC Tournament I’d say he was a good get.

Q. PHaT wants to know: With all of the secondary issues this year was the Secondary Coordinator Deron Wilson leaving the team a leadership issue or Deron’s decision? Do you know who the team is looking at as a replacement?

A. By all accounts it was his decision. I think Sam Pittman was surprised by it. Wilson got a chance to be the defensive coordinator at a good mid-major program and he took it. That’s how you move up the ladder.

Q. Tophawg 19 asks: Who are some of the names you think might make a good GM for the Hogs? How big a staff will be needed? Will it be paid for by the U of A or the Razorback Foundation?

A. I haven’t heard a name. Some people think the way to go is an ex NFL GM with a good track record. Look most coaches are going to tell a GM what they think each pplayer is worth. The GM may be the guy who talks to them but most kids aren’t stupid. They’re gonna know that their head coach, their coordinator and their position coach will be involved. The value to haiving that position on he staff is so the coaches don’t have to get involved in face to face negotiations with players.

Personally I wouldn’t put a lot of money into it. Let the coaches decide. The GM just breaks the good news or the bad news to them.

Q. John Calaway wants to know: Which is it? The SEC lost bowl games because our conference wasn’t as strong this year…OR the SEC has better players and lost more skilled players to draft or NIL offers. Or maybe a little bit of both.

A. NIL is part of it. The conference was more balanced talent wise with the teams at the top less dominant. Also the decision to Add Texas and Oklahoma created a conference where teams beat each other up. Oklahoma wasn’t very good this season but they were good enough to knock Alabama out of the playoffs with a dominating win over the Tide in Norman.

Q. Dr. Starcs asks: What’s your solution for the seemingly unbalanced football schedules within the conference and do the AD’s have any say or influence in the process currently?

A. If you are the AD of certain schools like Texas or Alabama or Georgia or Tennessee or LSU or Texas A&M you might have some influence. I think ABC and ESPN has as much to say about it as any of the ADs. They are playing big money to the conference and they want games
that draw the most ratings. Keep in mind that it’s not who you play because starting in 2026 each team will play each of the other 15 SEC teams in a two year period. Its what time you lay that matters. Certain teams like Arkansas, Mississippi State and Kentucky will play more 11am games at home and fewer prime time games. That’s just one of the prices to be paid when money is ruling everything.

Ray Kramer was an excellent SEC Commissioner. Treatment of the 12 SEC teams at the time was equal. With the ‘money trumps all’ policy I see these days equal treatment is out the window.

Q. Porked Tongue asks: What do you see as the biggest results of winning even this minor bowl game?

A. It keeps at least part of the fan base happy in the offseason. I don’t think ticket prices for football will go up because of winning that game. The ticket price increase is going to be with basketball. I do think the bowl win has helped in the current transfer portal. But the best part of winning that game? Winning is always better than losing. Ask those SEC teams that lost bowl games or even playoff games.

Q. Hotdogger wants to know: Do the players still get their NIL checks even when they ditch a playoff or bowl game?

A. Pretty sure they don’t. If they do somebody is not smart. How many people get paid on Monday for work they’re going to be doing through Friday.

Q. Gcoop17 asks: Now that players are suing coaches over NIL, when will we see companies and universities start suing players?

A. A university could not sue a player over not fulfilling an NIL obligation. NIL money comes from outside the school. I guess a booster or NIL collective could sue a player for not fulfilling an NIL obligation but it would be their own fault. As I understand it players are only paid for NIL deals after they fulfill their obligation. Like in the business world, employees get paid for the house they work after they’ve worked those hours, not before.

Q. WVHogfan says: JUCO players can now have four years of eligibility at a four year school. Potentially that’s six years of college eligibility. When will players that leave early to go pro sue to get eligibility back if they don’t make a pro team?

A. It will probably happen and the NCAA will probably give in without going to court and here’s why. With the transfer portal coaches have gotten used to solving problems immediately by bringing in players that can start right away. With revenue sharing portal activity will decrease. So how do coaches get experienced players that they didn’t have to develop? With JUCOs that how and if you throw in some juniors that declared for the draft and are allowed to come back a new team that wants them, coaches like that.

However I do think that revenue sharing will force coaches to reply more on developing true freshmen and keeping them in the program. Yes some high school kids are going to end up going the JUCO route but why would that bother them if they know they still have four years to develop further after they transfer to a four year school?

Q. Eddylynn asks: How would you rate the College football playoffs so far? There have been a lot of stinko games.

A. In the first round all four teams that played at home won by an average of 21 points. Give a seeded team the extra advantage of playing a home and blowouts are what you’re gonna get.

In round two, every team that got a first round bye lost and lost by an average of 14 points. A team that sits out for three weeks has a hard time picking up where it left off. One game out of 8 has been interesting. Hopefully the last three games will be more fun to watch.

Q. Pigsfeat wants to know: Do you think a Ken Hatfield triple option, ball control offense would work in the SEC? The military academies seem to use it as a way to counter the size difference of other college teams.

A. If you have the right players yes it could work. But you need a QB who can run the option well and can also throw the ball well Those guys don’t grow on trees. Taylen Green for instance, he can run and he can throw but how well could he read a defense well enough to know when to hand the ball off, fake a handoff and keep the ball himself, pitch the ball, or fake both and throw it?

Q. Hammerhead28 asks: Why has no one invented a field goal simulator like they have for golfers? Instead of kicking into a net on the sideline you’d kick into the simulator and see if you had the distance and accuracy. You could even program program the wind direction and mph. You could put a net around the simulator so the ball doesn’t go all over the place.

A. Sounds good but what happens if the simulator for one team malfunctions while the other team’s kicker is using a simulator that works fine? I guess both teams could revert back to kicking into a net. I actually like this idea but I’m not sure such a device would be approved for use in a game.

Q. Iwastherein1969 asks: Has the knee-pad gone the way of the dinosaur? The game of football may be on its way to players wearing hot pants, a cup and a helmet the size of Rosie, the Jetson’s robot house keeper’s head.

A. Now that is funny. Ever see the Jetson’s robot maid? It’s got a head like a giant toaster. I guess that’s a reference to a belief by some that those heavily padded helmets we’re seeing in practices my end up being used in games.
Personally I’d like to see that to reduce the number of concussions. The knee pad needs to be required. I’ve seen players with their knee cap split into two pieces. That’s not an easy rehab.