Ask Mike: Panic Mode Over Cal’s Hogs, SEC Football < Big Ten Football & A.J. Green Returns As What?

Q. Our first comment comes from tophawg19 who says: This season looks pretty grim. Nine of the other 15 teams are ranked. We brought in good shooters that for some reason can’t shoot. Bigs that look like they are afraid of contact. Where do you see us finishing?

A. I almost always try to avoid making predictions because by its very nature sports is unpredictable. I’ll double up on that with regard to the 2025 SEC basketball race. There’s never been anything like this. There is not one truly bad basketball team in this conference.
Five or six fully are fully capable of getting into the NCAA tournament and winning the whole thing. Several more will get in as lower seeds and will likely pull off upsets. We may end up with some SEC teams only getting knocked out when they go up against other SEC teams.
Right now Arkansas looks bottom three or four. But the teams they’ve lost to are top five nationally or close to it. So until we get deeper into this race its hard to predict where Arkansas will finish. Plus even though the Hogs are 0-3 they’ve improved some with each game. This is a brand new team built top to bottom. The individual parts are good but those parts have had trouble syncing up. If this bunch continues to get better the team could finish a lot higher than most fans think it will.

Q.RedDogRazorback asks: I realize analytics is a big part of sports but what is wrong with Arkansas’ 3 point shooting? Do you think the 3 point shooting will change this year or do we change the offense to score a higher percentage shot?

A. Arkansas started the season with shooting problems but that issue slowly went away through November and December. They were shooting twos and threes with confidence until SEC play started. Missing shots is contagious. Players start thinking about their shot motion instead of relying on muscle memory. It won’t last. If these guys shot well before they will do it again. They just need to stop forcing the ball up and thinking about the shooting motion. Go back to muscle memory. That starts with shooting more after practice, staying in the gym, putting in the extra time.

Q. Shane Knight wants to know: What has happened with this historically strong program over the last 20 years? Muss aside it’s been bad. Hogs have the $, facilities, tradition.

A. It started with replacing Nolan with the wrong coach. The school could have had Bill Self but because of chancellor John White Arkansas ended up with Stan Heath, a one season wonder at Kent State. After Heath, Arkansas could have had Dana Altman but because of White and an athletic department staffer who was incompetent, Altman took the job and then backed out. Because of White, a search firm was used to find the next coach and that firm came up with John Pelphrey who was the worst coach I’ve ever covered at Arkansas. Pelphrey was replaced by Mike Anderson who had enjoyed good success at UAB and Missouri and never had a losing season at Arkansas. But Anderson could never get going in the NCAA Tournament. Muss was good for four seasons, fell on his face in the fifth and took off for USC. Now we have Cal and after one half of a season, because of three SEC games, some fans are writing him off.

That’s the Internet these days.

Q. Hotdogger says: I hope fans don’t drift on Cal. It takes time for a team to build a new team from scratch no matter how good the players are. We could have a first round NCAA ejection but with patience we can only get better with Cal at the wheel.

A. That’s an excellent analysis of the current situation. I wouldn’t worry much about Cal. In his previous job he got used to fans second guessing his coaching. If Arkansas can improve enough to get in the NCAA Tournament I think the Razorbacks will do well because the SEC is tougher than anything they’ll see in the first or even second rounds of the NCAA Tournament.

Q. Marty Byrde’s proxy want to know: What did you think about the atmosphere at the game on Wednesday? I was disappointed for the most part. The crowd had zero impact on the game.

A. I think you nailed it. We’ve reached a point where a sizable number of Razorback fans come to games to be entertained and if the game is not up to their standards they just sit there waiting for something good to happen.

I do think it would probably be different if the team was ranked, especially if they were top 10.
Some blame the lack of enthusiasm to the cost of donations and tickets, creating a high dollar crowd that is not into the game as much as blue collar fans. I think that’s overstated. I know several well heeled fans, booster types, who are very enthusiastic.

Calling the Athletic Director Hunter Pay-a-Check is idiotic. Is anybody naive enough to believe that an athletic department can be successful without keeping up with other SEC programs in terms of donations and ticket sales?

Q. DWR says: I strongly believe that just spending money on coaches and players does not translate into wins. The basketball team is a prime example. (Winning) has always been about TEAM, not ME.

A. Your basic statement is correct but as you’ve applied it to this team I think you’re off base. This team has not struggled in SEC play so far because of egos. This team does not have a bunch of selfish players who are each trying to advance themselves. Arkansas has played three outstanding basketball teams and in trying to match up against those teams the Hogs have broken down into a bunch of individuals each trying to take over to help on their own. It will be a constant battle for Cal and his staff to keep these guys disciplined. But again, this isn’t happening because of egos, selfishness how much money some of these guys are getting. This is a brand new team and the individual parts have to come together as a group in difficult situations.

Q. whippersnapper wants to know: Who do you feel was right, Beamer or Bielema?

A. Neither one. You had a clash of two different personalities with each one displaying a side to them that is not a good look. Shane Beamer complains too much. His press conferences are full of imagined slights by referees, the media or things other coaches say and do. To hear him tell it, it’s South Carolina against the world. It’s okay to take that approach with your players in the privacy of team meeting or the locker-room. Nolan did that all the time. But Beamer needs to stop doing this in press conferences. Just line up and play the game.

When his teams are playing well Bielema becomes a wise guy. He likes to pop off and one up the other team or other coach. He strokes his own ego. That’s really what he was doing when he made Beamer mad. It’s sort of like Muhammad Ali’s rope-a-dope tactics but while that worked for Ali it’s been bad for Bielema. It’s what caused things to fall apart for him at Arkansas and if he’s not careful he’ll mess things up at Illinois.

Q. WVHogfan asks: Can We say that the Big 10 is new the King of the Hill in college football after going 5-1 against the SEC in bowl games?

A. We can say it for the 2024 season for sure. Whether that continues remains to be seen. My assessment is that the SEC got too big for its britches and got its head handed to it this post season. I thought Paul Finebaum was gonna cry when he was forced to admit that the SEC bombed in the playoffs and several of the bowl games. Roy Sankey and his “it just means more” bunch in Birmingham got served a great big slice of humble pie.

Q. Eddy Lynn says: I got excited when I read that A.J. Green is returning to the football team. I always thought he was underrated as a running back. But then I saw that he’s coming back as a walk on cornerback. What?

A. It turns out that the whole AJ Green is coming back as a D-Back story may have been misreported or may have been premature. Green sent out a tweet over the weekend indicating that he’s a running back not a defensive back. He would seem to be a really good fit there. He’s got decent size and has what is called “quick feet.” He can cut on a dime and accelerate. They need his type in the running back room right now.

Q. Hawgredneck asks: What’s the story on Arkansas’s new secondary coach?

A. Nick Perry has an NFL background. Before that he played for Nick Saban, was a grad assistant and analyst at ‘Bama and went on to coach at Atlanta and Seattle. I think anytime you’ve got a position coach with ties to the NFL it’s a recruiting advantage. As for how that will affect the secondary on the field next season, who knows? I’m sure Perry will get plenty of attention from the media when spring football starts.

Q. Jerry Anglin asks: Is the portal closed now? Can you assess the new transfers as a group? Will they make this team better next season?

A. They are close to being done for now. There will still probably be three or four portal transfers brought in after spring football and more will leave. The class is ranked middle of the pack in the SEC and in the top 20 nationally.

Q. TimTeNO: I saw on social media that NIL agents for college athletes are usually getting 20%, when agents for the NBA/NFL are getting anywhere from 3% to 5%. That doesn’t feel right to me

A. It stinks and as I explained last week those parasites may be trying to grab up all the money they can while it lasts because there are big changes coming to NIL deals. I’m really not sure what role these agents will play under revenue sharing. We’ll have to wait and see. If the players decide to form a union they could specify the percentage that agents can take from their NIL deals.

Q. Hammerhead28 asks: Do you think college football should adopt the NFL kickoff format?
The number of returns in college has to be at an all time low. No excitement anymore.

A. To me the college rule was put in place to reduce injuries and it’s worked because most of the time there’s no runback. The NFL was designed to reduce injuries while still encouraging runbacks. The NFL rule is strange to watch. The kicking team can’t advance until the ball is caught but they moved the kicking team up to the opponent’s 40. The receiving team has a catch zone which is restricted which means you can only the run the ball back if it’s caught in that zone. The effect is the two teams start off closer together so there’s less blind side, full speed blocking and tackling. Stats indicate that it’s working. The number of big runbacks is up but injuries are down. Sounds like the NFL model is a better option.

Q. Lanny says: Fans on the Internet seem to think that most of the local media are tools of those in charge on the Hill. I assume you think they are wrong so why do they believe that?

A. Because they are mad at the AD, the head coach, the players and they want the media on their side. Sometimes the media is on their side but not all the time and if, as a reporter, you say something they don’t like they’ll call you a sunshine pumper, cool aid drinker or a tool of the athletic department. My favorite is fans saying the media sides with the coach or AD to keep from losing media credentials. To my knowledge that’s never actually happened even to reporters who were highly critical of the head coach or AD.

I will admit that in many cases I will side with a coach or player because I’m aware of the fact that fans often come to conclusions based on a lack of knowledge or an incorrect interpretation of certain situations. This is nothing new. Long before the Internet in my hometown, fans would come up to coaches or players face-to-face and say some of the dumbest things I’d ever heard. When I played high school ball a lot of my teammates would stay at home on Saturday after a Friday night loss to avoid these type confrontations.

My dad always explained it this way. When you play and lose you’ve been out there on the field, court or diamond. You know what happened and if you believe you did all you could to win and you got just beat by a better team you accept it better. Fans have no outlet other than to get mad. They can’t play. They can’t make things happen during a game other than to make noise for the home team. All they can do is demand answers afterward and come up with theories on why their team lost.