A-State Football Four Down Territory - What Is It Going To Take?
- Red Wolf Insider
- 4 Replies
Welcome to Four Down Territory which is a post I will make weekly with a few thoughts I have about things that are going on.
So, I’ll give you three thoughts on Arkansas State football or college football in general. Then, the last thought will be whatever I want it to be.
1: WHAT IS IT GOING TO TAKE TO GET OUT OF REBUILD MODE?
A few years ago this question would have been much easier to answer compared to today. A few years ago I could have easily said go recruit solid dudes that will come here, work their way into a role, then go to work for the team. That really is still the answer, but the problem today is the NIL and transfer portal. Every single coach in American is having to deal with that. We also have coaches that are beginning to call out other coaches for allegedly tampering with players before they ever enter the portal.
These days it is so hard to keep quality athletes, especially at Group of Five schools, because someone bigger with more money can and will come after those athletes. Let's be honest. There were a few dudes on last year's team that could really help this year that ended up hitting the portal and bouncing to other schools.
It is way too easy to do it. The NCAA is going to have to step up and work to close the pandora's box that they opened.
How do you get out of rebuild mode? Keep recruiting hard then figure out a way to convince studs to stay here ever when the big dogs come calling.
2: KEYS TO SUCCESS IN 2023:
There are several keys to success in 2023, but it all is going to begin and end in the trenches. Butch Jones and his staff will have to get the OL and DL both to gel quickly and efficiently for this team to have success. There are plenty of playmakers and game breakers on this team that can help with the big plays, but the QB is going to have to have protection, the RB's are going to have to have running lanes, and the DL is going to have to unleash absolute hell week in and week out.
Think back to the more successful teams Arkansas State has had in recent years. The OL and DL were both strong during those times.
3: RECRUITING IS GOING WELL:
I've made mention of this a couple of times recently, but I've been very impressed with the recruiting efforts of Butch Jones and his staff. They currently have 10 players committed to the Class of 2023 and very well could have more on the way very soon.
One young man that I'm told is a heavy lean towards Arkansas State is Fordyce DE Carmilo Allen. There have been numerous players from Fordyce that have been big time players for the Arkansas State program over the years, (I can't leave out Coach Larry Lacewell, either) so there is a bit of a pipeline to Arkansas State from Red Bug country. Allen is a young man that I'm told does everything right. He is well liked in his school and his community. I'm told his work ethic is second to none, and I've got one coach on the Fordyce staff that has told me they believe Arkansas State will be a great fit for Allen.
I mentioned Allen, along with six others, in THIS article yesterday. Check it out if you haven't already seen it.
4: I KNOW MANY DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT, BUT PATIENCE IS KEY:
I get it. We live in a world where we all want to win and we want to win now. Unfortunately, that hasn't been the case here in the past three season's.
Look, Blake Anderson was very, very good to me. I've got a lot of love and mad respect for that dude, but the writing was on the wall before he left.
We began seeing a falloff his last two season's, and it really showed up that last season when he didn't have a winning record for the first time in his career. Recruiting was bad his last few years, and that has been an issue that has continued to plague this program since Butch Jones showed up on campus. I've also been told by NUMEROUS solid sources that a lot of Anderson's guys just refused to buy into Butch Jones and what he was selling.
Now, Butch's coaching style and attitude are certainly a lot different from what Anderson's was, and I was worried that we would see a clash because of that, but it has been a shame to see the amount of players that didn't want to buy in. We've seen a lot of them hit the portal. Several of them haven't played a down of football since they left here. One of them was pissed because he was convinced he was a D1 QB, but no other D1's offered him, so he went D2.
Stuff like this going on behind the scenes has hurt the production and the rebuild. This is stuff Butch Jones and staff have been working through.
The thing that I'm going to say that some may disagree with is that year three for Butch Jones is essentially year one. This program was that far in the hole when he got here. Now, I get it that year three is that magical year that everyone looks at a new coach to see what his stamp on the program is really going to look like, and in fairness I'm going to be looking for some of those things, but this rebuild goes deeper than a lot of people think is has, in my opinion.
Is Butch Jones the guy to get this program back to the top of the Sun Belt Conference? I can't answer that question. Only time will answer that question. However, I do know that he inherited an absolute mess of a program and has been having to work his way through it all in order to establish a firm foundation.
So, I’ll give you three thoughts on Arkansas State football or college football in general. Then, the last thought will be whatever I want it to be.
1: WHAT IS IT GOING TO TAKE TO GET OUT OF REBUILD MODE?
A few years ago this question would have been much easier to answer compared to today. A few years ago I could have easily said go recruit solid dudes that will come here, work their way into a role, then go to work for the team. That really is still the answer, but the problem today is the NIL and transfer portal. Every single coach in American is having to deal with that. We also have coaches that are beginning to call out other coaches for allegedly tampering with players before they ever enter the portal.
These days it is so hard to keep quality athletes, especially at Group of Five schools, because someone bigger with more money can and will come after those athletes. Let's be honest. There were a few dudes on last year's team that could really help this year that ended up hitting the portal and bouncing to other schools.
It is way too easy to do it. The NCAA is going to have to step up and work to close the pandora's box that they opened.
How do you get out of rebuild mode? Keep recruiting hard then figure out a way to convince studs to stay here ever when the big dogs come calling.
2: KEYS TO SUCCESS IN 2023:
There are several keys to success in 2023, but it all is going to begin and end in the trenches. Butch Jones and his staff will have to get the OL and DL both to gel quickly and efficiently for this team to have success. There are plenty of playmakers and game breakers on this team that can help with the big plays, but the QB is going to have to have protection, the RB's are going to have to have running lanes, and the DL is going to have to unleash absolute hell week in and week out.
Think back to the more successful teams Arkansas State has had in recent years. The OL and DL were both strong during those times.
3: RECRUITING IS GOING WELL:
I've made mention of this a couple of times recently, but I've been very impressed with the recruiting efforts of Butch Jones and his staff. They currently have 10 players committed to the Class of 2023 and very well could have more on the way very soon.
One young man that I'm told is a heavy lean towards Arkansas State is Fordyce DE Carmilo Allen. There have been numerous players from Fordyce that have been big time players for the Arkansas State program over the years, (I can't leave out Coach Larry Lacewell, either) so there is a bit of a pipeline to Arkansas State from Red Bug country. Allen is a young man that I'm told does everything right. He is well liked in his school and his community. I'm told his work ethic is second to none, and I've got one coach on the Fordyce staff that has told me they believe Arkansas State will be a great fit for Allen.
I mentioned Allen, along with six others, in THIS article yesterday. Check it out if you haven't already seen it.
4: I KNOW MANY DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT, BUT PATIENCE IS KEY:
I get it. We live in a world where we all want to win and we want to win now. Unfortunately, that hasn't been the case here in the past three season's.
Look, Blake Anderson was very, very good to me. I've got a lot of love and mad respect for that dude, but the writing was on the wall before he left.
We began seeing a falloff his last two season's, and it really showed up that last season when he didn't have a winning record for the first time in his career. Recruiting was bad his last few years, and that has been an issue that has continued to plague this program since Butch Jones showed up on campus. I've also been told by NUMEROUS solid sources that a lot of Anderson's guys just refused to buy into Butch Jones and what he was selling.
Now, Butch's coaching style and attitude are certainly a lot different from what Anderson's was, and I was worried that we would see a clash because of that, but it has been a shame to see the amount of players that didn't want to buy in. We've seen a lot of them hit the portal. Several of them haven't played a down of football since they left here. One of them was pissed because he was convinced he was a D1 QB, but no other D1's offered him, so he went D2.
Stuff like this going on behind the scenes has hurt the production and the rebuild. This is stuff Butch Jones and staff have been working through.
The thing that I'm going to say that some may disagree with is that year three for Butch Jones is essentially year one. This program was that far in the hole when he got here. Now, I get it that year three is that magical year that everyone looks at a new coach to see what his stamp on the program is really going to look like, and in fairness I'm going to be looking for some of those things, but this rebuild goes deeper than a lot of people think is has, in my opinion.
Is Butch Jones the guy to get this program back to the top of the Sun Belt Conference? I can't answer that question. Only time will answer that question. However, I do know that he inherited an absolute mess of a program and has been having to work his way through it all in order to establish a firm foundation.
