Hogs will catch up to slow signings start

It may have been a little disappointing to Chad Morris, his short staff and legions of Arkansas Razorbacks fans that the early signing period was only about half what was expected.

Yes, going into Wednesday the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville had lost a couple of recruits who committed to former head coach Bret Bielema and picked up a couple who wanted to play for Morris.

It was never going to be a banner recruiting class, and Morris was one of the most handcuffed head coaches in the country because he should have gotten at least a week earlier start, but more than a week was spent flirting with and helping Gus Malzahn get a raise at Auburn.

Malzahn was never coming to Arkansas. He never will unless he gets fired at Auburn. Malzahn believes he has a better chance to win a national championship as coach of the Tigers than he does with the Razorbacks, so he needs to stay where he is for the good of both programs.

Still, a run was made at him as he prepared for the SEC Championship Game and his agent, Jimmy Sexton, did what he does best and played it perfectly. He got Malzahn a hefty raise and bigger buyout and helped Morris get a raise to leave SMU and take over a Power 5 program.

No one will ever know what an extra week might have allowed Morris to accomplish, but one account from a grandfather whose grandson committed early to the Hogs but had LSU and Texas begging the recruit to visit, Morris and staff were very impressive in their home visit, and the official campus visit was great.

Understand that a lot of coaches are not happy with the early signing period now that they have experienced it.

When the idea was conceived and approved it was thought that only a handful of recruits would sign early, but someone forgot to get that memo to the other schools in the SEC, especially Georgia which currently stands No. 1 in the country with 23 signed commitments.

Alabama’s Nick Saban has lashed out against the new early signing period and that is understandable because Georgia’s Kirby Smart grabbed his spot in the rankings.

Although Saban is right, the early recruiting period got in the way of preparations for most of the 80 head coaches in bowl games.

Also, it was learned that the recruits weren’t crazy about getting signed with little fanfare because all of them are out of school for Christmas.

Then there’s the guys like Morris who are new on the job and were a full step behind to begin the race which also hurt Florida State (nine signees) and UCLA (11 signees). Both have new coaches.

The Razorbacks signed seven on Wednesday, and the next fewest signees was at Texas A&M which had 14 for new head coach Jimbo Fisher, who also helped Sexton earn a nice Christmas bonus.

Do understand that the ratings are a numbers equation. The more kids you sign, the better your score, so come February and the final signing date the Razorbacks are going to move up. Probably a lot.

Arkansas’ composite score ranked them No. 75 in the country and last in the SEC, but the Razorbacks now have more scholarships to offer than any conference opponent. Basically they won’t have to worry about Georgia, South Carolina, Auburn, LSU, Kentucky, Mississippi State or Missouri because they all have signed at least 20 recruits this week.

So Morris’ first class might have been a little disappointing, but it was far from defeated. Some really talented players were signed, including three who were four-star-rated players in someone’s rankings.