Long, Bielema don’t know about Hog history

Jeff Long conducted hard negotiations to hire Coach Bielema at a mere $3.2 million plus perks to lead the Razorbacks back to their glory days. The only basic problem is that neither Long nor Bielema have any concept of Razorback history, let alone tradition.

Case in point: Arkansas in 1957 played Texas A&M, ranked No. 1 with the Heisman Trophy winner on their team. Arkansas was judged to have little or no chance to compete.

The Hogs scored first, but missed the PAT. A&M came back to score in the second quarter. After lots of hard play, the score remained 7-6 in favor of A&M. The Hogs intercepted a pass and returned it to the Aggie 13. On the last play of the game, George Walker had a receiver open in the end zone and fired a rifle of a pass, only to have Heisman Trophy recipient John David Crow move laterally five yards in a few seconds to intercept the pass. Oh, by the way, A&M’s coach was Paul “Bear” Bryant, a native of Arkansas.

Seven years later, led by Frank Broyles, Arkansas was ranked No. 1 in the nation.

Reference the current head coach’s disconnect: Bielema didn’t know his fastest, highest-yard gainer had only played two downs until days after the loss to TCU. He also didn’t realize that TCU had stacked the middle, leaving the ends wide open, had we called better plays.

Thoughts:

(1) Recruit speed and agility instead of weight. (2) Call fewer plays running between the tackles.

(3) Coach for playing against the opponent, not ourselves.

(4) Don’t hype the players to a level of overconfidence. TOM GOLDSBOROUGH Bella Vista