Déjà vu

February 6th, 2008. National Signing Day for college football.  The Razorbacks had finished 8-5 on the 2007 campaign and were now under the direction of Bobby Petrino, who took the job after Houston Nutt resigned.  Not to mention the Hogs would be losing significant players from the roster, those leaving included: Darren McFadden, Felix Jones, Marcus Monk, Peyton Hillis, All-SEC tackle Robert Felton, DT Marcus Harrison and Freddie Fairchild along with a few others.  A month before Signing Day, Michigan QB and former 5-star recruit Ryan Mallet announced he would be transferring to Arkansas.  He would sit out 2008 but be eligible for his Junior and Senior seasons in ’09 and ’10 respectively.  

On Signing Day, the Hogs received 25 letters of intent.  Highlights from the class included Joe Adams (4* WR from Central Arkansas Christian), Greg Childs (3* WR from Warren), Chris Gragg (3* TE from Warren), Dennis Johnson (2* RB according to Scout Media / 3* according to Rivals from Texarkana, AR), Tyler Wilson (3* QB by Scout Media / 4* by Rivals from Greenwood), Jerico Nelson (3* DB by Scout Media and 4* by Rivals from Louisiana) and last but not least, Jarius Wright (4* WR from Warren).  Overall there were 15 prospects from Arkansas, 3 from Georgia, 1 from Florida, 2 from Louisiana, 1 from Indiana, 2 from Texas and 1 from Tennessee.  

The 2008 team would go on and finish the season with a 5-7 record and unfortunately miss a bowl game in Bobby P’s first year.  Just a reminder that ole Ryan Mallet sat out the season due to him transferring, so the full potential of the team hadn’t been seen quite yet.  In 2009, with Mallet playing QB the Razorbacks would go 8-5 and close to being 10-3 if it not been for some sketchy officiating in Gainsville and a missed 36 yard field goal in OT against LSU.  They would be invited to the Liberty Bowl vs East Carolina where they defeated the Pirates 20-17.  

2010 saw the Razorbacks win 10 games during Mallet’s Senior season.  Then in 2011, the keys got passed to Tyler Wilson and the now Senior tandem of Wright, Childs and Adams.  The team would go 11-2 and get as high as #3 in the nation and go on to defeat Kansas State in the Cotton Bowl.  

Now, fast forward to February 6th, 2019.  National Signing Day once again.  The Razorbacks are coming off a 2-10 season during Chad Morris’ first year (some have referred to it as year zero).  Once again, about a month before Signing Day a QB decided to transfer to Arkansas.  This time it was Ben Hicks from SMU, where Chad had coached before taking the job at Fayetteville.  Ben has already been in Chad’s offensive system and is eligible to play immediately.  Also, a month later in March, Nick Starkel from Texas A&M announced he would transfer to Arkansas and be immediately eligible as a redshirt Junior.

We have went into detail about the 2019 class on the Podcast, so check it out if haven’t listened.  I want to revisit some of them again as a comparison to the aforementioned 2008 class.  Like 2008, the Hogs received 25 letters of intent.  Among the notables from the 2019 class (rankings from 24/7): TreylonBurks (4* WR from Warren), Hudson Henry (4* TE from Pulaski Academy), Trey Knox (4* WR from Murfreesboro, TN), Devin Bush (4* DB from Louisiana), KJ Jefferson (4* QB from Mississippi), TQ Jackson (4* WR from Texas), and Shamar Nash (4* WR from Florida). Overall the class has 6 from Texas, 5 from Arkansas, 3 from Louisiana, 3 from Oklahoma, 2 from Florida, 1 from Alabama, 1 from Georgia, 1 from Maryland, 1 from Mississippi, 1 from Ohio, and 1 from Tennessee.  One thing that stands out about this class is amount of different areas Chad and his staff reached.  We managed to sign the top guys in Arkansas and branched off into some of those key areas like we did in 2008.  

This is why I go into this season with a lot of optimism for the Razorbacks.  Obviously with over 50 Freshman, we will be a young team.  While you don’t want to use that as an excuse, it has to be recognized.  However, the young team has a ton of potential and I believe we may surprise a few teams.  Year 1 of Bobby P had its share disappointments, and Year 1 of Chad did too.  Now Year 2 approaches and we have seen how things can turn around when you get a solid QB in.  I have to say I feel some Déjà vu, and if it ends up going how years 3&4 did for Bobby, I’m perfectly fine with that.  Next year, we hand things over to Nick Starkel, unless he is already playing in this season, then after next year, you go with KJ.  Not a bad outlook.  

There is just one thing I don’t want to see again, a news headline in April about our head coach having a motorcycle accident.    

By: Jon White

https://arkansasrazorbacks.com/chad-morris-named-head-football-coach/

http://m.zimbio.com/photos/Ryan+Mallett/Bobby+