Bobby Petrino said that they consider Tulsa as a part of their home state area for recruiting.
We had a great night at the Greater Tulsa Razorback Club meeting. The food was good. The atmosphere was good. And the speakers were excellent.
There was a large group there. In attendance were Calvin Barnett and his family, Eric Bennett and his family, and Alvin Bailey's parents.
There were a lot of items available for silent auction...... A LOT! This was being handled by a company from Hot Springs. We also had a couple of items for live auction. A limited print of the 1964 NC team, autographed by Coach Broyles brought $1000. A Dallas Cowboys helmet autographed by Felix Jones brought $500.
Channel 8 and the Tulsa World had reporters there early on.
The setup in the room was great. The room is used for simulcast racing, and it has several large television screens down the sides of two walls. Season highlights were shown on all the screens as we were eating. The screens were also used to show the person who was speaking.
Prior to being seated for dinner, the coaches worked the room a little bit. They made a point to go by and visit with the Barnetts, the Bennetts, and the Baileys.
I was very impressed with how Coach McGee paid so much attention to the those families. He didn't even sit at the coaches' table during the speeches. He sat with the Baileys. You can see why he is so good at recruiting. Come to think of it, I'm not even sure he ate dinner.
Chuck Barrett spoke prior to the coaches being introduced, then he and the coaches used a question and answer format.
Garrick McGee was up first. He received a long, enthusiastic standing ovation.
GM said that the offense runs through the QB. He talked about how the QB is the eyes of the offense. He mentioned how important the running game is, and he referred to the receivers as "birds" flying around the field.
He said that the Tulsa area is very important in their recruiting plans. He has viewed the Tulsa area as the place to really establish a recruiting base in Oklahoma, and in the coming years, he plans to begin recruiting the OKC area more. He wants Oklahoma kids to realize they have another option besides being a Sooner, a Cowboy, or a Golden Hurricane.
GM talked about how impressive the passion and enthusiasm of the Arkansas fans is.
He said the Razorbacks have one goal......to win a National Championship. He said it is easy to say, but harder to accomplish, and it requires a lot of hard work, but that is the goal.
GM said that they feel like we have the players to look eye to eye with anyone in the country, but our players have to learn to push through mentally when the going gets tough.
Chuck asked him how to keep all the skill players happy when there are so many talented ones on the team. GM said, "Win!"
He said that he thinks the reason that Ryan came back is because he was not satisfied with how he finished the season, and how he performed in big games. He said there were several plays that he could have made at Florida, and LSU, and that he really thinks that is why Ryan came back.
Coach Petrino also received an enthusiastic standing ovation when he was introduced.
He said when he first came to Arkansas, he wanted Garrick to come and be on his staff. He told him that he had already hired Paul as OC, but if he would come and work with the QBs, he would promote him to OC when Paul moved on.
BP spoke in glowing terms of Calvin, Eric, and Alvin.
He said he expects Alvin to be a very good player for the Hogs, and he was happy that he was able to be redshirted this past year. He said that some of the players need to put on weight, and that some of them need to lose some weight. He laughed and said that Alvin is one who needs to lose weight.
He talked about how he appreciates the passion and enthusiam of the fans. He said when he first came to Arkansas, he wondered why UA didn't play ASU. He went to visit with JFB and ask why we didn't play other instate teams. He said it was a very important conversation. JFB told him that people could be fans of ASU, and still be Razorbacks in their hearts. But if UA played ASU it would cause people to choose sides, and divide up the fan base a little bit.
He thinks we are in good shape to have a good season next year.
He also thinks that in 3 years, we will see that this recruiting class was a very good one. He pointed out that they focused on recruiting defensive players this year. He said if a coach came in and said that they found a RB he really liked, BP would ask if he could play LB or DB. If the coach said that the kid was strictly a RB, they marked him off the list. He related that there was a QB that he really liked, but we didn't have room for him because we were focusing on defense.
He said that the defense improved throughout last season. Sometimes it may not have been that apparent, but we did improve as the season went along. He wants to raise the bar, and he wants us to have a Top 20 defense. He indicated that was necessary if we are going to reach the goal of winning championships
He talked about what the new staff members bring to the table.
Coach K is a very good teacher. Coach K is very good at working with the "Pistol" formation. BP said that we ran the "Pistol" formation a lot last year, but we don't call it the pistol. We call it the "shot" when the QB is backed up a few feet behind the center, with the RB behind the QB. We call it the "gun" when the RB is lined up beside the QB. Coach K is going to help make our running game a lot better.
Coach Caldwell is a very good coach and an outstanding recruiter. He said theat Steve and Garrick really LOVE recruiting, and that is why they are so good at it.
Coach Cinkovich is also a very good coach. When Paul left, BP asked Garrick, and Coach Summers separately who they thought would make a good receivers coach. Both recommended Cink. Cink Had been coming to Fayetteville for visits, and exchanging ideas with our coaches, and they were very comfortable with him coming on board. Cink will be in the booth, and Garrick will stay on the sidelines. He said that GM will also have to pay some attention to the other offensive players now that he is OC, but his main focus will be to keep an eye on the QB And he added that keeping and eye on Mallett is a full time job. He explained that when you have a player that is so competitive, you have to watch him to make sure that he stays where he needs to be mentally.
He said our players are "grinding" now. They are meeting tomorrow morning at 5:30 to work out. He said "grinding" is when you get up, you feel good, you go work hard to get better. And when you get up, and you don't feel good, you go work hard to get better.
He wants our players to work hard on getting stronger, more flexible, and faster. He doesn't want to sacrifice speed for strength though. Being flexible is important to helping reduce injuries.
He talked about how they approached the Liberty Bowl as a major bowl, because he wants our guys to learn how to prepare for big bowl games when a lot is on the line. That's why they were pretty strict with schedules, curfews, etc. in Memphis.
BP talked about how winning the bowl game was a good win. He said it was a difficult game because of the wind and cold temps. He said he felt good at half time because the coaches and players were in the locker room tallking about ways they could come back and win. He pointed out how good it was to see Alex kick the winning FG. He referred to the difficulties Tejada had had, and it was really good to see him hang in there, not give up, and then go out there and make that kick.
BP said that he feels good about the new kickers who are coming in. He said we have a guy coming in who he feels will put the ball in the EZ on kickoffs, and how important that is. BP pointed to the LSU game when it might have made a huge difference in the game had we been able to kick the ball into the EZ after taking the lead late in the game. He likes the prospects of putting the new athletic guys on special teams for KO coverage etc.
Punt returner is wide open. He said he can envision Bennett playing a role as a punt returner. He commented that Eric is very exciting when he has the ball.
There is going to be a lot of competition in the secondary. A guy who is 2nd team one day, may be 1st team the next day. The depth chart may be quite fluid.
He gave an update on injuries. Mallett had surgery on his left shoulder after the bowl game, but he is doing well. Several others had surgery as well. Some will be held out of contact in the spring.
Coach Petrino received another standing O when he finished.
I was impressed with how detail oriented BP is. Another thing that impressed me, is when I asked him a question, he looked me right in the eye and answered it.
It was a very good meeting. They have several of these club meetings on the schedule. This was their first one.
I have some pics that I will post a little later.
This post was edited on 2/17 1:04 AM by TulsaHawg
