Arkansas Coaching Standards

I received way more responses to my last post than I ever thought possible. I have been having an on going banter with my old college mates about the subject of HDN and Gus and Mustain. Do some math and you might be able to figure out who one of them might be.

Of course, not many of the replies were very flattering. I was told to go "have sex" with myself, that I was the most uniformed person on the planet and that I was probably run out of Arkansas since I do not think HDN should be fired.

All well and good and further proof that when your position is shaky, resort to name calling and cursing.

My post was in response to a blog sent to me by my esteemed classmate that was written by some random dude dogging on the current program. My point was that blogs are like statistics, you can find one that takes the same data and reverses the opinion derived from it.

What I have learned now is that people will focus on certain content of an opinion and ignore other content. No one mentioned in their reply how I closed my post. I want HDN gone also and that I will cheer for the Hogs whoever the new guy is.

I remember the days back in the old Southwest conference when it was us against all of Texas. We always cheered like we were the underdog and celebrated whenever we beat an opponent and were sad when we lost. We hated punting on third down and hated a straight ahead hand off on 3rd and 15. But we still cheered and loved our boys. There were fans in the stands instead of coaches. That seems to have changed.

I watched alot of football this weekend and saw alot of close games and upsets. I also saw alot of fans cheering for their boys. They were just cheering in Oregon, they were just cheering in Gainsville, and they were just cheering in Seattle. The game is full of breaks, good and bad, errors, player and coaches, and excitement. That is what makes it college football. For some reason this seems to be lost on the Arkansas coaches, errr fans.

So with that in mind:

Due to poor coaching, Oregon receiver Cammeron Colvin fumbled at the goal line. Then, the ball rolled through the end zone! The entire staff will be fired on Monday.

A lack of discipline caused Florida to allow Auburn to drive the field and kick a game winning field goal. On the other side, the players performed the "gator chop" to mock the home team. Myer and Turberville are now on the hot seat.

Poor coaching squandered the lead as Colorado kicked a game winning field goal and upset Oklahoma. Stoops is considering his options.

Coaching decisions led to Andre Woodson's (the KY quarterback) first interception in 325 passes. The entire staff will visit Woodson's home and apologize to the family.

Coaching decisions are to blame for hurting the feelings of the N. Texas State team as Arkansas scored too many points. Coach Nutt once again fails to be accountable for his actions.

I am looking for backers for a full page Democrat-Gazzette ad: Wanted- Fans that cheer to replace our fans that coach.

I would like to close with a question for all of you. Is it possible that Hutt had to suffer through two losing seasons because he had to play Matt Jones at quarterback? I find it interesting that Mustains 8-0 record is always touted but Jones two losing seasons are never mentioned but instead blamed on Nutt. Was every Jones defeat due to Nutt and every Mustain victory due to his heroics?

I cannot do the suggested sex act, I stay informed by reading things other than hogville.com and I joined the Air Force and served for 22 years. I proudly tell people, around the world, I am from Arkansas and visit home as much as I can.

HDN will resign at the end of the season. He would go now but he loves his players and he loves coaching the University of Arkansas!

ts

It Didn't Have to be This Way for Arkansas

My Alma mater, The University of Arkansas lost to Kentucky last week. It was another heartbreaking loss and we could have won the game. The kids played hard but got some bad breaks at the end. Also, Kentucky has a very good football team led by one of the most experienced quarterbacks in college football.

The really sad part, everyone in the stadium expected them to lose. You could feel the negative energy from the TV and the game announcers even commented on it. The problem is the fans think they need a new coach.

Houston Nutt was the SEC coach of the year in 2006 and almost led the Hogs to a BCS bowl game. Unfortunately, they ran into LSU, Florida and Wisconsin at the end of the season. There is no respect for how good these team were, there is only concern for the way Coach Nutt handled a cocky freshman QB and a high school coach in his first year at the college level.

So, instead of having two Heisman Trophy candidate running backs and a very healthy battle for the starting QB job this year, the Hog players not only have to play the other team but they have to battle the negative energy field from their turncoat fans.

Here is how the fans blew what might have been.

1. They decided that high school coach Gus Malzahn was the second coming. When Malzhan quit the team, fans thought Nutt ran him off for no reason. His lack of college experience was not cited and Nutt received no benefit of experience for how he dealt with Gus.

2. The fans believed a 17 year old high school student more than a head coach with 17 years of experience. Mitch Mustain is evidently a cocky, spoiled and brash loner that neither his fellow teammates nor the coaching staff thought very highly of. He was a sought after recruit that did not feel he should have to compete for the QB job. After being pulled from a game, his mood and his attitude worsened.

3. The fans have put players miscues right at the feet of Nutt. While not one to back down from responsibility, Nutt has explained player mistakes but fans hear only what they want to hear. Against KY, two players tried to block a field goal. This was not called by the bench but the players were hustling. Fumbles are credited to coaches and the list goes on. There is no realism in the fans who all think they are coaches.

4. While most of the Hogs fans forgave a Governor for years of personal misconduct and then for lying to a Grand Jury, they seem very hypocritical when it comes to their football coaches. And this is all for alleged activity. A very high profile, very distracting lawsuit was filed and summarily dismissed for lack of merit. But the damage was done. So instead of enjoying a 10 win season and coach of the year honors, Nutt had to spend time and energy explaining things that did not happen. Things that were started by fans are distracting the coach and the team. As with fumbles and missed assignments, the fans are now trying to blame their own idiotic ideas on the coach.

I hope Coach Nutt leaves before the end of the season. These fans will get what they deserve. A "my way or the highway" high school coach and players that don't understand there is no "i" in team.

I will still cheer for my Hogs like there is no tomorrow!

The Walk Off

Unfortunately this is not a reference to the dramatic end to a baseball game. It is what I think may be the next sad wave of occurrences in the housing market. It is when owners simply walk off from the home that is no longer affordable to them. They leave it empty, turn off the power and water and go on to a rental that is more in line with their current income level and lifestyle. It takes a while for their loan servicing company to figure this out and then the foreclosure process starts. What aids this prcess? The couple walked into the home for nothing. They put no money down and at most paid some earnest money. They only lose credit scores when they leave. Their monthly interest payment is nothing more than a very large rent payment.

Here is the scenario:

A hard working, law abiding couple with 2 kids buy a home back in the day. The day being defined as the market craze of late 2004 to early 2006. This couple pay for the home using an interest only conventional loan for 80% of the price and a Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC) for the other 20% of the purchase price. This HELOC is an interest only, 3/1 Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM). The 3/1 means that the interest rate on that part of the money will reset in 3 years. And generally, this reset is to a higher rate.

The angle for this couple, and many others, was that the home would appreciate and they could refinance both loans into one loan at a better rate and have 20% equity in the home due purely to price appreciation. To put numbers to this, let's say they paid $400,000.00 for the home with $320,000.00 at 6.5% and then $80,000.00 on the HELOC at 8.5%. Since they are interest only, they have paid down zero amount of principal and are still suffering with a $3,000.00 mortgage payment.

The market stops going up and in fact goes down. The hope of a re-finance has disappeared and the looming rate increase begins to weigh on the couple. What to do? They both work. They have no extra money to do anything with the kids and the kids are not getting any younger. Instead of the dream of home ownership, they are living the nightmare of $3,000.00 a month for nothing.

They notice that a rent house is available close to their neighborhood, the kids could stay in the same school. The home is nicer than the one they have, in fact it is a new build bought by an investor and the rent is half the price.

They discuss their current life and both agree that things are not good. All work, no play and the kids are not being raised the way they were. They made a mistake and have to correct it. While outside their model of responsibility, the walk off is the only only option and they still have what little savings existed before this home because they financed everything. They have nothing invested in the home and the only emotions are negative because of the way the market has turned.

Their credit is decent so they apply to rent the home and are accepted. They use one months mortgage note to pay the deposits, rent a Rider truck and one weekend do the move. It will take three months before things become obvious to the loan servicing company and by that time they will have a new home and a new life. It will be years before they can buy again but that is not an issue right now. They may never be homeowners again but they will raise their kids and have a decent life.

The problem for the market is that this home will sit for three months with no power or water and quickly become distressed. This will hurt the other homeowners who are trying to do the right thing. If one or two other walk offs occur, the seed of a declining neighborhood has been planted. It is a weed and spreads fast.

Lets hope the walk off remains a baseball term.

Unindicted co-conspirator= PMI

One villain in this real estate debacle has to be the mortgage insurance business. If you talk to people or read stories about the adjustable mortgages that are about to reset, one thing that is left out is that most of these loans were initiated to avoid private mortgage insurance. If lenders, or loan officers, would have just said, "let's do a 30 year note on 100% or your home and buy PMI" a lot of the current troubles would not exist. People would have been qualified for, and adjusted to, their mortgage note plus the mortgage insurance premium. If they default, then the insurance would be paying the bill. Admittedly, there might be a number of insurance firms in trouble but at least the trouble would be honest trouble.

The cost of PMI vs the cost of a foreclosure or bankruptcy would be much cheaper. However, to put yourself in front of a loan officer who is telling you that with an 80/20 your note is $3500 a month and a 100% note with PMI is $3800 makes the decision a little tougher. Without hindsight, in 2005 this was a no brainer. Give me the cheaper note and I will re-fi in a year with 20% equity due to price appreciation. Obviously, not so fast. That $3800 note looks like a bargain in many circles these days, especially when your home is worth 10% less than you bought it for.

Do I want blood from these institutions? Certainly not, but there are many villains to go around in this mess we have. I just think they should all be outed and avoided in the future.

ts