Go for it!
The major college football program in Arkansas has always adhered to conservative philosophies in the modern era, even going back to the days of Frank Broyles. Run the ball. Maintain good field position. Minimize risk. Conversely, in the last 15 years, the high school football fields in this state have been laboratories for experimentation.
Gus Malzahn revolutionized the Spread offense while at Shiloh Christian and Springdale with his pressure tactics he employed when his teams had the ball. And now Pulaski Academy coach Kevin Kelley is bucking convention by having his team go for it on fourth down every time.
At first glance, such a gamble seems to be the equivalent of fording the river on the old computer game, The Oregon Trail. It works, but there’s a good chance it will end in disaster. But as Gregg Easterbrook of ESPN.com points out, the strategy has yielded positive results…a lot.
That team was Pulaski — 9-1-1 after having just won its opening-round game in the Arkansas 5A playoffs. Coach Kevin Kelley reports that he stopped punting in 2005 — after reading an academic study on the statistical consequences of going for the first down versus handing possession to the other team, plus reading Tuesday Morning Quarterback’s relentless examples of when punting backfires but going for the first down works. In 2005, Pulaski reached the state quarterfinals by rarely punting. In 2006, Pulaski reached the state championship game, losing by one point — and in the state championship game, Pulaski never punted, converting nine of 10 fourth-down attempts. Since the start of the 2006 season, Pulaski has had no punting unit and never practices punts. This year, Pulaski has punted just twice, both times when leading by a large margin and trying to hold down the final score. In its playoff victory Friday night, Pulaski did not punt, converting three of four fourth-down tries.
Unfortunately, for Houston Nutt, Peyton Hillis wasn’t able to get the first down when Arkansas rolled the dice on fourth-and-one in the second quarter of the Razorbacks’ 34-13 loss at Tennessee last Saturday. But that may have had something to do with the fact that Darren McFadden was not on the field at the time. Just a hunch.
Dear Frank Broyles
You have been a great coach and a great AD. Thank you for all that you have done and will do for the razorback nation. I pray that you will assemble one last team before you retire completely. You have players that played for you on the national championship team that need to be called home to turn this program around. CALL THEM HOME! They love their razorbacks! It is time to assemble your final team. You know them even better than any of us fans. Use your clout and BRING THEM HOME. We want to see a team of coaches that can whip the south end of a north bound donkey on Saturday. This would once again show us that you are ready for what you gave us in 1964. Put together the team, I beg you. It is time to set the stage for a new era. All these players and coaches want is you to call them home. Make history just like you did in 1964.
nice letter there, txhog. i would agree. with the tremendous facilities and incredible fan base, the UA could attract many up and coming or big name coaches for the right price. just for grins, lets connect a few dots. the new AD had dave wannstedt on staff at pitt, who coached under jimmie johnson at miami. throw frank into the mix, and maybe, just maybe, jj comes back to hog land. result: instant, national credibility and jimmie would have this SEC situation figured out in no time. GO HOGS!
The idea of having Jimmy Johnson coach the Hogs is really enticing when you consider a few variables. Jimmy is getting on in age. If the pieces all came together to put him in the head coaching position, what real risk would the football program have that he would bolt to go somewhere else or to the NFL again? The answer is next to no risk. I don’t about anyone else, but I think aside from the personalities that keep the atmosphere fun, Jimmy looks bored on Fox Sports Sunday. For such a competitor to be relegated to commentary, I can’t imagine he’s satisfied with that. The only drawback would be the salary he would want. I’m just not sure that we could afford him. For sure, JFB would have to partner with Jeff Long to do one whale of a selling job. I’d be a little amazed if the thought hasn’t crossed Frank’s mind.
It seems as though the board has an error. Somehow these posts about Frank Broyles and Jimmie Johnson ended up in the wrong comment section. The blog post I read was about going for it on 4th down and not punting. Rainer, I think you should check into why these posts are in the wrong place.
Anyway, nice Oregon Trail reference!
GO HOGS!
How ’bout punting on third down?
hehe.. don’t let the 3rd down “punt idea” get back to the current coaching braintrust.
4th down and punting,run run pass,give to Hillis on forth and one,sos sos sos.Nutts coaching is like Mike Tyson against Buster Dougles.Mike hopes he can make that one punch to win.Nutt hopes Darren or Felix can hit that one homerun so Nutt can win.Both losers.Some offense.LMAO.I hope Nutt has the brains to at least leave on his own.