The Sun Belt has shed its stepping stone reputation. Let’s not go total Mike Aresco here – top talent won’t end a career in the SBC. But we’re no longer a coach-in-training conference. We’re a portal to big gigs and Top 25 recognition.
Theres more – or rather, there’s less. Arkansas State hasn’t had an NBA draft pick since 2002, when 7-footer Jason Jennings went 43rd to the Trailblazers (he took a job in Europe instead). A-State’s biggest claim to fame is the documentary Hoop Dreams which nobody has rented since Hastings went out of business. There’s just no juice in Jonesboro.
Life champion aside, Butch Jones is a legitimate football champion. He replaced Brian Kelly at both Central Michigan and Cincinnati, and he delivered two conference championships for both programs. He signed the No. 7 recruiting class in the nation in 2014 and the No. 4 recruiting class in the nation in 2015. Overall, Butch Jones is 84–54 (34-27 at Tennessee) with four bowl victories.
Though Anderson sometimes said that Arkansas State was “Building a Monster,” he was not interested in creating monsters out of his players. He was interested in building up men. Let the Saban’s of the world create football machines.
We got The Shaft, fellow suckers! We showed the Power Five how to play through COVID-19, and all we got in return was a pat on the head. We were the canary in the mind shaft; our reward for living was to be put back into our cage
The first game under Coach Perkins was a 0-49 loss to Toledo. The Indians didn’t score a single point until game 4, against Southern Illinois in Jonesboro. I was at that historic game. The moment we scored, a message appeared on the scoreboard “WE FINALLY SCORED!” It was cause for celebration. We rode that score to a 42-38 victory.
Bonner and Hatcher are essentially the same The Guy, matching nearly perfectly on the statistic sheet. Sometimes, Hatcher had the hot hand. Sometimes it was Bonner. Both earned the staring job and neither earned the bench.
Minutes before the game, Red Wolves fans received this special kick to the junk: Immediately, the Warhawks/Red Wolves […]
It’s easy to gauge Adams’ greatness because we just witnessed the greatness of Omar Bayless, who turned in the best season of any NCAA receiver in 2019. Their games are similar. Opposing secondaries regard them with identical terror. Neither dominated until their Senior years. Both receivers made corners and safeties look like junior varsity apprentices.
There was the close-but-no cigar loss to Nebraska. An embarrassing meltdown against SMU. A listless home loss to Appalachian State. We were destroyed in nationally aired games against Georgia and Alabama by a combined 112-7. In that three-season window, we lost to Louisiana and South Alabama twice.