Razorback football commentary: Seeing Razorback red while singing the buyout blues

Arkansas vs Mississippi State Saturday, Nov. 2, 2019, at Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE - Because of what college football legislated, struggling programs become doubly penalized for regularly changing coaches.

So the Arkansas Razorbacks perhaps perch on the verge of taking a double hit in the wallet and recruiting if they follow their course of two years past and again change head football coaches.

Chad Morris, 4-17 overall and 0-13 in the SEC since taking the Hogs helm in 2018, squirms on the hot seat following a 2-10, 0-8 last season with a current 2-7, 0-6 and three games left.

Morris didn't inherit much. Predecessor Bret Bielema went 4-8, 1-7 his fifth and final season of 2017.

Bouncing Bielema stuck Arkansas a $11.9 million head coaching buyout. These days big buyouts are a mystifying they all do it fact of college football life regardless the coaching pedigree.

Bielema, 68-24 and three Big Ten championships in seven years at Wisconsin, did then bear a pedigree that the UA wanted protection from getting hired away like the UA hired him.

Inheriting a 2014 dreadful 1-11 SMU team upon his 2015 switch from Clemson offensive coordinator to SMU head coach, Morris went 2-10, 5-7 and 7-5.

Nice improvement but worth a $10 million Arkansas buyout? Especially since at Arkansas he's SEC winless and nonconference at home lost last year to North Texas and this year to San Jose State?

Guess so. That's what Arkansas signed on the dotted line.

Morris inherited a scarce Arkansas cupboard requiring instant quality restocking.

College football legislated that wouldn't happen. It does so again if a coaching change is made.

When the NCAA, previously only allowing the football signing period to begin in February, allowed the December early-signing period, it mostly set recruiting back a year for schools changing coaches.

Morris took over in December, 2017 with most of college football's best recruits signing that month rather than waiting until February. He had to grab bag on the fly plus salvage commitments committed to Bielema's Arkansas regime.

Had he remained at SMU, Morris would have been coaching the Mustangs in that December's Frisco Bowl on the same day that the signing period began.

Ridiculous? Sure. But December signing is a ridiculous premise installed because coaches can't wait to move on from recruiting their current class to recruiting the next two.

Better for recruits to sign in February and consider all options, including those schools in December flux that by February would have their course resolved.

A good recruiter with a good recruiting staff with a full year's start still can recruit a good class, even off a bad record. Morris proved that. For 2019 he signed standouts Treylon Burks, Trey Knox, Ricky Stromberg, KJ Jefferson and Mataio Soli, among others.

Assemble a new staff in December and it's mostly a lost recruiting year for a losing program.

Athletic Director Hunter Yurachek must weigh that against if football attendance could dip into the lower thousands if he doesn't part with buyout millions.

Sports on 11/04/2019