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Razorback Parents Start The Whining

By Peter Bean

And I thought Brad McCoy was being obnoxious... Get a load of this:

Parents for Arkansas freshman football players Mitch Mustain, Damian Williams and Ben Cleveland met with Razorbacks Athletic Director Frank Broyles last week to discuss concerns about the direction of the football program.

[...]

The meeting centered on whether Arkansas offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn will get more say in how the offense is run, Rick Cleveland said, and if it will be more pass-oriented.

Mustain is a quarterback and Cleveland and Williams are receivers, and all three played for Malzahn at Springdale High School, where they excelled in a Spread, no-huddle offense to help the Bulldogs go 14-0 last season and win the Class AAAAA state championship.

Seriously? You're not happy with the direction of the football program? And it's because the Razorbacks - according to you - aren't passing the football enough? Before I lash into these folks, there's more:

"With our kids going to Arkansas, it's basically like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole," Rick Cleveland said of the offense. "When Gus came onto the scene, the very first question we would ask was, `Do you have full control of the offense and do you have full control of the personnel ?' Which we were told, `Yes.'

"I don't believe Gus lied to us. But as the season has progressed, it's very obvious that this is not Gus Malzahn's offense and Gus does not have full control of the personnel or the play calling.

"From our perspective -- and it's only our perspective -- it seems as if you've been sold a bill of goods.

"We never would have committed here knowing that this was the offense, because we knew our boys wouldn't be happy."

Can you believe they built the offense around this guy?!
Maybe, Mr. Cleveland, the coaches just figured out that running the football with Darren McFadden and Felix Jones would give the offense the best chance to move the football. After all, the Razorbacks did wind up finishing 4th nationally in rushing (228 yards per game), 32nd in total offense (379 yards per game), and 23rd in scoring offense (30th). The only area, incidentally, where the team struggled was in passing the football.

And part of that problem was Mitch Mustain. The true freshman completed a lousy 52% of his pass attempts, and managed to throw 8 interceptions in just 122 pass attempts. This is not good. And, frankly, if my quarterback looked as -not- ready as Mustain did this season, I'd sure as hell change the offense, too. Especially when the alternative was running the football with uber-stud Darren McFadden.

Look, I'm all for parents being advocates for their children, but this is way beyond the bounds of acceptability. For one thing, your spoiled children are true freshmen. Most freshmen struggle, if they play at all. Second, going to the athletic director to complain that the coaches aren't tailoring the offense to your mediocre true freshmen children is asinine. Why would they? Why should they?

There might be some grounds for complaint if, say, Mustain and his receiver pals had just finished their redshirt sophomore seasons and it was crystal clear that they were not going to be given opportunities to shine. But here, and now? Like this? To the AD? And then talking to the media?

Your kids should be ashamed. Pathetic.

--PB--

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