You may not believe this, but there was once a time that Arkansas consistently had an elite defense. That time was back during the Golden Age of Arkansas Football (1959-1989), an era that ended not long after Jack Crowe was promoted to head coach in 1989.
That era is long past. Arkansas is in a different conference, dealing with different demographics (both in-state and in terms of recruiting grounds), and facing different challenges from opposing offenses.
This week’s news that Robb Smith is headed to Minnesota is hardly surprising. Bret Bielema doesn’t like to “fire” assistant coaches, preferring instead to help them land other jobs.