Reading the meandering input from the A-State posters you would think a lot , but the answer is not much really.

Biggest adjustment for their sports overall has been adjusting to a different level of competition across the board, in the new SBC, with some new coaches , a new AD, and maybe one lame duck coach.

Most of their programs are showing they can recruit SBC caliber talent and the Portal expands that opportunity.

Even men's basketball is probably only a player or two players away from being competitive- as evidenced by the impact of losing a couplie of players expected to be a big part of this team to the Portal.

As far as football , other than the inevitable fail of a self-serving "experiment" by their previous HC, plus his having to deal with his wife having cancer, her dying, and the impact of COVID-which devastated them in the trenches after a game with Memphis, their biggest issues are in the rearview mirror.

They also hired a HC with a totally different philosophy as far as work ethic -coaches and players, toughness -something their fans demanded by the way, forcing them to recruit a different kind of player.

Not sure where they are at in the other sports , but they are primed to challenge for championships in football starting no later than 2024, and could make some noise in 2023.

I will also add, the illness, semi-retirement and just getting old before his time of Arkstfan -creating a toxic environment on a site that with the demise of the Jonesboro Sun became the unofficial window into A-State athletics, did not help their cause. It has become a haven for their hard core program haters, so they have been having to do everything in a toxic environment. This is not insignificant.

Don't ever forget that A-State fans are the Rodney Dangerfield's of college athletics. Some people just go through life looking at the dark side, and nothing can change that. They are destined to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

Fortunately Butch Jones, and their new AD, are not wired that way, and that will ultimately save all their programs, no matter how much it irks their "fans".

Actually the biggest need for their whole athletic program has been an offensive line-something that has been true since that fateful Memphis game that ended with both teams e pointing fingers at each other for spreading the COVID.

IMO Butch Jones made a mistake by not addressing that last year when one or two more additions would probably have resulted in a winning season.

I say "probably" because implementing his "culture" and wins be dammed also hurt them.

Inserting a not ready at all former gray-shirt freshman in for their stud OT Robert Holmes contributed greatly to their loss to Memphis, and going with a true freshmen for a couplie of games after that player did not pan out hurt them big-time. When that even less prepared player fell on his face, Jones finally inserted a veteran- that was available the whole time, and they got better, but it was a case of too little, too late.

No doubt that "culture implementing " decisions like these cost them games, but hopefully their depth and culture is far enough along it will not in 2023.

Butch has said shoring up the OL is job #1, and if he does not like what he sees this spring, will bring in more players there.

If they had not lost those two players to the Portal, the men's basketball team would have been a pretty salty team this year. Little young overall, and I do think the relentless bashing by posters on their # hate site has has had the desired effect and beat them down a little, and may not be fixable with this HC.

Other than lashing out against the haters - something their former football coach made the mistake of doing and Butch better not, I'm not blaming their coach at all. No doubt he is not really a good fit for the culture that exist in Arkansas but that is my highest compliment to anyone, so don't hold that against him. He was hurt big-time by the fact their largest message board and really the window into their athletic program, is controlled buy their programs hardest of hardcore haters, who work 24/7 trying to destroy all their programs , regardless of who the coach is.

Still nothing that a couple of players could not fix, even if they stayed the course as far as coaches.

2/5 Edited note: had to clean this up a little because it may be here for a while, so might need to read it again.

Hopefully this is my last thought, and reference here to that site, and as I have noted before, if anyone runs across a reasonable facsimile of the 30 something Arkstfan , please refer him to their 247 site. They and , A-State could sure use him.