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Is Ole Miss Nutts?
IS Ole Miss Nutts?
October 25, 2008 will give us a must see SEC Football game. No, it's not a battle between preseason top 10 teams LSU and Georgia. It's not even the classic SEC Rivalry of Tennessee vs Alabama. The game might not even involve a single top 25 team. That game is Ole Miss at Arkansas, the return of Houston Nutt to Fayetteville.
This is a series Arkansas has dominated recently. The Hogs have won 6 of the last 7 and with the exception of a 7 OT win in 2001, there hasn't been a close game in the series during that span. Last year the Hogs won 44-8 in Oxford. To an outside observer these facts aren't going to grab much attention.
We've seen coaches return to a school they were head coach at for a long time in the past. Steve Spurrier made his return to "The Swamp" in 2006. Spurrier of course is a hero to Gator Fans. He not only won the Heisman at Florida, but he also is the school's winningest coach that led them to the 1996 National Championship and 6 SEC Championships. When Darth Visor returned to his alma matter he was given plenty of cheers, even though he was on the opposite sideline. After Florida won the game on a last second FG, Gator fans still stood and cheered for the man that put Gator Football on the map. The only hate that existed at Florida that day was Gamecock Fans hating the fact that they may never see a win at Florida.
A hero's welcome isn't likely to be the reception that Houston Dale Nutt receives in Fayetteville. Oh sure, there might be a few that cheer the man, but those that do will be yelling "Hotty Toddy". Why the hatred towards the man you may ask? Well, in order to truly understand that one must do some research into the life of Houston Nutt.
Houston Nutt was born in Little Rock, Arkansas. Both Nutt's parents worked at the Arkansas School for the Deaf and Houston grew up an Arkansas Razorback Fan. After attending Little Rock Central High School, Nutt was recruited as a drop back QB at Arkansas in 1976. Nutt was one of the last players ever recruited by Hall of Famer Frank Broyles. The chance to play for Broyles was a dream come true for Nutt, but then Broyles would retire as head coach and become the Arkansas Athletic Director.
Nutt did get to start four games as a true freshman at Arkansas. He even played basketball with the Hogs under another legend Eddie Sutton. Unfortunately for Nutt though, Lou Holtz had been hired as coach of the Hogs to replace Broyles. Holtz had just left the New York Jets after having done some very nice things as head coach at William & Mary and NC State. Holtz wanted to establish an option style offense and Houston wasn't fit for this type of style. This led to Nutt transferring to Oklahoma State where he would earn a degree in physical education.
Houston decided to stay with the game of college football and took on the task of assistant coach at Oklahoma State in 1983 under former Razorback Jimmy Johnson. For the next decade he would coach at Oklahoma State, Arkansas State, and then back to Arkansas as an assistant. During this time he coached NFL stars Barry Sanders and Thurman Thomas while with the Cowboys. When Jack Crowe took over for Ken Hatfield in 1990, Nutt was on staff and would become one of the top recruiters with the Hogs. It was at this time that he built some solid relationships with high school coaches throughout the state.
In 1993 Murray State University came calling for Nutt. The first 2 seasons were tough as the Racers had losing records both seasons, but in 1995 things would turn around quickly for MSU. Not only did the team finish the season 11-1, but Houston Nutt was named the Eddie Robinson National Coach of the Year for 1-AA. In 1996 he followed things up with an 11-2 season an OVC Coach of the Year honor.
The success at Murray State led to Nutt's first D-1 coaching job at Boise State. The Broncos, now known for their blue turf, were just transitioning into 1-A after many years in the Big Sky Conference of 1-AA. The year prior to Nutt the Broncos went 2-10, one of the worst seasons in the schools history. BSU saw Nutt's enthusiasm and recruiting ability to be a plus for the program. In his first and only season in Boise the Broncos finished 4-7. The most notable game was a near upset win over Wisconsin.
In Fayetteville Danny Ford was finishing his time at Arkansas. Ford came to the Hogs with lots of hype as a decade earlier he had become the youngest coach to win a national championship while at Clemson. The success Ford had at Clemson though didn't transition to Arkansas. Ford's teams were struggling against teams like SMU out of conference and with the exception of a SEC West title in 1995, his teams were winning very few games in conference. Attendance was poor and the Hogs needed someone to come in and turn some attention back to football. Tommy Tubberville, Tommy Bowden, Butch Davis, and others were looked at and mentioned in local papers. But it was Houston Nutt that seemed to be the man that wanted the job the most. Nutt was practically begging to come to Arkansas, keep in mind this was the place he was born and raised. He was destined to become a Hog.
Nutt's first year involved lots of magic. The Hogs started the season 8-0 and went into a showdown with eventual national champ Tennessee in Knoxville. The Hogs dominated most of the game, but a Clint Stoerner fumble in the end led to a Vol comeback. Despite that loss and 3 others that would follow it would seem as if the Hogs had found their man. Nutt had the fanbase energized and following a 8-4 season in 1999 that involved wins over Tennessee and Texas, it looked as if Houston could do little wrong. The passion for Hog football was back and plans to expand Razorback Stadium to 72,000 were on the way. With Frank Broyles' fund raising Arkansas built one of college football nicest facilities and it appeared the Hogs were on the way to become one of the SEC's best.
In 2000 things started to change. Arkansas finished the year 6-6 with a terrible performance in the Las Vegas Bowl against UNLV. It was at this point that some in the fan base started to question Nutt's ability to turn the program into a SEC CHampionship contender. Still the fan base stuck behind him and even with the NCAA sniffing around the program, Nutt was able to keep the Razorbacks bowling and competitive. A SEC West Championship in 02 and a 9 win season in 03(included a win in Austin) got the attention of those outside the program.
At the end of the 2003 season and a Independence Bowl win over Missouri, Nutt might have made his first big mistake. The Nebraska job had come open and the Huskers approached Nutt about their head coaching opening. Eventually Nutt would turn the job down, but not after getting a raise from Arkansas. The questions started coming from the fan base. Did Nutt just use the Hogs for a raise? Are his intention truly to be the Arkansas coach forever? These same question came up at the end of the 04 season when LSU had and opening and Nutt started to look at Baton Rouge. After a losing season in 2004, this didn't set well with many in the fan base. Still, it appeared the majority was still behind Nutt and he was safe, for awhile at least.
2005 is likely where everything turned for Nutt and the Arkansas fan base. Not much was expected of the Hogs, but they were still bowl contenders. In August of that year Nutt had picked up a huge commitment from Mitch Mustain of nearby Springdale, Arkansas. Mustain was the #1 QB in the nation by many and was part of a team that included six D-1 recruits. Springdale High School might have been the best team to ever come out of Arkansas. Along with guys like Damian Williams and Ben Cleveland, this group of Bulldogs got national attention and was considered by many one of the top 3 programs in the nation. The coach of this team was Gus Malzahn(current Tulsa OC).
The Hogs 05 season wasn't pretty. A loss to Vandy had Nutt lose many in the fan base, so did a 70-14 loss against Southern Cal, and an ugly late season loss to South Carolina lost a few more. But there was still hope. Mitch Mustain had flirted with the idea of leaving state for college after his senior year, but decided to stick with the Hogs after Arkansas hired Gus Malzahn to be the OC for the 2006 season. Not only was Mustain coming ,but so was Williams and Cleveland. With the Freshmen All American RBs Darren McFadden and Felix Jones coming back, it appeared as if the Hogs had something to look forward to in 06.
The 2006 season started tough for the Hogs with another blowout loss to Southern Cal, but after that the magic started to happen. Gus Malzahn's offense became very unpredictable. Fumblerooskis, swinging gates, "Wildcat" Formations, a strong offensive line, and some exciting skill players had the Hogs in the right direction. Thrilling wins over Vandy and Bama, and then an upset whipping of Auburn on the Plains put the Hogs on the national map. Mitch Mustain would start his career 8-0, some starts good and some bad, but for a true freshman he was ahead of schedule. Darren McFadden was putting up Heisman like numbers and Reggie Herring's defense was coming on strong. At 7-1, it appeared as if nothing would stop this group of Hogs.
That is until the week leading up to the South Carolina game. During that week a book about the 2005 Springdale High School Bulldogs came out "Year of the Dog". In the book there were some remarks that Mustain made about Nutt and the 2005 Razorbacks. The remarks were truly harmless, but did seem to start some tension within the fan base. Arkansas did beat South Carolina that week, but after throwing a first quarter INT, Mustain was benched and many questions about the benching started to arise. The following 2 weeks the Hogs were able to dominated Tennessee on TV and win in Starkville, to get to 10-1. This was the best record for the Hogs since 1989 and a national showdown against 9-2 LSU was up next.
The Hogs were beaten the next 2 weeks by both LSU and Florida the next 2 weeks. The regular season that started off being fantastic all of the sudden came to an end on a sour note. Things were going to get better either. Mitch Mustain started getting some hate emails from a friend of Houston Nutt. Questions about the direction of the offense were also coming up. Damian Williams decided it was best if he transferred to Southern Cal and after a meeting with Frank Broyles it appeared as if Mustain might do the same as well.
The Hogs did earn a New Years Day Bowl in Orlando to play 11-1 Wisconsin. Mustain and Casey Dick both received playing time that day, but the offense struggled. Where was the creativity the Hogs saw earlier in the season prior to the South Carolina game? It seemed as if very little play calling was being done by Malzahn and more was being done by Nutt. The Hogs would lose this game, but bigger losses were to come. Gus Malzahn and Mitch Mustain both decided to leave the program. At this point, Nutt lost the fans completely.
Not only had Nutt lost 2 of his star players for the future, but he had also loss a great young mind at offensive coordinator. Things couldn't get worse could it? Well, it did. Nutt's cellphone records went public and the records didn't sit well with Razorback fans. Turns out that 20 minutes prior to kickoff of the Capital One Bowl, Nutt exchanged text messages with Donna Bragg, a local news anchor. This was one of many the two would exchange the Razorback Nation would find out. So the man who had lost most of the fan base, now had pissed them off. Nutt now could do nothing right. He even went on air to defend himself on a radio talk show, something a coach in control of a program would never do.
It was obvious the 2007 season would be Nutt's last. Banners were being flown over stadiums, a small group of fans started dressing in black, and Razorback Message boards were doing all they could to organize protests against Nutt. A late game passing play that stopped the clock against Alabama led to a last second loss. A home loss to Kentucky then pretty much sealed the deal. Talks of Butch Davis coming home had already began. By the week of the LSU game, it was obvious Nutt was gone. Sure, Nutt did pull off an upset of #1 LSU in Baton Rouge, but by then he had to go. If he had stayed more banners and more boos would've come. Nutt was gone, and every Hog knew it. Question was where would he go? Was it Baylor? Georgia Tech? Maybe he'd take a job somewhere within the Dallas Cowboy Organization. No, it was with the Western Division Rivals Ole Miss.
Only having Houston accept the Texas job would've angered the Hog fan base more. Now not only would Nutt be playing Arkansas every year, but he would also make ever attempt possible at stealing recruits out of the Natural State(Petrino dominated instate recruiting this season). To see Nutt at his press conference being asked if he knew "Hotty Toddy" just seemed so wrong for so many. Ole Miss fans see very happy to have Nutt as their head man. Keep in mind that Rebel Football has been awful since Eli Manning graduated with a 14-32 overall record. Ed Orgeron wasn't ready for a head coaching job, so anyone with head coaching experience like Nutt would seem like a great fit.
Nutt also made a very popular hire with the Rebels in the off season in former Ole Miss QB Kent Austin. With the exception of the Mannings, there might not be a more popular QB in Rebel History than Austin. Not only is he 2nd in passing yards at Ole Miss, but Austin also was a four time Academic All American with the Rebs. The question one has to ask though is how much control will Nutt give Austin as OC? Will we see the wide open offenses Austin ran in the CFL, or will we see an offense that relies heavily on the run with an ineffective passing game?
If Ed Orgeron did anything correct at Ole Miss it was Hummer Commercials and recruiting. The man did bring in some serious talent at Ole Miss that if coached right could compete for a bowl game. Nutt took over a perfect situation. He can come into Oxford this year win 6-7 games and then look to be a genius. With Mike Gundy struggling with a 18-19 record, it could take only 1 more bad season for Gundy to be shown the door. At that point you've got to imagine that the money of Boone Pickens will come calling for Houston Nutt to return back to Stillwater. With facility upgrades being done at Boone Pickens Stadium, the Pokes will have one of the nicest facilities in the Big XII. I doubt anyone would be surprised if Nutt left Oxford for OSU in a season or two. If not Oklahoma State then another program. He'll turn Ole Miss around this season, but at what expense?
Houston Dale Nutt is a great motivator, poor game day coach, average recruiter, and someone who acts very nervous on the sidelines(check out his fingernails). Nutt has the reputation of getting the best out of his players, but its obvious he didn't get the best out of Mustain or Casey Dick. He'll get in the stands and sing "Forward Rebels" and yell "Hotty Toddy". His Rah Rah will excite Ole Miss Fans at first, but if you evaluate Nutt's past there is a good chance that sometime in the near future they'll look at him like Hog fans do.
Matt Barber
dixiefriedsports@gmail.com
