Posted on 11/26/2007 1:19:18 PM PST by GOP_Raider
Houston Nutt, the second-longest tenured football coach in the Southeastern Conference, will not be back at Arkansas next season, sources told ESPN.com on Monday.
--snip--
Nutt, who led the Razorbacks to two SEC championship game appearances, will receive a settlement in the neighborhood of $3.5 million.
(Excerpt) Read more at sports.espn.go.com ...
Well, who do the Hogs have in mind as a successor?
Darn that means no more great ESPN Headlines like, “Nutt To Replace Johnson With Dick Against Cocks.”
Coaching at the top level of college sports (or pro sports for that matter) is a brutal business.
heh heh heh.
I like Nutt as a coach, although the last year was full of turmoil, but still I think he’ll find work real quick. I could see him winding up at Baylor.
Oops....wrong "hogs".....
"Dick will miss Nutt's leadership"
(sorry, couldn't help myself)
I’m really outta the loop but they better hope it’s not Chan Gailey or Fran...Tuberville has an enormous buyout clause.. they call it the Santa Claus. Highly unlikely he would go there.
Gosh will he be available for us at Nebraska?? /sarcasm
Probably go to Baylor. And never be heard from again.
He seemed to be highly disliked down there, but with all the vacancies on the market, I am not sure they will find someone demonstrably better.
Now I’m hearing Butch Davis who is an Alum but he’s only been at NC for a yr and they extended him to counter the possible Ar offer...kinda early to leave. What’s so great about him anyway?
Would Jimmy Johnson give up the yacht in SoFla to return to his Alma Mater?
NO way. Go from his paradise in S Florida to the Ozarks of N R-Kansas? Good one!!
"Nutt leaves Dick hanging"
I think the whole imbroglio over Mustain pretty much sealed Nutt’s fate. He probably regrets the day he ever met the kid.
Jimmy Johnson - guess who’s picture is next to his in their high school year book in Port Arthur, Texas - Janis Joplin.
Dick thinks Nutt affair was mishandled.
Aw hell. As soon as Miles heads back to Michigan, watch the LSU bunch latch on to him...
Well, we already know that Nutt’s Johnson was not big enough for the Trojans.....
Yeah, but Dick let Nutt down this year. Everyone could saw this coming.
Nutt has been getting harassed by idiots here for several years. I’m sorry to see him go, but it’s understandable that he’s had enough. The team that gets him will have a good coach.
Dick really went limp this season, much to Nutt's dismay.
Baylor, Ole Miss and SMU, not exactly what I would call a step up in one’s career. Wonder what the real story is behind Coach’s turning down that big salary increase?
I don't know enough about Nutt to evaluate him one way or the other, but last Friday night, I watched the Arkansas offensive line punish and humiliate the defensive line of what was supposed to have been the #1 team in the country with the #1 defense - on their home field, no less!
More than 500 yards of total offense in regulation, with more than 300 of those on the ground: It was an old-fashioned smackdown.
Agree. Everyone took sides, and that started the whole email fiasco that ultimately made him and the program look somewhat out of control. With the other openings, I do not think they can be sure of drawing anyone that will improve their chances on the field.
Springdale parents? Nuff said.
The last game of that season, they go up north to play arch rival Idaho in Moscow. In a game where they could have rolled over and "mailed it in", they beat Idaho at Idaho for the first time in 15 seasons, 30-23. One of the more amazing jobs of pure coaching I'd ever seen in the college game. Nutt earned my respect after that game.
I think he's an average coach but he could have done more the last two years. I think the problem here is that Arkansas--and I mean the entire state-- invests a bit too much in the Razorbacks, and their expectations are largely unrealistic and insatiable. They do not and cannot consistently bring in comparable talent to what the Floridas and LSU's do year in and year out. And I'm telling you after the next couple of rebuilding seasons they will be ruminating about the great Houston Nutt era! LOL
I think he let the team down by not taking them to a Bowl game..but that's just MHO.
sw
I just heard that too.
I think the season would have gone better if Nutt hadn’t had to deal with so many distractions, like nuisance lawsuits, internet chat transcripts, players getting arrested, etc.
A friend of mine who used to work in Little Rock—now works in Wichita—compared Arkansas in the SEC to Colorado in the Big XII: i.e.: they have a unique recruiting base independent of the rest of their conference, and that they seem “out of place” in their league.
I do remember though when Nutt left Boise State to take the Arkansas job, not a lot of people were that mad about here because it was sort of understood that the Ark job was his “dream job”. And recently with BSU, they have a lot of incredibly bright and smart young guys as asst’s and position coaches—which is where guys like Dan Hawkins and Chris Peterson came from.
UA has not consulted me, I must say, but I'd like to see them go after just this type of person. Particularly considering what they are facing the next few yrs. Besides none of the "names" does anything for me. Oh, have the heard the rumor about the Big 12 courting Arkansas? I'd say go for it; competing in the SEC is problematic, and yes, they are out of place there. I'ma see if I can catch this PC. Hope he doesn't cry.
Something about the words "total commitment" ring hollow for me tonight.
sw
I don't see why not. They would be reunited with a few of their old Southwest Conference foes (like Texas for example), but with a theoretical 13th team in a 12 team league, do you put them in the North (where they might have a better shot to win the league) or in the South (where they could be assured of playing UT, A&M, OU, Tech, and so on)?
Then you have to look at what the SEC would do--maybe bring in Clemson from the ACC? Or if the Big XII would want to stay @ 12 teams, if the Pac-10 would want to bring in Colorado? Mabye send Iowa State to the Big 10??
"Nutt" says he was hopeful that his departure would unify the state, which had been torn with turmoil surrounding the football program."
This is what I was talking about when I thought the STATE gets carried away with the program. Unify the state, how absurd is that? He was not throwing out hyperbole, btw. He meant it! I'm still a loyal fan, but really now...The stream cashed...he looked and sounded good to me with nary a tear.
And absolutely put Ar in the Big 12 South, while Clemson fits perfectly in their spot imo. I don't know if there is anything to this talk but it's makes sense.
Someone offers me $3.5 million to leave town, and I'm on the next bus. The guy got fired. At that point, you leave.
Ain't nuttin left.
If I come into $3.5 mil as a severance package, I don't think I'd take the bus out of town. :)
Yeah, I mean, who the hell would Arkansans root for besides the Hogs, Oklahoma State?? That's rather silly and melodramatic--at least if you don't live in Arkansas I suppose.
I regret his decision to leave, but I don’t believe Nutt has any lack of commitment. He was just exercising good judgement for his family and the team. When a position becomes untenable, it should be abandoned.
Let’s just hope when they have the press conference to announce the new football coach at Arkansas that the guy doesn’t refuse the job the next day. That would never happen in major college sports! :)
Arkansas is losing a lot of talent. I think, like a lot of coaches before him, he decided to get out on a high note. He would have definitely been fired after next year, which will be rebuilding one, though he did have a pretty good recruiting class so far.
In Nutt’s ten years at Arkansas we have been through a couple of rebuilding years. This year Nutt had some of the greatest talent that any school would envy, and he went 8 and 4 with four of those eight wins being against total patsy schools. It is time for him to move on, Arkansas will be fine.
I’m glad what’s his face did that......Arkansas in the long run has gotten a good basketball coach in Pelphry.
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