Comments on: Houston Nutt Resigns As Razorbacks Head Coach

By: p hog

p hog — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 21:50:41 +0000

i see where nutt is taking coaches with him to ole miss.i didnt see where they mentioned reggie leaving.i may be wrong but the games we lost this year was bad d. i sure hope wher smarter than making rh hc.

By: Doug Anderson

Doug Anderson — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 20:40:52 +0000

LET'S GET GUS BACK…THE PERFECT FIT!!! LIKE SAM WALTON SAID…."LET'S SWIM UPSTREAM" , LET'S GO WITH AN ARKANSAS COACH THAT'S WON EVERYWHERE HE'S BEEN AND IMPROVED EVERY PROGRAM..TO TAKE US TO THE NEXT LEVEL. EXPERIENCE? EVERY GREAT COACH STARTS SOMEWHERE. LET'S NOT LET OURS SLIP OUT OF OUR OWN BACK YARD.

By: Momahog

Momahog — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 18:26:01 +0000

Thank you BlindHog for the excellent post. For those who lived it, we know. For those Johnny come lately's to this blog site; who cares. A few minutes ago I saw a brief interview of HN on ESPN2. He obviously is still floating down that river in Egypt.

By: ARRRRR-Kansas Trough « Hawg Blawg

ARRRRR-Kansas Trough « Hawg Blawg — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 03:28:58 +0000

[...] on his short list. Here’s the Razorbloggers Roundup of all the stories from around the Traditional Media about Nutt’s departure. CFN has a look back at Houston’s Tenure. And the Ladybacks [...]

By: panahog

panahog — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 19:49:33 +0000

Hello Arthur,

Does June Jones play any SEC Team? I don't think so….Think about that…….

Let's bring Butch Davis home again. He can bring this great State of Arkansas together again!!!!!

By: darrell(Hog in LA)

darrell(Hog in LA) — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 17:44:24 +0000

He took less than a couple of hours to be named the coach of Ole Miss. Leave it to old Dale to land on his feet quickly. All you Nutt supporters can drive down to Oxford and cheer on Nutt and those Rebels, good luck with that okay. I am still escatic he is going going gone.

By: Arthur in Weho

Arthur in Weho — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 11:52:42 +0000

Time to start the June Jones era in Fayetteville.

Let’s bring the 21st Century offense to Arkansas.

Who is June Jones? He is 22-3 in the past 2 years with no facilities and no local recruiting base.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_Jones

1999 Hawaii 9-4 5-2 T-1st

2000 Hawaii 3-9 2-6 T-6th

2001 Hawaii 9-3 5-3 T-4th

2002 Hawaii 10-4 7-1 2nd

2003 Hawaii 9-5 5-3 T-4th

2004 Hawaii 8-5 4-4 5th

2005 Hawaii 5-7 4-4 5th

2006 Hawaii 11-3 7-1 2nd

2007 Hawaii 11-0 8-0 1st

Hawaii: 75-40 47-24

Arthur in Weho

By: Jim Daly Sr.

Jim Daly Sr. — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 10:56:56 +0000

DallasHiog:

Consider this: The State of Mississippi produces considerable football talent, But, and it's a big but, Ole Miss has to compete against MSU and USM for that talent. A major reason for Broyles not wanting to play ASU was to not give them any kind of an edge on recruiting. Two of the reasons Sabin gave for leaving Michigan State was that he was tired of being the second school in Michigan and wanted to go where the talent was. LSU is THE school in Louisiana. Nutt had that same advantage in Arkansas. Some feel because of the Mustain affair that he had hurt Razorback recruiting in Western Arkansas. Now he's going where the compettion for players is more intense. Plus it looks like Croom may have got it going at MSU (He's got a terrific freshman QB) and he may be very difficult to recruit against in-state..I just don't see Nutt doing that well initially, considering the advantages he had at Arkansas, in not producing an SEC Chamiopnship or a winning record in bowl games.. What will happen at ole Miss is for someone else to predict, I don't know what the Rebs have coming back. Plus, Nutt may have seen the light and no longer will have Broyles looking over his shoulder discouraging the spread, He may just light it up at Oxford. We'll see.

Regarding a new coach: Unless i'm reading it wrong the new coach will have a relatively bare cupboard to work with. Established coaches may not like that scenario, especially if they have to develope a recruiting base from scratch. Unlike some here, I think that the best chance for UA next year to have a better than .500 seaon is to get a coach who will open up the offense. To me that means someone like Leach at TTech or Johnson from Navy. It is possible that if Herring can win the bowl game that he may be an interim head coach with a limited contract dependant upon future success. Because of Broyles we even had a difficult time recuiting a known entity in basketball even tho we had plenty of talent. Maybe the new coach, like Pelphrey, will come out of the woodwork.

Insofar as keeping some of the assistant coaches are concerned, new management generally wants their own people. Has to do with loyalty, control and trustworthiness. If Reggie gets the job, he will retain those he likes and can help him and get rid of those he thinks will not. Reggie strikes me as a hardball guy and friendship ends where job security begins. .

By: DallasHog

DallasHog — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 08:51:52 +0000

ESPN is reporting Houston Nutt has been hired by Ole Miss. I honestly think Arkansas is going to rue the day. Hope I'm wrong.

By: Hitting the Road | Razorback Expats

Hitting the Road | Razorback Expats — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 03:58:54 +0000

[...] * The Hog Blogger has a thoughtful post about Nutt’s resignation. Also, check out the Razorbloggers’ post and discussion thread. [...]

By: D A in MTN HOME

D A in MTN HOME — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 01:47:16 +0000

Class exit Houston.What I saw during HDN's resignation speech was what I loved about him in his first seven years,but he lost it the last three.Sincerity,and true passion for the program and not hisself.Thank you for doing the right thing for the program.the fans and most importantly your family.I can just imagine what it has been like for you and your family with all the criticism from the fans(myself included).I wish you the best of luck wherever you end up(probably OLE MISS) at least you won't have to prepare for DMAC or Felix When you come to the Hill.I do hope the next coach has the same love and passion HDN had for this program his first seven years and here at the end.We the very passionate fans deserve a very passionate coach.Whoever we get just remember the cupboard will be pretty bare losing our entire backfield.Remember the last time we lost our backfield all we were left with was Matt Jones and that was a disaster year.Whoever we get we need to get them quickly so we can have some type of stability to show potential recruits.Personally I would like to have another Arkansas native to head this program that understands the passion all the fans have shown over the years.Whether you were a Nutt hater or a Nutt supporter we all have shown passion and we all truly want this program to be successful.Let's be like Nutt and move on. Let's start preparing ourselves to be as passionate for the Razorbacks and the new direction we are heading.Give the new guy a chance like we did HDN for several years.GO HOGS GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By: Hawgfan100

Hawgfan100 — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 23:52:31 +0000

If these guys are the three choices available; not knowing who the 'Former Assistant at USC' is (and believeing that Leach would be going too far in the opposite direction), I'd be leaning toward Peterson.

By: Okie hog

Okie hog — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 23:39:36 +0000

Seems to me the Hogs could do a whole lot worse in the coaching dept. than HDN. Just how many National Championship winning coachs are out there. Oh yeah Danny Ford won a National Championship!!!! Maybe we can get him back. My point is it takes more than just credentials to get a championship. (I personally think ole HDN has it in him to get there just not at UA) My other point is there are probably 75 coaches that will never see a championship to every one coach that will. How do you know your not trading one that could for a string of those who never will.

By: mike in magnolia

mike in magnolia — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 23:31:49 +0000

ESPN just reported three possible canidates ofr HC at Arkansas. See what ya'll think.

Peterson …..Boise State

Leach………Texas Tech

Oakland Raider Coach who was Assistant at USC.

Something more to ponder

By: Hawgfan100

Hawgfan100 — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 23:26:03 +0000

Anyone want to start up a pool on how many of our recruits elect to bail now? Finally we get a Top-20 class and after this latest bit of fun I'll say, oh, 1/3 of them take off (6-7).

Also, how many of our coaching staff will stay? I know some of you don't have much respect for Herring but what about Rocker? Markuson? Rocker's recruiting (especially in my neck of the woods: Atlanta) has been phenomenal and I have no complaints about his coaching. Markuson's body of work speaks for itself. No matter what sort of offense you plan to run, you need a good, solid o-line and he's provided that year in and year out. Woods and Shibest aren't so hot but it won't be the 'not so hot' coaches who leave.

What happens if we lose a significant number of our recruits and some of our best staff from this latest episode? i don't think it'll really mater who our HC is, in that case…oh yeah, I'll sooo be looking forward to the next few years.

By: Hawgfan100

Hawgfan100 — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 23:08:29 +0000

" I found it funny that in one breath that a blogger here would say that Nutt was a great coach and then follow it with we need a bowl win because it has been a long time.coming."

Not referring to me, I hope? Because that's not exactly what I said.

By: Jim Daly Sr.

Jim Daly Sr. — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 22:47:19 +0000

Nutt is a great coach. Who else could have had such a mediocre record with a backfield that is rated the best in the country with all three probably going in the first round of the NFL draft. Who else could run off the number one QB recruit in the nation along with a highly recruited receiver. Who else could devise an offensive strategy based solely on McFadden and Jones being able to eventually bust one. Who else could recruit an inconsistent field goal kicker and when that was taken care of, have a punter who is mediocre at best and a kick-off specialist who can't get the ball into the end zone. who else could be forced to hire an offensive coach (twice) and not utilize them. (Last game excepted).

Who else would push for a two year extension for a receivers coach who couldn't consistently recruit good receivers and then could not teach the one's he had to get separation and hold on to the ball. The happiest group in the USA are now rival SEC coaches since Nutt is going to ole Miss. This is a good fit since any improvement will be appreciated. He can claim rebuilding and who knows, if he can win 3 SEC games for the Rebels he will again will be coach of the year (Croom will win it with 4). I found it funny that in one breath that a blogger here would say that Nutt was a great coach and then follow it with we need a bowl win because it has been a long time.coming. Regarding the upcoming bowl, it seems that even the Cotton isn't interested. Now wouldn't it be a hoot if Arkansas faced Tulsa in the Liberty Bowl. Herring vs Malzahn. Talk about a grudge match. Now that would worth a lot of tickets.

Coaching changes are hard to predict. Weiss for Willingham at ND is a bust, but Willingham is in trouble at Washington. Hatfield went from UA to Clemson where he failed and then to Rice where he failed even worse. Hatfield was also run oriented rather than having an open offense. Arkansas needs a coach that understands the modern spread offense being used today. But wasn't that what Callahan at Nebraska was? I would like to think that Long has an open mind and is not going with cronyism. I am optimistic until proven otherwise.

By: GonzoHog

GonzoHog — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 22:43:11 +0000

I thought Houston Nutt showed something today I didn't think he had — class. I admired the way he addressed the Hog nation about being a ball boy as a kid, and how he loved the Razorbacks, and how many years later he would eventually get a shot at his dream job. I liked the way he talked about his players and what he felt for them. There's no doubt Houston had mixed emotions about leaving, but I think he finally realizes it has to be this way. There's a lot of people that think fickle fans ran him off, but that's way too easy of an escape goat, and everyone knows it. It's easy to talk cheap when you are upset, and there are some upset people who want Nutt to stay. leaders alway's speak for themselves, because they are alway's in the public eye. 10 years of this particular leader was way too much for me, but I still say Frank was the biggest problem. You cut off the head, the rest of the body will follow. Isn't that very thing happening as we speak?

By: mike in magnolia

mike in magnolia — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 22:21:53 +0000

Good luck Houston and thanks for the last ten years. I do think that he truely loved the hogs and the state but his downfall was his inability to make the changes that would have helped the program. To much drama and his timing to leave was good.

I do have one question to all of you on here. What if we get another coach who wants to lead the conference in rushing each year? Was it HDN or his style of coaching? FOr me it was all the drama.

By: BlindHog

BlindHog — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 22:14:53 +0000

Nutt wasn't run off for being a bad coach. He was OK. His style was boring, his record was mediocre, and his results were mixed at best with no real accomplishment in 10 years. To say he was better than Jack Crowe and Danny Ford is not enough of a defense. But he would have survived all of that if not for his personal failings.

Lieing to the fans, abusing coaches and players were too much to overcome. It was a lethal combination he did not have the intelligence, maturity or class to avoid. The football coach of a state college is a public figure responsible for his words and his actions.

The fans didn't do this. Frank and Dale and White and Lindsey did this. The outcome was certain once the acts had taken place like a ripe apple falling from a tree. They can paint a rosy picture and blow perfumed smoke for days if they want. These are the simple facts.