Arkansas Blog

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Another reason to thank God for Mississippi?

And they are ever so welcome to Nutt and the Missus! But say -- White offered him $2.4 million to stay???? Did I read that right?

Uh huh....After passing Go on his way out of Arkansas and collecting a 3.6 million buy out of his contract, now this report of 9.5 million to go to Ole Miss, one of the few states who might even be poorer than Arkansas.....ever think, while you're pushing your thermostat lower and shivering in your home that people are lined up to waste your tax dollars?

We're not talking about Bear Bryant or Vince Lombardi here folks....we just forked over a damn fortune to...what could generously be called a fair to middling football coach. He gets an Oprah-sized check to go away.....what have you got lately? How much does this have to do with the 6000 dollar a semester price tag for my kid to go to Fayetteville to college? Or the 3000 dollar (without housing) a semester price tag to matriculate at the former Fort Smith Junior College, former Westark, now known as UAFS?

Why should we be expected to act within reason, when our highest institution of learning acts like a Las Vegas whore who found a wallet in an alley and spends money like no tomorrow? How many times in the last 10 years has the U of A rewarded someone for their incompetence with a giant going away check? Does that happen to you at work often? What happened to performance clauses? Wouldn't it make more sense to dock their pay and make them work out their contract? When did you get some money cause someone grew tired of you or you couldn't perform your job up to par? If doing a mediocre job gets Nutt this kind of money, someone should be writing George W. Bush a going away check for 5 billion!

Who knows...maybe they already have? We work so damn hard for ever cent we get while everything from toilet paper to burial insurance keeps costing more and more and more. What are you doing without right now? How often are you into your expensive float at the bank? When will you tell your kid NO because you can't afford something? Sounds like the average week at my house. But not at the Nutt house, not at John White's house, not at the Broyle's house.

If'n you want to feel madder, click on my name and see how well our institution of higher government is doing with your money. And remember this little fact....so far the "rebuilding" of Iraq has already cost twice as much in inflation adjusted dollars as the US spent to rebuild Japan after WWII. If you feel screwed all the time, it's because you are.

Boone said in a Sunday interview with The Associated Press that he was looking for someone who was an effective communicator, organizer and leader.

"What I have always kind of looked at is you really want a CEO," Boone said. "Someone that understands their role, their ability to hire good people and let them do their jobs, and oversee the whole thing with regard to public relations, team direction and raising funds."

Yeah, that's Houston all right - hire good people and let them do their jobs... That's why he's done so well at finding and keeping good OCs.

Well, ole Houston Dale has been pushed out.I've been reading a LOT of articles that talk about if Theresa Prewitt had never sent the email, Nutt would most likely still be coaching here and Frank Broyles would still be the AD..I hope she's happy with herself.she single-handedly through an email full of HATE sent to an 18 year old kid brought down a coach who is from Arkansas and coached here 10 years and an AD that had spent 50 years.

I wonder if she even realizes what she has accomplished. I hope she follows Nutt to Ole Miss and gives him the same type "support" that she did here.

What's the chance that D-Mac and Felix won't play in the bowl game since Nutt was given the shaft?

A lot of us would support their decision. Protect their value to the NFL and give those who ran off Nutt one of the many losses they will deserve.

Go Bears. Paint the town purple. Let the university of Northwest Arkansas do it's thing. It is time for Central Arkansas to find a new team.

I can see it now:

Nutt is doing the obligatory tour of Oxford landmarks. Perhaps escorted by John Grisham, he is ushered into the study of Faulkner's home. He notices the old portable typewriter on the desk. "Hey man, what's that? Faulkner's laptop? Cool. Can it text?"

Turning then to Grisham: "Listen, man, when are you gonna write somethin' about a REAL sport--FOOTBALL?"

hey dbi remember it is not the univ that writes that check. it is the foundation. money paid by fat cats into a pool sitting there for these purposes. these are these bribes frank has been charging for 30 years above the price of tickets to allow you to sit in those lovely seats.the school has only paid nut about 350,00 a year salary all these years. everything else has been obscenely subsidsid by the foundation. that is what has made things so silly in college football these many years. until they were invented everything was fairly normal and coaches were treated like people. when these things came along they started thinking they were gods and demanded astronomical salaries that were not really deserved. i wish it would go back to no scholarships and 40,000 seat stadiums and was fun again.

Color me cynical, DBI, but want to take a guess at the Bush and Cheney bottom lines now compared to pre-2000 . . .

9.5 million. I expect he made close to that in Olde Arkansaw.

9.5 million. When families suffer financially while their fathers/husbands are sent to Iraq.
9.5 million. When kids can't read and write
9.5 million. When we can't build decent jails
9.5 million. When industry skips Arkansas because we have an under educated work force.
9.5 million. When Arkie schools have yet to go wireless and kids aren't issued laptops.
9.5 million. When the roads are bumpy as hell.

I don't know what this boob made in Arkansas. But if it was ANYWHERE close to that, people who support this athletic culture should...well, I just don't see how you sleep at night. You'd put protests against your own bad paying, poor benefit job AFTER the hogs? You're asleep at the wheel.

I've read and heard much about the circumstances of the Houston Nutt tempest. The information carried by assorted blogs and newspapers and the chatter on the radio talk shows has created in my head a swirling mess of facts, factoids, half-truths, street lore, and total fabrications. Wouldn't it be great if some enterprising news people would sort this stuff out for us and publish the resulting story? It would, indeed, be a public service. Something that some weekly tabloid, some newspaper of politics and culture, might consider. Hmmmm?

While my dentist had me in a headlock this morning with the spit-sucker going full blast and the supersonic drill-bit throwing up a fine mist of water and tooth-dust, he said Nutt's departure has more to do with a threatened nasty divorce action and the implications of that for the sainted "program" and less to do with his won-loss record this season.

Yup, true facts all. AND these nitwits actually BELIEVE that the fet'vul f'ballers should be up to challenging for a National Championship each and every year!! If you think chasv & Abeles are mean-spirited Morons, check out these frothing-at-the-mouth (self-described) "Darksiders" at www.hogville.net ==> Forums ==> Monday Morning Quarterback (click on Larry) for a peek at some folks' reality... Many are pushing for GUS MALZAHN as the answer to "the Nuttcase!"

Bizarro!!

OOPS - first time I tried a URL - what did I do wrong, someone?? It worked on the Preview...

...never mind...click on any 'clickable' Larry... Sorry.

We've got some really mean people on this blog. For months, all we've heard is that Nutt must go. Now Nutt is gone and some people seem to want him not gone, but permanently gone, as in gone to the graveyard. Poor DBI. (The poor guy has nothing light, happy and cheerful in his life.) In the great scheme of life football coaches, like other entertainers, are paid far more than they may be worth, but if people want to spend their money on movies, rock music and football coaches, why not? Nutt got $350,000 from the taxpayers; the rest from fat cats. Some people want to spend their money on keeping up a Web site, so people like DBI have a place to rant. (In the old days they just sat at the end of the bar, nursing their beer, and blowing hard. Now they have laptops.) Why can't we just wish Nutt well, instead of wishing him miserable for the rest of his life? Besides, this might revive the Arkansas-Ole Miss series as our hottest rivalry, as it once was, and now might be again.

The biggest fools in this fiasco are John White and Frank Broyles. Give the ranch to Nutt and let him go to another SEC school? Idiots!

Need a break? Click on Cato

Nutt lands on his feet and UA football sinks into a few years of .500 ball as the new AD discovers he can't land any big name coach to come to a northwest Arkansas snake pit. Danny Ford land once again. Lordy. Maybe Long can find himself a young unknown with potential who pans out. Look for 3-4 Arkansas high schoolers a year to choose Ole Miss over UA. Unless Long can convince Butch Davis to "come home to momma" as Bear Bryant termed it, the fan base is more split now than it was last week.

Yeah, shame on me for not having a cheery attitude here in BushWorld. I lost all respect for U of A sports after viewing a drunken talk given by a drunk Danny Ford at a private party in Fort Baptist circa 1994. If only I had had a tape recorder in my pocket. His message that night was I got 50 million to turn around the Hog football program and we're gonna buy the biggest niggers (his words, not mine) and set the college football world on fire! He then paraded his "biggest niggers" like it was a slave auction in old Louisville.

Later on in life I realized it was like sitting in at a private party at the Badda Bing and listening to Tony Soprano talk about how to knock off Johny Sack over in Jersey. It was beyond disgusting. I so wish I had gone to the movies that night instead. Probably like all the rest of college sports across the map, we got us one corrupt sham that we worship in the good times. Nothing these days is what it appears to be......so it is with U of A sports.

"Nutt lands on his feet and UA football sinks into a few years of .500 ball .."

Well, Racken, I don't know where you think we have been the past ten years with a HDN SEC record of 42-40. Please don't bring up his record with the "gimme wins" non conference foes ala 2007. Why do HDN leg humpers oppose expecting a SEC Championship once every ten years? Is that too much to yearn for?

that is why i learned a long time ago to quit living and dying with the hogs. they are kids playing a game. a lot of these idiots forget that. after the game is over there will still be bush and cheney vader and all the other problems. i can't let my blood pressure go up or down an inch these days because of a ball game. i get as much fun out of a high school game as i do a hog game. i don't care who coaches the hogs much less who the assistant coaches are. i wish more college games were on tv since i can't breathe well enough to go to them live. i do go to high school games and have a great time. i gave up on pro sports when the millionaires went on strike. all my sports come from college and high school and that is fine. this weekend i saw several of the best football games i have ever seen and had a great time.

A little slightly off thread here but. Friday night I listened to the Hog game on the radio on a remote hill in the Ozarks. No TV reception and I am not paying for satellite at my "get away from it all" hideout. My wife doesn't know the difference between a tackle and a touch down so I had no one to cuss or discuss with.

Anyway, when the Hogs won I jumped up and yelled Woooo Piiiig! Then cyotes on two different hills started yipping and howling. I sat down by my campfire and had a good laugh and another beer.

Bring on JIMMY JOHNSON - 3 year contract - pay him a wad from that Hog slush fund - and, turn him loose to do it his way with only one caveat --- to not get us in trouble with the NCAA police (it would be okay to walk really close to the line but just don't cross it). The fans would love him, the players would love him and I believe he would produce but if not then he's outta here after 3 years. GO HOGS GO!!!!

Arkansas has carried the title of "NATIONAL FOOTBALL CHAMPIONS" only once since 1869 - yep, that's the middle of the 19th century folks - just 4 years after the end of the Civil War. The University of Arkansas Football Team were national champions in 1964 - their one and only time to hold that coveted title in 138 years. Now, that is really something to brag about. Let's face the facts, Arkansas has the chances of slim and none to be football national champions in the future, so shouldn't the U. of A. concentrate on stacking up winning seasons, bowl appearances, t.v. appearances and such and forget the quest for national championship status. Some day in the distant future, when the stars are all properly aligned, and the USC's, Miami's, Florida's, Alabama's, Notre Dame's, Ohio State's, Texas', Oklahoma's, LSU's, etc. are off taking a nap, our descendents may have the chance to once again witness Arkansas holding that most sought after title of "NATIONAL CHAMPIONS". But until then, quit running off coaches who can bring in the money. Nutt was one of those coaches, you big Nutt hating dummies out there.

Racing -

Because something is unlikely is no reason to stive for it. Nutt was mediocre, had his chance, and is gone now. The state is better.

And for the "little ole Arkansaw can't do gud in any sport so we wuz lucky we had him!" I point you to our baseball, track, and basketball programs, which are considered top notch and some of the best in the country. Why should we expect less from our football program?

Here's the problem.. folks in Arkansas as it pertains to the football program are like the chick at the bar that acts like she's a 10, when she's really a 6. Nutt made her a 7.5 (average per year in wins). Prepare to wake up to being a 6.....or worse.

Whenever I get jealous of another salary, or feel guilty about my own, I remember something I read in 1972. Johnny Carson was the first entertainer to have his salary get publicized during a series of negotiations with NBC, and was also the first to bust the million dollar salary mark. When asked what made him think he was worth that much, his simple and totally true answer "Because I can get it". That is true for every one of us, no matter where we are on the food chain.

Hey widj, Grisham has a new book out about football -- Eye-talian football -- called Playing for Pizza. It is a change of pace from most of his other books, just as my friendly neighborhood librarian warned me. And Nutt probably would not approve.

Well, shut my mouth. I knew I shoulda checked before posting. Thanks, Doigotta. I read a couple of reviews, and it looks like I might like it.

Saint Frank and Nutt gone? I am celebrating the loss/retirement of Saint Frank. Please don't launch into a celebration of his accomplishments. Nutt is gone because Frank is gone. Perhaps the new AD Long will allow a coach to coach without relying on RR-RL-RC-Punt. I love the new Wild Hog Formation. Thanks, Gus and thanks, David Lee for continuing with it.
Mu congratulations to Ole Miss and I hope you have someone who will teach Houston to call the offense........
Now, with that said, which of the sub-coaches will follow Nutt? Shibest? Lee? and, Please God, not Herring!!!!!

So his contract originally had "golden handcuffs" to prevent him from leaving Arkansas and coaching at another school. Instead of us holding him to this when he moved to another SEC school, we GIVE him a LARGE amount of cash to leave. WTF? I seem to recall that Nolan Richardson (you know, the coach who HAS won a National Championship) could only keep the cash if he did NOT coach.

Can anyone explain this difference in how we treat coaches??

EY,
I had the same thought when Chancellor White disclosed that the "golden handcuffs" were unlocked for Houston.
I really, really want a job that pays me to leave! Instead of Merit pay for teachers, perhaps we should encourage our districts to provide a Golden Handshake?

New Blood for Arkansas Razerbacks...

FAYETTEVILLE -- Two head coaches known for their high-powered offenses have emerged as potential candidates to replace Houston Nutt, who was criticized during his tenure at Arkansas for being too conservative with his playcalling.

A source familiar with the situation said Tuesday that Oakland Raiders coach Lane Kiffin could be a good fit for the Razorbacks. The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Kiffin has wanted to coach at the college level. ....

In addition, Kiffin was the offensive coordinator at the University of Southern California when the Trojans routed the Hogs 70-17 in 2005 and then 50-14 in Reynolds Razorback Stadium a year ago.

Texas Tech coach Mike Leach, known for his record-breaking, pass-friendly offense, has also been mentioned as a possible candidate to replace Nutt.

Leach, a former Kentucky assistant coach, has also been rumored to be interested in taking over at UCLA if coach Karl Dorrell is fired."
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They won't get either of them for $1.2 mill

Th

I seriously doubt that HDN and his family are any happier than I am that he's left this sorry hell hole. And I doubt Nutt is any happier than I am that he's leaving with $3.5 of our dollars. He deserves every one of those bucks for all he and his players have had to endure from radicals as vicious and vehement in their attacks as the rightwingnuts were and still are on anybody named Clinton.

As Hubert Humphrey used to say, I'm also just "pleased as punch" that Nutt's going to Ole Miss for a $10 million, 5-year deal. He'll recruit heavily in Arkansas (thanks, again, haters) and elsewhere, and he'll do well over there. As a native born, life-long Arkansan and UA alum, I am totally soured by the message board and radio trash talk that is still going on. Frankly, I hope Nutt and the Johnny Rebs whip our ass for as long as he is at Oxford. I truly do.

Although the whiners are in denial, Nutt's regular season conference record was 30-20 vs. SEC-West opponents; 12-18 vs. SEC-East opponents; and 0-2 against SEC-East teams in championship game play, one of those losses being to eventual national champion Florida. Not bad for the toughest league in the country. And compare it to a 19-27-2 SEC record prior to Nutt's arrival. No wonder (to sane people) that Nebraska, LSU, Ole Miss, Baylor, Georgia Tech, SMU, and other schools have shown great interest in Nutt.

Oxford Eagle
Nov. 27, 2007

Hiring of Nutt a Great Move by Ole Miss
By John Davis
Sports Editor

This morning, Ole Miss hired former Arkansas coach Houston Nutt as its 36th football coach in school history.

In less than 24 hours, the question as to who the next coach will be has changed to a deal being completed by brunch.

Just as soon as Nutt left his coveted football position in Fayetteville Monday evening, the schools wanting him for their own lined up around the block.

Not only had Ole Miss made Nutt its No. 1 choice to replace Ed Orgeron, but so had Baylor, which got rid of Guy Morriss last week. Georgia Tech, which fired Chan Gailey, had reportedly set its sights on the former Razorback head man, while Nebraska, which wanted Nutt four years ago before hiring Bill Callahan, was also a possibility to go after the run-happy Nutt.

In the fast-paced world of coaching hires, Nutt clearly rose to the top of many schools' wish lists.

Who could blame Ole Miss and other schools for looking at Nutt? He had a tremendous 10-year run at Arkansas. He led the Razorbacks to three Southeastern Conference West titles, eight bowl games and 75 wins. Oh yeah, he was the SEC Coach of the Year in 2006. Sure he was just 2-5 in bowl games with the Razorbacks, but going to bowl games is something the Rebels have forgotten how to do.

Thanks to a win over then-No. 1 LSU this past Friday, Nutt now has 111 career wins in 15 seasons as a head coach.

Nutt knows how to win:

The man knows how to win and win big, and schools like Ole Miss, which has suffered through four straight losing seasons, and Baylor, which hasn't been good since Grant Teaff piloted the Bears in the 1970s through the early 1990s, were ready to offer Nutt in the neighborhood of $2 million per year in the attempt to end the losing.

There seem to be several reasons why Nutt is no longer at Arkansas, but winning games, big games, has never been much of an issue. Sure Arkansas fans would have loved to win one or both of the SEC title games the Razorbacks were involved in, but it's hard to argue with the overall success of the Razorbacks under Nutt.

Not only has the program flourished since Nutt took over for Danny Ford in 1998, Arkansas is on solid footing from a talent standpoint so that even his successor should be able to produce a winning season in 2008.

With players like Felix Jones, Jonathan Luigs, Casey Dick, Malcolm Sheppard, Andrew Davie, Jerrell Norton, Alex Tejada and Jeremy Davis still having at least a year of eligibility left, Nutt has left the cupboard pretty full for the next coach, which says a lot about the stability of the program.

Sure, star running back and Heisman Trophy front runner Darren McFadden is just a junior, but he wasn't coming back even if Nutt was there in 2008.

Nutt loved by his players:

The Arkansas players loved Nutt and they have always given him every ounce of effort. In a one-game setting, Nutt has proven he is one of the best, if not the best, coach in the SEC time and time again.

He has shown the ability to adapt his coaching skills around the players on the roster, and rather than force them to do something they couldn't do, he has made them better by coaching to their strengths.

It didn't take a rocket scientist, or better yet, somebody with a high football IQ to recognize that Nutt was the best coach available to fill any and all of the openings in college football currently. His record and accomplishments on the field speak for themselves.

Thankfully for Ole Miss' sake, the school was able to hire a quality coach like Nutt to run the program. Negotiations continued to progress throughout the night Monday, while a press conference to announce his hiring will be Wednesday.

All of this is indeed good news for Rebel fans all over the state, the South and beyond. Hope and excitement is sure to return to a fan base that became fractured, to say the least, under Orgeron. The hiring of Nutt in this wild, wacky coaching search business is a good thing and obtaining Nutt's services to lead the Rebels in 2008 and beyond is definitely an upgrade and a reason to celebrate for many reasons.

Apparently OM didn't listen to the press conference where Broyles detailed all HDN's speaking engagements, so they don't realize how little coaching he will be doing. They'll get it when he's talking to a friend instead of coaching a game, blowing a lead in the 4th quarter, deftly snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
This was by far the easiest schedule we've had in a few years and certainly easier than our next two years. Yet, we barely pulled 8-4. The only games we won in Sept were agains the cream puffs we paid to play us. With the exception of OM, ditto for October. I'm supposed to be happy that the highest paid state employee gets us that? And that he's doing more lecturing to civic groups than he is coaching? I realize that Broyles was grooming him to be an AD and that you have to build relationships to be an AD (not a head coach), but geez.

Why is everyone so upset that there was not a clause in Houston's contract to prevent him from taking a coaching job in the SEC? If he was such a horrible coach, it shouldn't have any effect on Arkansas. Right?