Tuesday, November 27

Ole Miss Hires A New Brand of Crazy: Houston Dale Nutt

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Ole Miss after Firing Cutcliffe: "We will not accept mediocrity!"

Ole Miss after Firing Orgeron: "Yes, I'll have the mediocrity please, medium-average...Looks scrumptious, yes! With a side of Crazy...and the Refried Scandal. Thanks!"


I have to admit, I'm not exactly thrilled with this hire and I'll tell you why. I wanted a young head coach from the lower levels with fire and ambition and a great spread offense...oh and no baggage. Somebody with tons of upside. Somebody that the fans of his current school would fight hard to keep. Someone who was loved by many.

That's why I made my list. I had these visions of up-and-comers like Paul Johnson, Brian Kelly and or even taking a risk on a great young guy like Chris Hatcher.

Not some retread with outstanding lawsuits and Clintonian affairs.

Then again, Ole Miss is getting a guy who is proven to be...eh pretty good, which Ole Miss administration will take right now. The "Safe" pick to save their asses.

Is he on the up slope...or the down slope? I think that's yet to be determined. I don't want to hear any of this, "Who else you gonna get?" or "But you're Ole Miss?" This was an easy chance to reel in a "9" or a "10" but Boone and Khayat quickly settled on a "6."

1.8 Million a year can still get you a whole lotta coach, if you're smart.

Thus the same attitude that causes rival fans to say, "What was Ole Miss thinking firing Cutcliffe?" now causes them to say, "That's a good hire, Ole Miss." Yeah, it's good for you. It's non-threatening.

Yeah, he might win 7 or 8 games, but it's been proven that Nutt's not gonna win the conference or go to a BCS bowl. Hence the whole "no upside" thing.

In fact, Nutt was the longest tenured coach in the BCS conferences to never go to a BCS bowl. That's MY Coach! Would you like him to be your coach?

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Just for shits and giggles, here are a few of my message board post concerning the coaching search in the last few days. You'll see how I went from utter putrid disgust at the thought of Houston Nutt to Denial, to bargaining to admittance, to acceptance...now I think I'm in recovery or something. Is this how Heroin addicts feel?


Why the hell would Boone do that? - Yesterday at 3:56pm

what a moron. does he know how stupid he'll look? Why would we hire another SEC program's garbage? DUMB DUMB DUMB. Way too much baggage and he WILL divide the fan base more than ever.

Ole Miss needs a fresh start...Ole Miss doesn't need that a-hole.

They're chasing him out of Fayetteville like nothing I've ever seen - Yesterday around 5pm

You don't think their's a reason behind that?

Half our fanbase already doesn't like him (not so with guys like RN or Kelly or PJ or Chris Hatcher)

He put his dick out there to get a 5 star QB and then completely effed it all away and lost a great offensive coordinator.

He's scandalous.

He's a joke (much like Orgeron).

He's batshit crazy.

He's never won an SEC title in ten years at a school that has no in state competition and a relatively rich recruiting base.

He's got the two best running backs to ever share a backfield and he can't beat the likes of Alabama, and Kentucky or do anything legitimate by them.

Fact is, The Arkansas fans don't care that he left... - Last Night

...that should bother the ones of you who claim to be not-so-wooly.

He went on a hot streak to end the season. LSU was susceptible. Shit, Bama almost beat 'em the week before they lost to UL-Monroe. Ed Orgeron put up 500 yards on their #1 Defense. WTF?!

Nutt is a hot name right now BECAUSE of McFadden and Jones. If he finished the season like he did last year, with three straight losses even having the great RBs (not to mention his 4-7 2005 season) Nobody would give him the time of day.

But pulling one out against LSU in the last game of his Ark career, sheeit, he upped his offers about 1 Mil a year.

It's incredible, it's foolish and it's kneejerk.

Don't even try to compare him to Orgeron. We've proven that Dinardo would win that battle handily. Yeah, Nutts not a bad football coach, but neither was David Cutcliffe.

Cut just wasn't getting us where we want to go.

There's no upside with Nutt. You guys think that Nutt, with less of a recruiting base, less big money around him, at less of a traditional power...you think that Nutt's gonna have equal or more success?

Naw, I'd much rather take a chance on a guy who didn't get run out of town. This choice is crazy, and makes Ole Miss look like little brother to effing Arkansas.

Pros and Cons - This Morning, When It was Inevitable

Pros:

-He stayed at a school for 10 years. That's gotta count for something.
-He's been to Atlanta a few times
-He owns Mississippi State
-He beats Auburn and Alabama more often than Ole Miss does
-He's charismatic?
-7 bowl games in 9 years (soon to be 8 of 10 if they let him coach it)

Cons:

-He's scandalous
-He previously coached at a divisional rival (and it's not like Ole Miss stole him a la Tuberville)
-He only had one 10 win season and that was last year
-He's never won anything more than a cotton bowl
-He's not exactly known as a great recruiter
-He's only won 2 of those 7 bowl games
-He's already got the fanbase divided
-Hog fans are not worried about seeing him go (have I said that before?)


Later, I'll atempt to convince myself that Nutt can do a better job at Ole Miss than he did at Arkanasas, and that his best years are ahead of him. Hope Houston Dale proves me wrong.

Hot Damn, Yaw yaw, giggity giggity. It could be worse...

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16 comments:

  1. i agree with most everything written there except the idea that arkansas is a "rich recruiting" area. competition or no, there is a shitload more talent in miss. i say the bright side you look for is nutt comes in and wins 7+ games for 5 years or so, and then makes the job more attractive for a young, up and comer.

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  2. Go Rebels. Yeehaw. Absolutley speechless. What a mistake. I want to bury my head in the sand. My MS State brother just called laughing at me. I guess we can hope for the best. Go Nutt. Wow. Hotty Toddy. Crap.

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  3. you spelled up and comers wrong...

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  4. This isn't one of your adult sites, daniel.

    "Up and Cummers" would be Vivid copyright infringement, would it not?

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  5. Congrants Erik, you now have the words "Nutt" and "Cummers" into your comments section. Sick people who google nasty things will soon be attracted to your blog, bringing in so much spam.


    As for Nutt, I think it he'll do well at OM. He likes big, strong linemen and hard hitting running attacks. I know there are plenty of kids in Mississippi with those qualities.

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  6. That's the way I like it, Druid. I'll take hits any way I can get 'em. Hey-oo

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  7. Erik,

    You sit there and rank your "Top 5" candidates yet you know damn well that none of them would do the job at Ole Miss.

    Paul Johnson? I love Paul Johnson just as much as you do, but you and I both know that he can't run the wishbone and have success in the SEC. That's a dead issue.

    Chris Hatcher? Okay, I see what you're saying with potential and being able to turn the GA Southern program around. But people thought Hal Mumme was the next big-thing too. And look at him.

    That being said, I'm content with hiring Houston Nutt. He was one of top candidates available. He has proven that he CAN win and recruit in the SEC. And you damn well that's what we at Ole Miss need.

    Just my two cents.........

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  8. Kory, are you seriously trying to tell me that you'd write off paul johnson because of the offense he's forced to run at Navy? Did You even read what I wrote about him? He would pass the ball plenty with a supposed great passer like Jevan Snead.

    You failed to mention Brian Kelly, my #2 choice. I'd certainly have thrown $1.9 million at Kelly and seen if it stuck. Then I'd certainly offer Chris Hatcher what I offered Orgeron or a little more ($900,000) and I'm sure I'd be upping it very soon after.

    You throw out Hal Mumme...I'll throw out Jim Tressel (formerly of Youngstown State). There's always an exception.

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  9. Understood, Erik.

    I like Kelly from Cincinnati. Thus why I did not criticize the selection.

    I think Johnson and, potentially Hatcher, are great coaches. Don't get me wrong. I just don't think that they would be the right fit for Ole Miss.

    That's the jist of what I was trying to say. Nothing necessarily critical was meant.

    As you did state though, Nutt is a safe bet. And in the current state that Ole Miss is in, I can't really think of a better position than "safe."

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  10. I can't wait for the stories of Nutt ripping off his girdle and challenging the players to a fist fight.

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  11. Before I going into Houston Nutt. I'll say Orgeron needed one more year. Bill Parcell's said it best, "If your gonna hire a coach to cook , you have to let him buy the groceries."

    Again Ole Miss misses with another hire. How can Pete Boone not even interview anyone.

    It was reported that Boone would hire a search firm out of Colorado to find potential candidates (which is what Nebraska is doing) and then within 6 hours of Nutt's resignation Ole Miss offers him the job.

    Maybe Nutt is the right choice but if you don't even interview candidates then you'll never know.

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  12. miles may not be the dumbest...but he's fighing tooth and nail to earn the title.

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  13. You gotta give Miles credit, there the best regulation team in the country.

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  14. Listen, if you're basing your judgment of the Nutt hire on what Arkansas fans think of him, you're, well, nuts. Nutt went 10-4 and won an SEC West title last year with a team that was supposed to do absolutely nothing, yet the fan base pissed and moaned about it because Nutt didn't let Mitch Mustain chuck it 50 times a game. These wack jobs would rather go 6-6 with a true-freshman QB than win 9 or 10 games with Darren freakin' McFadden, quite possibly the most exciting player in the country.

    I think y'all made a fine hire, and as a Dawg fan I'm really happy that you got him before Georgia Tech could.

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  15. Doug,

    You said it best.

    I agree with your response whole-heartedly.

    Maybe Orgeron DID deserve another year, but honestly, he did POORLY enough to deserve to be fired after just three years. Hell, even Pete Boone knew that.............

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  16. Ole Miss you have hired the real deal in Coach Nutt, a very good coach that you are lucky to have. The majority of fans loved him but sat on their hands whenever the negative fans were trashing him. Any sane person would have left after a Razorback fan following the victory over LSU threw a beverage container at Nutt's wife. Yes, we here in Arkansas attack women. Real he-men, we are.

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