A few years back, there was a bit of odd controversy within the Arkansas Razorbacks football program. At the end of the 2007 season Houston Nutt, then 10-year coach of the Razorbacks, resigned as Head Coach. Starting the season ranked at 21 in the AP poll, the Razorbacks faced a few early losses to then insignificant Alabama and Kentucky. After the losses, many fans were calling for Nutt’s head.According to disgruntled fans and booster club members, there was also a significant problem with their offense. Even though they had the Heisman Trophy runner-up Darren McFadden (who was arguably the most talented running back in college football by a mile), for some reason fans wanted to see the ball in the air from the hands of their new, top recruit freshman quarterback, Mitch Mustain. Mustain did win SEC Freshmen of the Year in 2006, but it was mostly at managing the game for Darren McFadden and second punch Felix Jones with a few notable connections to WR Damian Williams. The season was so disappointing that people started delving into his personal life looking for anything that could indict him. Fans and even parents got involved.
During the beginning of the 2007 season, a few parents (reportedly of Mustain, Williams, and a few others) approached coach Nutt in his office and asked what his offensive scheme was going to be. Eventually, Mustain and Williams left for the University of Southern California. The mild-mannered WR Williams has become a star while the “mommy would you talk to coach for me,” “I’m so good I can make it anywhere” Mustain has disappeared into the depth chart. The whole thing sounds like upset rich kid parents charging into the coaches office and demanding that they use their kids and pass the ball more. How the conversation went is irrelevant, when fans, booster club members, and even parents are legitimately trying to regulate the happenings of a football program it’s impossible to win. A football team is a good, old-fashioned fascist regime. One coach should be in control of everything. Not one coach being controlled by everybody. Nutt left the University of Arkansas after his final game against then top-ranked LSU. They won 50-48.
So you Arkansas Razorback fans who were so unhappy with being a 10 win team and being ranked in the top 25 preseason and finding your road taking you all the way to No. 7, you get this week’s Axe. Why you ask? How is a melodrama that happened two years ago relevant now? Houston Nutt and the once dead-in-the-water Ole Miss Rebels currently sit at No. 5 in the AP poll, an achievement that the Razorbacks weren’t even able to get to. See what happens when you let a coach do his job? Even through the obstacles that Nutt went through he ended up with a career 75-48 record with the Hogs, second only to Arkansas coaching legend, Frank Broyles. He groomed a Heisman Finalist, had 10 straight victories in the toughest conference in the country, won an SEC Western Division title, and made Arkansas relevant on the national stage once again. He’s one of the best coaches Arkansas has ever seen and they ran him out of town like a criminal. Razorback Houston Nutt haters, you fail at being fans. I know this will be hard to hear for all you disgruntled fans, booster club members, and local media, but in the real world, you aren’t going to be in the National Championship race every year (unless you’re USC, Florida, Texas, or Oklahoma, but U of A isn’t even close to being an exception). Get your expectations cleared up. I know they’re being overwhelmed by Bobby Petrino and his 2008’s 5-7 record. Hope you guys can stay relevant… to yourselves.
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