10 year anniversary of Houston Nutt's phone call

[Inhogswetrust]

You do acknowledge that dozens and dozens of Nutt's former players, including the greatest Hog ever, loved and still love Houston Nutt, right? I'm not saying that makes him a good guy or anything of the kind, but it is true.

Big deal. Some people love Jimmy Swaggart, Jim Bakker, and a host of other snake oil salesmen..............................

[Letsroll1200]

You do acknowledge that dozens and dozens of Nutt's former players, including the greatest Hog ever, loved and still love Houston Nutt, right? I'm not saying that makes him a good guy or anything of the kind, but it is true.

Some guys just want give coach Nutt credit.

[Mike Irwin]

You do acknowledge that dozens and dozens of Nutt's former players, including the greatest Hog ever, loved and still love Houston Nutt, right? I'm not saying that makes him a good guy or anything of the kind, but it is true.

That was a common theme during the Nutt years. If he thought you were high on him as a head coach you had it made. If for any reason he got it into his head that you didn't think he was all that much as a coach you were screwed.

On the surface that doesn't sound bad. Most coaches would want their players to buy into what they bring to the table as a head coach. But according to many who ended up in his doghouse Nutt was a terrible judge of intent. He'd get it into his head that a certain player was against him without any real reason. Often these players were left baffled by his actions.

The real issue is that he would not bring such players in for face to face meetings. They would hear rumors that Nutt was mad at them and that was it. No discussion. They were deemed to be one of the "untrustables."

[hog.goblin]

You do acknowledge that dozens and dozens of Nutt's former players, including the greatest Hog ever, loved and still love Houston Nutt, right? I'm not saying that makes him a good guy or anything of the kind, but it is true.

Of course I do, and one of them is great friend of mine.  Doesn't mean I have to agree with him.

[MuskogeeHogFan]

That was a common theme during the Nutt years. If he thought you were high on him as a head coach you had it made. If for any reason he got it into his head that you didn't think he was all that much as a coach you were screwed.

On the surface that doesn't sound bad. Most coaches would want their players to buy into what they bring to the table as a head coach. But according to many who ended up in his doghouse Nutt was a terrible judge of intent. He'd get it into his head that a certain player was against him without any real reason. Often these players were left baffled by his actions.

The real issue is that he would not bring such players in for face to face meetings. They would hear rumors that Nutt was mad at them and that was it. No discussion. They were deemed to be one of the "untrustables."

It is a bad sign when it seems that the HC is insecure and paranoid and allows that to potentially effect decisions about the team.

[Inhogswetrust]

That was a common theme during the Nutt years. If he thought you were high on him as a head coach you had it made. If for any reason he got it into his head that you didn't think he was all that much as a coach you were screwed.

On the surface that doesn't sound bad. Most coaches would want their players to buy into what they bring to the table as a head coach. But according to many who ended up in his doghouse Nutt was a terrible judge of intent. He'd get it into his head that a certain player was against him without any real reason. Often these players were left baffled by his actions.

The real issue is that he would not bring such players in for face to face meetings. They would hear rumors that Nutt was mad at them and that was it. No discussion. They were deemed to be one of the "untrustables."

I completely believe this since the photo of that "circle" thing in their locker room leaked out after he went to old misses. 

[Timfromlittlerockhog]

I remember that call. I was driving to take my kids to my ex when it came on the radio. I enjoyed every second of it. I hated Nutt with a passion. Don't care for CBB at all either. I would have kept CBP regardless of his personal flaws. But thats just me. I enjoy winning. And I don't care about his abrasive personality or his philandering. It beats reggae flip flops and never winning any day of the week.

If CBB doesn't get it done this year maybe we will get a repeat of this........One can hope.  :razorback:

[Hardcore Hoggy]

That was a common theme during the Nutt years. If he thought you were high on him as a head coach you had it made. If for any reason he got it into his head that you didn't think he was all that much as a coach you were screwed.

On the surface that doesn't sound bad. Most coaches would want their players to buy into what they bring to the table as a head coach. But according to many who ended up in his doghouse Nutt was a terrible judge of intent. He'd get it into his head that a certain player was against him without any real reason. Often these players were left baffled by his actions.

The real issue is that he would not bring such players in for face to face meetings. They would hear rumors that Nutt was mad at them and that was it. No discussion. They were deemed to be one of the "untrustables."

I've been told the same and worse about Nutt. My point wasn't too defend Nutt in as much as it was to say "some players really liked Nutt"  in fact a lot of players did, probably more really liked him, then really disliked him, and probably still more were just "meh whatever" about him.

And I suspect that as is usually the case, many of the players who ended up in Nutt's doghouse , for whatever reason, tended to spin the story to seem as sympathetic as possible, so I'd probably take what they have said over the years with a grain of salt.

The bottom line is Nutt was a mediocre coach , who for some inexplicable reason was retained when other coaches probably would have lost their jobs and that made a lot of fans angry and irrational and willing to believe just about anything that was said about him.

[Hardcore Hoggy]

Of course I do, and one of them is great friend of mine.  Doesn't mean I have to agree with him.

Of course it doesn't mean that.

[Mike Irwin]

I've been told the same and worse about Nutt. My point wasn't too defend Nutt in as much as it was to say "some players really liked Nutt"  in fact a lot of players did, probably more really liked him, then really disliked him, and probably still more were just "meh whatever" about him.

And I suspect that as is usually the case, many of the players who ended up in Nutt's doghouse , for whatever reason, tended to spin the story to seem as sympathetic as possible, so I'd probably take what they have said over the years with a grain of salt.

The bottom line is Nutt was a mediocre coach , who for some inexplicable reason was retained when other coaches probably would have lost their jobs and that made a lot of fans angry and irrational and willing to believe just about anything that was said about him.

A lot who post here share that opinion. I do not. Nutt actually had a good overall record on the field. Until Petrino came along he was hands down the most successful SEC coach Arkansas had.

He was NOT fired and one of the reasons he was not fired is because his teams had won 18 games in the 2006-2007 seasons. The reason he left was because the BOT was afraid he was going to get the school and himself sued for his alleged participation in the harassment of freshman quarterback Mitch Mustain. For the Mustain haters, the only reason a lawsuit didn't materialize is because Mustain would not approve it. So the BOT paid Nutt to go away over the possibility of a lawsuit that was never going to happen.

That entire mess was a real life example of the infamous "Cool Hand Luke" movie line: "What we have is a failure to communicate."

[Seebs]

You do acknowledge that dozens and dozens of Nutt's former players, including the greatest Hog ever, loved and still love Houston Nutt, right? I'm not saying that makes him a good guy or anything of the kind, but it is true.

My kids love their mother. They had a different experience than I had with her. The kids loving her does not change the fact she has the moral integrity of a drunk debutante at a biker rally. It is all about experiences.

[LZH]

My kids love their mother. They had a different experience than I had with her. The kids loving her does not change the fact she has the moral integrity of a drunk debutante at a biker rally. It is all about experiences.

Zoiks....

I'm sure my perception of Nutt is skewed by his handling of the Malzahn/Springdale 5 debacle. I mean, the times I was around him he seemed genuinely nice and always took time to visit, and not just at RF fish fries....saw him at the US Open and he walked a bit with us. And I don't think he was a piss poor coach, either. He was touted as an offensive whiz in his pre-Razorback days and was a pretty good recruiter.

But apparently his ego was only rivaled by BP when it comes to HC's. The God complex and all that. While I still respect Petrino for his coaching talent, I would dearly love to slap the ish outta both of them.

[HognitiveDissonance]

10 years is an eternity in the coaching profession.
Even Nutt supporters, some of whom would never be in the category of the soap opera crowd, the 'haters' and 'huggers', but after 10 years they were just ready to see what someone else could do with the program. In their mind, after 10 years, you've probably seen everything you're going to see. You can't really argue with that.
Sure enough, the next guy did better. But then he had 'issues'...

[HognitiveDissonance]

A lot who post here share that opinion. I do not. Nutt actually had a good overall record on the field. Until Petrino came along he was hands down the most successful SEC coach Arkansas had.

He was NOT fired and one of the reasons he was not fired is because his teams had won 18 games in the 2006-2007 seasons. The reason he left was because the BOT was afraid he was going to get the school and himself sued for his alleged participation in the harassment of freshman quarterback Mitch Mustain. For the Mustain haters, the only reason a lawsuit didn't materialize is because Mustain would not approve it. So the BOT paid Nutt to go away over the possibility of a lawsuit that was never going to happen.

That entire mess was a real life example of the infamous "Cool Hand Luke" movie line: "What we have is a failure to communicate."

I agree that Nutt wasn't fired, but have always felt he decided it was time to move on but couldn't pass up the chance to coach one more year and a possible Heisman winner in 2007. I have no proof. Just felt it was pretty much determined to go one more and see what happened with that team and DMac, then move along.

[Grizzlyfan]

A lot who post here share that opinion. I do not. Nutt actually had a good overall record on the field. Until Petrino came along he was hands down the most successful SEC coach Arkansas had.

He was NOT fired and one of the reasons he was not fired is because his teams had won 18 games in the 2006-2007 seasons. The reason he left was because the BOT was afraid he was going to get the school and himself sued for his alleged participation in the harassment of freshman quarterback Mitch Mustain. For the Mustain haters, the only reason a lawsuit didn't materialize is because Mustain would not approve it. So the BOT paid Nutt to go away over the possibility of a lawsuit that was never going to happen.

That entire mess was a real life example of the infamous "Cool Hand Luke" movie line: "What we have is a failure to communicate."

But you do have to admit that Nutt's ego created most of the problems that revolved around Malzahn and the Springdale 5. No?

[HognitiveDissonance]

But you do have to admit that Nutt's ego created most of the problems that revolved around Malzahn and the Springdale 5. No?

Nutt's ego is not any bigger than yours or mine.
If you were the manager of a department, and your bosses started getting into your 'business' and telling you who to hire/fire, what employees to recruit...in general, letting you have the title of the job but not actually letting you do your job as you saw fit...then we would react the same way. Outwardly, you would do what you're told to do, but inwardly you would fume. I know I would and I don't consider my ego to be out of control. It's a matter of principle. Either let me do my job the way I want, or if you don't like my performance, then fire me. It's perfectly within your right to do that if you want. But don't have it both ways.

Ken Hatfield ran into the same problems when Frank suggested in 1987 that he make some staff changes. Ken doubled down and refused. Of course, that put tremendous pressure on him, but he delivered with back-to-back SWC titles in 1988 and 1989. Of course, it's never good to buck the boss, so that whole thing was festering all along, I'm sure. He finally left for Clemson without even visiting the campus.

Bottom line, Broyles's meddling caused a lot of problems. And ironically, this is coming from one of the biggest Frank fans there ever was. But his one biggest flaw was continual meddling in the football program.

[Inhogswetrust]

Nutt's ego is not any bigger than yours or mine.
Bottom line, Broyles's meddling caused a lot of problems. And ironically, this is coming from one of the biggest Frank fans there ever was. But his one biggest flaw was continual meddling in the football program.

Nutty's ego is bigger than both or ours put together. Brolyes didn't meddle enough in Nutty's regime since because of Frank Nutty was able to stay as long as he did.  White gave him his golden parachute opportunity to leave when he did. He left a month before Franks tenure as AD was to end. I don't think that is a coincidence. I think he knew he was probably not going to get the same support from a new AD.

[Tusks]

HDN is/was a 'monkey with a whistle' TM by me.

Every time I was around him and talked to him, his comments made me do two things, one is I was amazed he was a the HC of the hogs, second I would go out and bet the house on the opponent that week.

I even talked/argued with him one time that he should pay more attention to detail and not 'fly by the seat of his pants' he had NO CLUE about what I was talking about.

A 4-7 failed WR coach.

[HognitiveDissonance]

HDN is/was a 'monkey with a whistle' TM by me.

Every time I was around him and talked to him, his comments made me do two things, one is I was amazed he was a the HC of the hogs, second I would go out and bet the house on the opponent that week.

I even talked/argued with him one time that he should pay more attention to detail and not 'fly by the seat of his pants' he had NO CLUE about what I was talking about.

A 4-7 failed WR coach.

True, he had his antics and nail-biting on the sidelines and weird facial expressions caught on camera that are easy to photoshop.
But he also had a connection with his players and was a terrific motivator. Which is exactly what was needed at the time in 1998. Yes, there were peaks and valleys due to that more 'motivational' style of coaching, but the peaks were pretty good. Hogs haven't sniffed Atlanta since he left, and Nick Saban was coaching LSU for five years overlapping Nutt's tenure (2000-2004 at LSU), so that's not 100% just due to Saban being at Alabama now.

Yes, no doubt Petrino was a better coach.

However, I think it's funny in a way that Bielema will do well to match Nutt's record (if he's also here ten years), yet people want to knock the job Nutt did. It was pretty darn good by my vantage point. It gets back to expectations: if you average 7-9 wins per year at Arkansas, you should keep your job. Nutt averaged 7.5 wins over a 10 year period.

When Bielema was hired, I said that's exactly where we were headed, and so far we're right on schedule. But again, I'm not knocking that, per se. It's pretty good.

[hamARchy in the USA]

So Nutt really wasn't fired.  He could have continued at Arkansas if he had wanted to. 

[HognitiveDissonance]

So Nutt really wasn't fired.  He could have continued at Arkansas if he had wanted to. 

As I remember, yes.
John White had offered him a one-year extension.
Yes, the chancellor posing as athletic director John White. I cringe every time I see the name John White.
Frank Broyles was athletic director in title only for about the last 10 years.

[Mike Irwin]

But you do have to admit that Nutt's ego created most of the problems that revolved around Malzahn and the Springdale 5. No?

I blame Nutt. I blame certain boosters and I blame Malzahn. They each played their role. As a result those kids got screwed and so did the fans.

[hamARchy in the USA]

As I remember, yes.
John White had offered him a one-year extension.
Yes, the chancellor posing as athletic director John White. I cringe every time I see the name John White.
Frank Broyles was athletic director in title only for about the last 10 years.

Well, the John White factor is the only thing that brings this near the realm of believability.   No one could muck up like John White could muck up.  However, Nutt's sudden hire and press conference at rival Ole Miss reeked of spite.  But maybe things weren't as they appeared.  Nutt may have just really loved that Ole Miss helmet.

[lutherheggs]

True, he had his antics and nail-biting on the sidelines and weird facial expressions caught on camera that are easy to photoshop.
But he also had a connection with his players and was a terrific motivator. Which is exactly what was needed at the time in 1998. Yes, there were peaks and valleys due to that more 'motivational' style of coaching, but the peaks were pretty good. Hogs haven't sniffed Atlanta since he left, and Nick Saban was coaching LSU for five years overlapping Nutt's tenure (2000-2004 at LSU), so that's not 100% just due to Saban being at Alabama now.

Yes, no doubt Petrino was a better coach.

However, I think it's funny in a way that Bielema will do well to match Nutt's record (if he's also here ten years), yet people want to knock the job Nutt did. It was pretty darn good by my vantage point. It gets back to expectations: if you average 7-9 wins per year at Arkansas, you should keep your job. Nutt averaged 7.5 wins over a 10 year period.

When Bielema was hired, I said that's exactly where we were headed, and so far we're right on schedule. But again, I'm not knocking that, per se. It's pretty good.

Nutt had it easy in a way because the SEC West was not as strong as it has been since he left Ark. Ala and Auburn were nothing special. Nutt couldn't beat Fla or Tn or Ga. Hogs have "sniffed" Atlanta since Nutt. Almost made it under Petrino. But SEC West got a lot tougher, mostly Auburn and Alabama.

[HognitiveDissonance]

It's hard to say.
Yes, the obvious difference is that Alabama is a juggernaut now, and wasn't in Nutt's day.
On the other hand, Auburn had a 13-0 team in 2004, and Saban was at LSU winning a national title.
And actually, in 1998 and 1999 Miss St was one of the teams to beat in the West, then they cycled down.

Overall, I'm not sure the SEC landscape has changed all that much.

[Anybody]

Once again, as I have posted here numerous times:

Over a 10 year period, Houston Nutt ONLY won 49.6% of his SEC games.

Mike, so you think he was a good coach    I don't get it.

GO HOGS 2017 !

[Mike Irwin]

Once again, as I have posted here numerous times:

Over a 10 year period, Houston Nutt ONLY won 49.6% of his SEC games.

Mike, so you think he was a good coach    I don't get it.

GO HOGS 2017 !

Go back and read what I posted. I pointed out that he did not get fired and his leaving had nothing to do with his win-loss record. At the time he left he was the only Arkansas coach who had any type of sustained success in the SEC. In 10 seasons he was 75-48-0 overall. Every other Arkansas coach before him in the SEC was BELOW .500 OVERALL.

Jack Crowe: 9-15-0
Joe Kines: 3-6-1
Danny Ford 26-36-1

Under him Arkansas had a 10 win season and 9 wins three times. His teams twice won 18 games in back-to-back seasons.

The best by anyone else was 8 wins in a single season by Danny Ford in 95. The best two year run was 12 wins.

He took Arkansas to the SEC championship game twice.
Ford did it once.

He's the only Arkansas coach who had a decent SEC Championship game. In 2006 the Hogs lead Florida 21-17 in the 3rd quarter before losing 28-38.

[seasonhog]

I blame Nutt. I blame certain boosters and I blame Malzahn. They each played their role. As a result those kids got screwed and so did the fans.

Also FB......

[HognitiveDissonance]

Go back and read what I posted. I pointed out that he did not get fired and his leaving had nothing to do with his win-loss record. At the time he left he was the only Arkansas coach who had any type of sustained success in the SEC. In 10 seasons he was 75-48-0 overall. Every other Arkansas coach before him in the SEC was BELOW .500 OVERALL.

Jack Crowe: 9-15-0
Joe Kines: 3-6-1
Danny Ford 26-36-1

Under him Arkansas had a 10 win season and 9 wins three times. His teams twice won 18 games in back-to-back seasons.

The best by anyone else was 8 wins in a single season by Danny Ford in 95. The best two year run was 12 wins.

He took Arkansas to the SEC championship game twice.
Ford did it once.

He's the only Arkansas coach who had a decent SEC Championship game. In 2006 the Hogs lead Florida 21-17 in the 3rd quarter before losing 28-38.

Yes, and Bret is headed down the same path. Will he be around .500 after 10 SEC seasons? Probably.

Some fans are starting to catch on that now. I pointed it out the day he was hired.

He's not building anything 'special'. He's just restoring the program back to a good level. The same level Nutt had it, not quite as Petrino's level. And that's good enough to keep his job.

[lutherheggs]

Yes, and Bret is headed down the same path. Will he be around .500 after 10 SEC seasons? Probably.

Some fans are starting to catch on that now. I pointed it out the day he was hired.

He's not building anything 'special'. He's just restoring the program back to a good level. The same level Nutt had it, not quite as Petrino's level. And that's good enough to keep his job.

This is accurate and easy to see and conclude after this past season.

[riccoar]

Nutt is a horrible person and will always suck for two things.

1.  A grown arse man let one comment by a teen age kid get up in his feels and wreck his ego.
2.  When he got shown the exit he attempted to burn, the very university he swore to love, to the ground.

Bye, Felicia.

[Medic821]

Yup crazy
times....2 trips.to Atlanta

[tusksincolorado]

Big deal. Some people love Jimmy Swaggart, Jim Bakker, and a host of other snake oil salesmen..............................

AMEN BROTHER!

[Hogwild]

Yes, and Bret is headed down the same path. Will he be around .500 after 10 SEC seasons? Probably.

I think the hole he dug is too deep for him to reach .500 by year 10. 

Currently a dozen games below .500, so for the next six seasons he would have to go 30-18 (average 5-3 records) in conference play.
I'm hoping that we just play .500 ball over that period and with our weaker nonconference schedule we would be looking at 8-9 victories before the bowls. 

[GuvHog]

Well, the John White factor is the only thing that brings this near the realm of believability.   No one could muck up like John White could muck up.  However, Nutt's sudden hire and press conference at rival Ole Miss reeked of spite.  But maybe things weren't as they appeared.  Nutt may have just really loved that Ole Miss helmet.

The Ole Miss hire of Houston Nutt wasn't that sudden. He was offered and unofficially accepted the job the week after the Hogs loss to Tennessee in 2007. Archie Manning was the color commentator for the Ole Miss - Miss State Egg Bowl that year and strongly hinted at it several times during the broadcast. HDN being back for the 2008 season as head Hog was never an option or a possibility.

[Inhogswetrust]

The Ole Miss hire of Houston Nutt wasn't that sudden. He was offered and unofficially accepted the job the week after the Hogs loss to Tennessee in 2007. Archie Manning was the color commentator for the Ole Miss - Miss State Egg Bowl that year and strongly hinted at it several times during the broadcast. HDN being back for the 2008 season as head Hog was never an option or a possibility.

So you and Archie know more than anyone about nutty's job status back then. You should be a comedian.

[GuvHog]

I miss Petrino the coach.  Of course as a person he was a jerk.  But he didn't pretend otherwise.  You knew what you were getting with Petrino, except perhaps the extra girlfriend.

It was well known that Bobby Petrino was a jerk when he was hired but no one cared because they wanted the team to win. Bobby wasn't hired to kiss babies, hug momma's, glad hand daddies, or be Mister personality, he was hired to WIN and WIN he did.

During the latter part of the Houston Nutt era through the Petrino era, I was a regular at our yearly Razorback Club meetings here in Jefferson County but stopped going after BP's termination. Last year I decided I would go and was stunned at what I saw. Instead of the overflow crows we had during the Petrino years with people constantly asking for BP's autograph, the room was maybe half full at best. It was really a sad sight to see.

[Inhogswetrust]

It was well known that Bobby Petrino was a jerk when he was hired but no one cared because they wanted the team to win. Bobby wasn't hired to kiss babies, hug momma's, glad hand daddies, or be Mister personality, he was hired to WIN and WIN he did.

He was kissing and glad-handing somebody he shouldn't have.......................

[GuvHog]

He was kissing and glad-handing somebody he shouldn't have.......................

True, he shouldn't have had the affair but my point still stands.

[GuvHog]

So you and Archie know more than anyone about nutty's job status back then. You should be a comedian.

Stop being silly. Archie Manning is one of the Ole Miss football program's biggest boosters and nothing goes on in that program that he doesn't know about. Man they've retired his number and even named streets after him. For all purposes, Archie IS Ole Miss Football.

[Inhogswetrust]

Stop being silly. Archie Manning is one of the Ole Miss football program's biggest boosters and nothing goes on in that program that he doesn't know about. Man they've retired his number and even named streets after him. For all purposes, Archie IS Ole Miss Football.

So you believe a webel black bear................I'm not surprised. Yes he is old misses football. However that says all I need to know. It's old misses.

[Inhogswetrust]

True, he shouldn't have had the affair but my point still stands.

The main point of him being a jerk and people knowing it yes. Some of the rest maybe not so much.

[GuvHog]

The main point of him being a jerk and people knowing it yes. Some of the rest maybe not so much.

Yes people knew BP was a jerk but that didn't matter because he was hired to win. 2 years ago on this board, the question was asked "Would you trade Bret Bielema for Bobby Petrino?/". My answer was an emphatic "No!" because I believed after the 2014 season that Bret had the program headed in the right direction. After the results the last 2 years I'm not near as sure about that as I was then.

[Hogs-n-Roses]

Just think, Nutt was paid 5+ million dollars(by 2 schools) to "not coach" football at their school.What a deal!In about a 5 year period.

[Mike Irwin]

The Ole Miss hire of Houston Nutt wasn't that sudden. He was offered and unofficially accepted the job the week after the Hogs loss to Tennessee in 2007. Archie Manning was the color commentator for the Ole Miss - Miss State Egg Bowl that year and strongly hinted at it several times during the broadcast. HDN being back for the 2008 season as head Hog was never an option or a possibility.

Unoffficially accepted is the key because after Arkansas beat LSU Nutt came back saying he wasn't leaving. That lasted about a day. Upon hearing what he was telling people at the BAC about his change of plans Diana promptly informed Nutt that he was taking the Ole Miss job and that was that.

[Sivad]

....Diana promptly informed Nutt that he was taking the Ole Miss job and that was that.

And for that - we owe Leatherface a big thank you.

[MuskogeeHogFan]

Yes people knew BP was a jerk but that didn't matter because he was hired to win. 2 years ago on this board, the question was asked "Would you trade Bret Bielema for Bobby Petrino?/". My answer was an emphatic "No!" because I believed after the 2014 season that Bret had the program headed in the right direction. After the results the last 2 years I'm not near as sure about that as I was then.

What some of the fans want (wins mostly) and what other fans want (wins and integrity in a well run program) tend to bump up against one another.

If all the majority of the contributing fan base wants is to win then we need to stick with someone like BP and be prepared to engage in pre-emptive damage control because that staff and that program will be more difficult to manage.

If you want the kind of "hold your head high" program that Bielema will provide, we need to be ready for the fact that we aren't going to win 9-10-11 games every year (only occasionally), but the program will operate at a high level, win more than they lose, graduate good citizens and future contributing Alumini and that will not bring any question of shame to the program for the most part.

You probably aren't going to be able to have your cake and eat it too.

[Inhogswetrust]

What some of the fans want (wins mostly) and what other fans want (wins and integrity in a well run program) tend to bump up against one another.

If all the majority of the contributing fan base wants is to win then we need to stick with someone like BP and be prepared to engage in pre-emptive damage control because that staff and that program will be more difficult to manage.

If you want the kind of "hold your head high" program that Bielema will provide, we need to be ready for the fact that we aren't going to win 9-10-11 games every year (only occasionally), but the program will operate at a high level, win more than they lose, graduate good citizens and future contributing Alumini and that will not bring any question of shame to the program for the most part.

You probably aren't going to be able to have your cake and eat it too.

When it comes to college athletics it is extremely rare to be able to have your cake and eat it too in that way. Maybe even impossible. Because the UA is my Alma Mater I'm more of the desire to "hold your head high" type.

[GuvHog]

What some of the fans want (wins mostly) and what other fans want (wins and integrity in a well run program) tend to bump up against one another.

If all the majority of the contributing fan base wants is to win then we need to stick with someone like BP and be prepared to engage in pre-emptive damage control because that staff and that program will be more difficult to manage.

If you want the kind of "hold your head high" program that Bielema will provide, we need to be ready for the fact that we aren't going to win 9-10-11 games every year (only occasionally), but the program will operate at a high level, win more than they lose, graduate good citizens and future contributing Alumini and that will not bring any question of shame to the program for the most part.

You probably aren't going to be able to have your cake and eat it too.

Some fans want to win at all costs, some believe the program can win big and still have integrity with the right head coach (I'm here), while others believe integrity is all that matters whether the team wins or not. At the moment, the people in the 3rd group are the problem.

[jswineberiaskirk]

My hate for Houston Nutt is so real and perfect that re-watching items in the thread only bellow the fires of Vitriol and disdain I have for him as a human being and certainly as a coach of my beloved Razorbacks.

Nutt is a liar, a coward, a narcissist and such a back-stabbing loser he cannot get a coaching job in his mid to late 50's because all programs know he is poison to both their programs and to the player's souls.

If you have children that begin to show any traits parallel to HDNs personality please begin shock therapy treatments and hire a priest for an exorcism.  HDN is the debil

Agree 1000%. Give me BP a million times over that useless waste of flesh.