Quagmire on the Hill
Mr. College Football, a.k.a. Tony Barnhart of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, says Arkansas coach Houston Nutt is in a bad situation. Here’s the blurb he wrote:
Houston, you have a problem: It’s one thing to lose to Alabama at the buzzer on the road. It’s another thing to lose to Kentucky at home and not be able to slow the Wildcats down.
You know the political climate in Arkansas since the Mitch Mustain saga. I was in Little Rock a week ago and a bunch of people I talked to weren’t happy then. They must be quite ill to be 0-2 in the league. Houston Nutt is a good football coach in a bad situation. On a side note: Running back Darren McFadden is the best offensive player in the country but his Heisman hopes have taken a big hit.
Nutt didn’t look too happy to recap the game on his weekly television show . Only Razorbacks fans who embrace schadenfreude would have enjoyed watching him explain what happened in the final quarter. And maybe Kentucky fans, as well.
Houston has got to go. I tried to hold out hope for him up till the Kentucky game, but he is just not getting it done. The off-season debacles have obviously taken their toll on him and the team. The respectable thing for him to do would be to step down immediately, Chancellor White name his interim successor as Coach Herring, and at least give this team a chance to rebound, win out, and give the greatest football player in the country right now a chance to win the Heisman.
Ross J.,
I’m no fan of Nutt. But, your solution with Herring as interim coach would be like going from the frying pan to the fire. How can a Defensive Coordinator, who’s squad has given up an average of 36 points per game and who has a two-dimensional scheme (4-3 zone and blitz, that’s it) be the answer to the team’s woes?
UA87,
Notice I said “Interim”…I don’t know if Herring would be the best candidate or not for the long term…but I like his style…no nonsense, tough, and decisive. He also knows the current system and could take it over and possibly improve it enough to win out…all I know is we need a MAN for a head coach, we need someone familiar with the players…not someone from the outside in the middle of the season. We can choose the real successor at the end of the season.