SEC Media Days: Nutt familiar with Petrino

HOOVER, Ala. — Ole Miss head coach Houston Nutt says he has tremendous respect for Bobby Petrino, but that he’s not looking ahead to the Rebels’ road trip to Fayetteville on Oct. 25.

Memphis, the first game of the season for Ole Miss, is what Nutt, who coached Arkansas for 10 years, is looking forward to. But Arkansas is still on his mind, Nutt admitted.

“You can’t help but think about it,” Nutt said. “You grew up in Arkansas and you thought at one time you’d be there for life. We had some great days and great times, so you can’t help but think what it’s going to be like coming from the visitor’s side.”

Nutt, who once saw himself as a lifer and future athletic director at the UA, said the days of coaches staying at one school for life like that of Florida State’s Bobby Bowden and Penn State’s Joe Paterno are over because of added pressure, salaries and the anonymity of Internet message boards and blogs.

“Sometimes things are written that really puts a lot of pressure on the athletic director,” said Nutt, who may have been alluding to the retirement of Frank Broyles from the UA last year. “It makes it very, very tough for a coach and I think it won’t go the other way. I think that part of it is here to stay.”

As for his successor at Arkansas, Nutt is familiar with Petrino. During his days at Boise State, Nutt faced off against Petrino when he was an offensive coordinator for Utah State.

“I don’t know Bobby that well but I’ve seen his work before,” Nutt said. “I know he did a great job at Louisville. I was real impressed with his run there. … There’s a respect there that you know he’s done an excellent job.”

Ninety-two days from now, the two will get to know each other a lot more.

“Oct. 25 is a long ways away,” Nutt said. “We have a lot of work and a lot of games before we get to the game.”

– Brandon Marcello

Filed under: SEC Football, Arkansas Football by Brandon Marcello. Posted on: July 24, 2008 at 10:02 am