Houston Nutt Quits!

[Neptune]

That's exactly what I'm talking about.  Nutt went 8-4 and knocked off LSU, because Nutt is a good coach.  Arkansas would have completely floundered this year with a conventional offense, they did not have the manpower for that.  Instead they had McFadden, and they built the offense around him.

Nutt knew he didn't have the guys to play a conventional offense, so he changed it up and ended at a respectable 8-4 in the most competitive conference in D-I.  I don't believe, at all, that Nutt would prefer a creative redesign of his offense every year.  If all things are good, the preference is always to have a offense that draws star recruits.  As opposed to redesigning the offense around what you manage to pick up.

Nutt did an excellent job with what he had this year.

No offense at all to McFadden, I like the guy.  He's excellent.

[Neptune]

I don't expect Nutt to excel at Ole Miss.  Recruiting will be tougher there, than at Arkansas, and Miss State is rising again.  But if he toughens them up, and gives them 2 or 3 more wins a season, they'll like him a lot down there.  

I'm waiting for the Arkansas announcement, cause I can almost guarantee we're going to hear that Arkansas has picked up a coach that opens it up.  Heck, might even be Gus from TU.  Exciting stuff, that's for sure.

[cannon_fodder]

quote:Originally posted by Neptune

 Heck, might even be Gus from TU.

Dear Arkansas,

No.  Not yours.

- TU
[]

[Conan71]

Well, that's an aspect that is pure conjecture for a couple of arm-chair critics like ourselves- quality of coach or quality of recruits?  It's nothing more than speculation on our part.  Does a new coach get better recruits because a 6-30 loser coach has finally left, or does he coach the kids at doing better?  

At any rate, I'm tired of batting this issue around.  

This has been an interesting season to follow for college football.  I usually don't start paying too much attention until conference play starts.  It seems there's been more parity this year in D-I than in many years.  It's been exciting to watch.  There's been some serious upsets and some new faces in the top 25, it's refreshing.  I think someone told me this is either a record year or ties a record for most different teams at the top spot of a leading poll for college football.  I like it.  I hate having a foregone conclusion mid-season about who is going to win the championship.

[Neptune]

Well, you mentioned Stoops.  I'm surprised, a little bit, that you did.  Stoops brought in tons of recruits, he had the right guys lined up, the very first year.  He unloaded the Jucos.  Sure Blake's guys participated, but there was no way to turn it around on those guys alone.  They were bad.

Bob Simmons down at OSU, sort of turned it around for a second before his failures were obvious to everyone.  Mostly on recruits he'd been eyeballing since his days in Colorado.  I think his only winning season was with Tony Lindsey, out of Colorado, at QB.

Gus brought Mitch Mustain to Arkansas, and when Gus left, Mitch left.

Coaches do bring their own guys.  You kind of have to question a little bit, what Nutt is taking with him, and what the new coach can bring in.

[Conan71]

quote:Originally posted by Neptune

Well, you mentioned Stoops.  I'm surprised, a little bit, that you did.  Stoops brought in tons of recruits, he had the right guys lined up, the very first year.  He unloaded the Jucos.  Sure Blake's guys participated, but there was no way to turn it around on those guys alone.  They were bad.

Bob Simmons down at OSU, sort of turned it around for a second before his failures were obvious to everyone.  Mostly on recruits he'd been eyeballing since his days in Colorado.  I think his only winning season was with Tony Lindsey, out of Colorado, at QB.

Gus brought Mitch Mustain to Arkansas, and when Gus left, Mitch left.

Coaches do bring their own guys.  You kind of have to question a little bit, what Nutt is taking with him, and what the new coach can bring in.

Interesting note on John Blake.  I think I read last year in the sports pages about what a master of recruiting he'd been at Nebraska, and that was sort of his god-given talent.  I wonder if he's still going to have a job under their new coach.

[Neptune]

Sounds like someone doesn't know Blake.  That guy couldn't recruit for girl scouts.  I'm not really sure what he ever did right, except maybe be an assistant for Switzer.

Blake's over at UNC now.

[Conan71]

I tend to agree with you, but maybe that's why neither of us is a college recruiter. []

I couldn't find the article I read, but here's the propaganda from U of N's web site:

http://www.huskers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=2&SPID=22&DB_OEM_ID=100&ATCLID=31346

"Many observers consider Blake to be the nation's top recruiter. In fact, the Wall Street Journal named Blake one of the nation's top three recruiters in a 2007 article and American Football Coaches Quarterly selected him as the nation's top recruiter."

And from UNC...

http://tarheelblue.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/blake_john00.html

[Neptune]

I think he's still living of the laurels of his Switzer days.  He might be worth something defensively, his defenses weren't terrible during his OU days.  Not sure what would make Blake "special" in any way.