Arkansas football practice will be kicking off on Thursday and it can’t get here soon enough.
Soon, there will be nothing but Arkansas football on the agenda.
But we certainly can’t ignore an interesting tidbit on Arkansas’ former coach – Houston Nutt – before current coach Bobby Petrino and the Razorbacks take the field.
Did anyone catch the latest column written by Stewart Mandel of SI.com?
If you didn’t, two things: First, you can read it by clicking this link. Second, prepare to say, “Wow.”
It’s safe to say Mandel unloads on Nutt for his decision to bring former Oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli to campus. Ole Miss had some serious problems at quarterback after Raymond Cotton decided to transfer late last month. Masoli had no place to go after being dismissed for a rash of problems at Oregon. So the two sides got together and the Rebels decided to bring him to campus for his final season of college football.
This is where we let Mandel take over:
“The definition of “dirty” seems to vary based on one’s affiliation, but surely we can all agree on at least one designation: A dirty coach is willing to eschew his integrity if doing so might pay off in a couple more W’s. He’s not so much a winner as a survivalist. He’s not even necessarily a rule-breaker because he creates his own loopholes.
Which is why Ole Miss’ Houston Nutt — more so than any of the aforementioned names — is a certifiably dirty coach.
Nutt’s controversial decision to add trouble-plagued Oregon exile Jeremiah Masoli to his roster on the eve of preseason camp is so transparently pathetic in its desperation you wonder how he can make it with a straight face. And yet we should hardly be surprised.”
Mandel’s piece continues by diving into Nutt’s handling of the Gus Malzahn-Mitch Mustain situation at Arkansas and the ugly scene that led to his departure. It also touched on Nutt’s signing of disgraced Florida defensive back Jamar Hornsby, which backfired when Hornsby was arrested just before signing day.
My guess is that Mandel now becomes a hero to many of the fine people in the state of Arkansas for his thoughts on Nutt.
OK — now back to preparing for Arkansas’ first practice on Thursday.
