This is a story of two coaches. One had a high school daughter who kept getting asked a year ago if that was a Mayflower van in front of her home. Now that coach could be elected governor of his state. The other coach could have been elected governor of his state a year ago. Now his fans want to park a Mayflower van in front of his home.
It’s about a conference whose fans don’t consider football a game or an avenue for a kid to get an education. It’s a lifestyle, an addiction, an obsession passed down through generations.
Arkansas’ Houston Nutt and Alabama’s Mike Shula knew what life was like in the Southeastern Conference when they signed up for these gigs. But few other conferences in college football have found the penthouse and outhouse so close that they’re practically rubbing doorknobs.
Nutt entered this season on the endangered list after slumping in his eighth year to 4-7. Then he opened this year by losing to Southern California 50-14, and winning ugly over uglier Utah State 20-0. His children were nervous going to the grocery store.
“It was tough, especially on my family,” Nutt said Tuesday from his office in Fayetteville, Ark. “I never experienced that before. I know it’s part of it. I’ve got thicker skin and all that. I’m in it for those 18-, 19- and 20-year-olds.”
Today, Arkansas is 10-1, has won 10 straight to win the SEC West, is ranked fifth and will play Florida on Dec. 2 in Atlanta for the Razorbacks’ first SEC championship. Suddenly, it’s cool to be a Nutt.
A couple of things happened. First, behind that 4-7 record, five of those losses were to ranked teams and three of the SEC losses were by a combined nine points. The Hogs discovered a quarterback in freshman Casey Dick in back-to-back wins over Mississippi and Mississippi State and 18 starters returned.
Second, Darren McFadden turned into a Heisman Trophy darkhorse. A quiet 1,000-yard rusher a year ago, he entered camp hurt and played hurt in the USC debacle. But he’s averaging 118.5 yards a game and, combined with underrated interior lines, they manhandled Auburn on the road, 27-10, to get on the map.
Putting it together was another sore subject for Razorback fans. Nutt hired a new offensive coordinator in Gus Malzahn from Springdale (Ark.) High, coincidentally, the same high school that had the, um, nation’s top-rated quarterback, Mitch Mustain. Yes, he signed with Arkansas and played well in eight starts, but Dick has taken over and Malzahn has become the star.
“The thing that people flipped out on was, ‘How in the world could you hire a high school coach?”‘ said Nutt, whose Hogs host No. 9 Louisiana State today. “It wasn’t like he was a 23-year-old, wet-behind-the-ear guy. He’s 40 years old plus. One thing he knew from me was we’re not going to throw away our playbook. ‘What we want you to do is bring in some ideas in the passing game.”‘
Besides Dick, McFadden and Malzahn, the man who came to Nutt’s rescue was Frank Broyles. The same athletic director who cut loose basketball coach Nolan Richardson early stood by Nutt when things got tough.
Let’s see if Alabama AD Mal Moore is that strong. Shula has been considered Alabama’s favorite son ever since he quarterbacked there from 1984-86. He strengthened that favorite tag a year ago when Alabama shot off to an 8-0 start.
But the same line that allowed 11 sacks in last year’s loss at Auburn was awful this year, deeming talented tailback Kenneth Darby ineffective. Five players gone to the NFL left the team leaderless, and special teams were pitiful. It hit rock bottom Nov. 4 when it lost at home, 24-16, to Mississippi State and Sylvester Croom, an Alabama alum who lost the Alabama job in favor of Shula three years ago.
Shula’s third straight loss to Auburn on Saturday, giving Alabama five straight in the bitter Iron Bowl, left Alabama 6-6 and may not get one of the SEC’s eight bowl slots.
“Right now we aren’t getting it done,” senior fullback Tim Castille told reporters after the Auburn game. “If you aren’t going forward, you’re going backward.”
Crimson Tide fans want crimson blood. Last week, The Birmingham News polled fans asking if Shula should be replaced if he lost to Auburn. Seventy percent said yes. Alabama lost at home 22-15.
Administrators are reviewing the program and president Robert Witt and Moore have issued the standard statements of support. Meanwhile, the News reported Wednesday that a person representing Alabama has contacted Jimmy Sexton, the agent for Nick Saban, the second-year Miami Dolphins coach who led LSU to the 2003 BCS national title. An offer is reportedly on the table, although Sexton denies being contacted.
It would cost the university $4 million to fire Shula, 26-23 in four years. He shouldn’t feel too bad. It’s the SEC. Down there they say the only booster groups that don’t hate their coach are Arkansas, Vanderbilt and South Carolina.
Florida? Urban Meyer is two wins and a USC loss from the BCS title game. Nope. The old guard say he’s not Steve Spurrier. He coaches South Carolina. So enjoy your time in Atlanta, Coach Nutt. Enjoy it while it lasts.
How about Chow, Neuheisel?
Not that Bobby Bowden would ask for my advice, but if he wanted to put immediate electricity into Florida State’s moribund offense, do what I’d do. If the Tennessee Titans fire coach Jeff Fisher and his staff, go hard after offensive coordinator Norm Chow. He only turned Brigham Young into one of the nation’s greatest offensive juggernauts, made North Carolina State’s Philip Rivers into a first-round draft choice and developed USC’s Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart into Heisman winners.
And if Chow isn’t available? I’m hearing Baltimore Ravens quarterbacks coach Rick Neuheisel would like to return to the college game. OK, he couldn’t recruit down linemen or develop a running attack at Colorado or Washington. Make him FSU’s passing game coordinator. Drew Weatherford would show more improvement in one month under Neuheisel than he showed in his two years under Bobby’s resigned son, Jeff.
Footnotes
You don’t want a Michigan-Ohio State rematch? How about a Michigan-Notre Dame rematch? It could happen in the Rose Bowl if USC goes to the BCS title game … Hey, Spurrier. How do those South Carolina golf courses compare to South Florida’s?
John Henderson can be reached at 303-954-1299 or jhenderson@denverpost.com.
