Houston Nutt vs. David Cutcliffe

BigDeal · Sun Oct 05, 2008 6:24 pm

Coach Nutt will turn this program around. You can take that to the bank. A play here and play there, and Ole Miss would be undefeated right now.

I thank you.

boxley4 · Sun Oct 05, 2008 6:27 pm

BigDeal wrote:Coach Nutt will turn this program around. You can take that to the bank. A play here and play there, and Ole Miss would be undefeated right now.

I thank you.

You're right! He's the best coach in the sec baby. Sec championship in at least 3 years!

RebelConvert · Sun Oct 05, 2008 6:53 pm

I don't have a problem hiring/firing coaches if the job's not getting done. I just don't want to become like Bama with expectations too high and hiring/firing like it's going out of style.

bleuwolfe · Sun Oct 05, 2008 8:25 pm

RebelConvert wrote:I don't have a problem hiring/firing coaches if the job's not getting done. I just don't want to become like Bama with expectations too high and hiring/firing like it's going out of style.

Expectations? OM expects to lose, which a large part of the problem.

ekmjr1 · Sun Oct 05, 2008 8:52 pm

I think Nutt is a good coach and with time, he'll turn us around. People are expecting too much in only his first year. I've said all along that we would be doing well to win 6 games this year and that still stands. I don't think a lot of people understand how much damage was done to our program over the past 3 years.

For us to beat Florida... that alone was a milestone. As somone else already stated, we could just as easily be undefeated if only a few plays had turned out differently. All in all, I'm upset that we lost those games, but overall, I think we are moving along and Nutt is the reason for that.

Give the man some time and things will get better I believe. In the interim, let's just keep supporting the team and dealing with the issues as best we can. I deliberately waited until today to read and post, because I was so let down after the loss Saturday. I'm past it now and hoping the better team will show up against Bama in a couple of weeks.

Hawgwilde · Sun Oct 05, 2008 9:11 pm

Ol' Nuttjob will have the Rebs winning games they weren't expected to and lose games that you were expected to win. After O's season, the Right Reverend Nutt was just what you guys needed. Just don't hang on too long or you'll end up at the bottom like Arkansas is right now.

bleuwolfe · Sun Oct 05, 2008 9:53 pm

Hawgwilde wrote:Ol' Nuttjob will have the Rebs winning games they weren't expected to and lose games that you were expected to win. .

Sorry, but we turned this hat trick into an art form a looonnnngggg time ago, so nope can't give the credit to our new coach. However, even though he wasn't in my top 5, I do think he is the right coach for this team at this time. Losing is a hard habit to break, even when you know you can win.

Heath · Sun Oct 05, 2008 10:09 pm

Well, guys, I am going to be honest. I want Ole Miss to be National Champs as much as anyone. However, Ole Miss, nor State for that matter, will be great for a number of years due to the education system in the State of Mississippi High Schools. Most of the great D1 athletes that are being produced are not able to pass to even smell the turf on a D1 field. And where does a college get most of its players? FROM THE SAME STATE THAT THE SCHOOL IS IN!!!! True, we will get some boys from other states, but Bama, Auburn, LSU, etc. will also take boys from MS.

I'm not saying that the State of MS needs to produce lots of Rhodes' Scholars, or boys that have the ability to go to Harvard, but it does need to produce boys that can actually pass to get into college!

So, until the education standard raises in the State of MS, I am happy with 6-7 wins per year and a bowl game. The reason for this contentment is because I know that Nutt, Croom, and the guy at USM (forgot his name) will not have a whole lot to work with and will have to go to other states (ex. Snead from Texas) to get boys that can pass to play.

Nutt did a good job with what he had in Arky. Notice he never had a top 10 year in regards to recruiting. I heard somewhere that the state of Ark. produces fewer D1 athletes than any other state in the South. If that is the case, Nutt is a pretty darn good coach because Ark. was in the running for the SEC West title more times than Ole Miss or State.

So, although OM is struggling at the moment, give the man some time! He can't change the whole education system of the state of Mississippi in less than a year!!!

NorCalHog · Mon Oct 06, 2008 2:14 am

RebelConvert wrote:I just don't want to become like Bama with expectations too high and hiring/firing like it's going out of style.

Yeah. I agree. Who would want to be undefeated and ranked number 2 in the country? Gosh, how bad would that suck?

Alabama obviously got it all wrong.

NaturalStateReb · Mon Oct 06, 2008 8:32 am

Luke Duke wrote:Not saying its a good thing or a bad thing. Up to the reader to compare. But Cut is bashed all the time, and Nutt is treated like the second coming. Here is a comparison of their career records as SEC coaches(to date):

David Cutcliffe

6 seasons at Ole Miss
Overall: 44-29 .603%
Conference: 25-23 .521%
Bowl record: 4-1
10 win seasons: 1

Houston Nutt

10+ seasons at Arkansas and Ole Miss
Overall: 78-51 .604%
Conference: 43-40 .518%
Bowl record: 2-5
10 win seasons: 1

What's the difference? Sure Cut's best season was because he had Eli, but Nutt's was because he had DMac. Both left teams completely absent of talent. And Cut's bowl record is probably better due to playing in worse bowls. But for the most part, they are the exact same coach. If after six years Nutt has pretty much the same results that Cutcliffe had, will people be happy or ready to run him off? Because history says he will.

What would the Cutcliffe years have been like without Eli? I think we got a taste of that after he left. I think Cutcliffe is one of the best OC's in the game, but I don't think his teams at Ole Miss would have been very good without the help of a "legacy" player whose brother he had previously recruited and coached.

oxfordrebel · Mon Oct 06, 2008 8:42 am

bleuwolfe wrote:
Hawgwilde wrote:Ol' Nuttjob will have the Rebs winning games they weren't expected to and lose games that you were expected to win. .
Sorry, but we turned this hat trick into an art form a looonnnngggg time ago, so nope can't give the credit to our new coach. However, even though he wasn't in my top 5, I do think he is the right coach for this team at this time. Losing is a hard habit to break, even when you know you can win.

Agree on every point, bleu!

------------------ · Mon Oct 06, 2008 9:03 am

NorCalHog wrote:
RebelConvert wrote:I just don't want to become like Bama with expectations too high and hiring/firing like it's going out of style.
Yeah. I agree. Who would want to be undefeated and ranked number 2 in the country? Gosh, how bad would that suck?

Alabama obviously got it all wrong.

And it took them how many years, how many head coaches, and how many NCAA probations to get it right?

done · Mon Oct 06, 2008 12:26 pm

I am happy we hired Nutt...and I think that when it all shakes out at the end of the season, we will have at least 6 wins....and a bowl game.

If that is the case, after what we have had the last four years, anybody who is unhappy with the hiring will be living in another dimension of reality...

RebelConvert · Mon Oct 06, 2008 2:05 pm

NorCalHog wrote:
RebelConvert wrote:I just don't want to become like Bama with expectations too high and hiring/firing like it's going out of style.
Yeah. I agree. Who would want to be undefeated and ranked number 2 in the country? Gosh, how bad would that suck?

Alabama obviously got it all wrong.

They just hire and fire every other year so that it gets to where coaches are afraid to go there - they know they have to win them all or walk the plank. You can't KEEP a coach when you get like that. Having a good, solid coach is an investment. Besides, Bama fans are waiting for their Bear reincarnate... they just ain't gonna find him, I believe. Everyone else in the meantime is subject to the hatchet. That's not cool.

Cajun_L · Mon Oct 06, 2008 8:09 pm

Some things that aren't talked about in Nutt's tenure at Arkansas, he suffered NCAA sanctions that cost him 23 recruits over a 5 year period because of rules broken before he arrived.
In his 3rd year many fans had already turned on him because of poor recruiting classes but recruits were not coming because of the NCAA investigation and the rumors of a possible death penalty. To make things even worse the media followed the fans lead and turned on him too.
He really had a tough road here but I think he did a great job dealing with it all and he never used the NCAA deal as an excuse.

Frank Broyles is a legend in Arkansas and many of his assistants went on to be great coaches (Joe Gibbs, Hayden Fry, Johnny Majors, Barry Switzer, Jackie Sherrill, Jimmie Johnson, and Barry Switzer are just some) Frank Broyles said on more than one occasion that he believed Houston Nutt was the best to ever coach at Arkansas.
He does things the right way and his players graduation rates are phenomenal.

If the fans and media in Oxford give him a chance and stay behind him I believe you guys will be rewarded.