Arkansas' Nutt Discusses Difficult Offseason

HOOVER, Ala. (AP) _ Here's what Arkansas' Houston Nutt would have loved to spend his offseason hearing about: a division title, 10 wins and a Heisman Trophy finalist. <br/><br/>Nutt instead was

Wednesday, July 25th 2007, 5:08 pm

By: News On 6

HOOVER, Ala. (AP) _ Here's what Arkansas' Houston Nutt would have loved to spend his offseason hearing about: a division title, 10 wins and a Heisman Trophy finalist.

Nutt instead was more frequently asked about text messages, transfers and even, of all things, a popularity poll that is far more standard for a presidential candidate than a football coach.

``This was a really a totally different offseason, something I've never experienced before in 26 years of coaching,'' Nutt said Wednesday at Southeastern Conference media days. ``To have someone get too personal, to have so many things written starting in your home state ... Things that are starting to spread. And it kept going and going.''

And the questions keep coming. Nutt's offseason troubles were the primary topic during his session with reporters, topping last season's surprising run to the SEC Western Division title and tailback Darren McFadden's Heisman candidacy.

That irks Nutt and his players.

``People just try to point out the bad things,'' said McFadden, last year's Heisman runner-up. ``It's real frustrating. But it didn't bother us as a team because we knew what's going on inside our stadium.''

``It did not really make sense for people to take stabs at coach Nutt,'' linebacker Weston Dacus said. ``He went 10-4 and is probably one of the best coaches in the country. The players did not really understand it. We are a family and coach Nutt is the rock of that family.''

An Arkansas fan used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain records on Nutt's school-issued cell phone, which showed more than 1,000 text messages to a female television news anchor.

The married Nutt maintains there was nothing inappropriate about the communication, which included a text message just 19 minutes before the Capital One Bowl on Jan. 1.

Nutt is clearly still steaming from the fan's actions.

``You're hurting two parties that you know nothing about, and you're spreading gossip and you're spreading lies,'' he said. ``You don't know these people. You don't know what they're talking about.

``But you think because you see two people talking, you kind of assume there must be something going on.''

Plus, prized quarterback recruit Mitch Mustain and receiver Damian Williams transferred to Southern California and offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn left for Tulsa.

Then there was the poll. An Arkansas fan commissioned the survey asking 600 Razorback supporters if they were satisfied with Nutt, and 63 percent responded that they were.

Nutt, entering his 10th season with the Razorbacks, said all that off-the-field turmoil made him at least briefly consider the possibility of resigning.

``There was maybe a short period of time where I felt like that,'' he said. ``Then you go to your family and they say, 'No way.' You talk to your mom, you talk to your brother, you talk to your players.

``If they would have felt like some of the people felt, it would have been different. I've never had a poll done on me before. Even that showed in our favor.''

The Razorbacks went 10-4 last season after getting picked to finish fourth in the SEC West. But they lost their last three games and fell to eventual national champion Florida in the league championship game.

The end-of-season slide and the negative attention that Nutt received were hardly unrelated, according to South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier.

``I think the only time I had a little bad stuff is when we lost our last three games at Florida in what year was that '99,'' Spurrier said. ``I think his problems stem from losing his last three games. We're only as good as our last game.''

Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville said Nutt's experience is eye-opening even for coaches who are used to having their lives constantly scrutinized by media and fans.

``He's coming off a very good year in terms of winning games but not a very good year in terms of positive publicity,'' Tuberville said.

The worst news Nutt received was the health problems of his brother, Danny, who had to resign recently as running backs coach after a recurrence of bleeding from his brain stem. Danny Nutt had brain surgery before the 1998 season.

Houston Nutt said an MRI about two weeks ago showed no fresh bleeding. He does think the departure of his brother will be hard to overcome even with a loaded backfield that includes 1,000-yard rushers McFadden and Felix Jones.

``Because of his last name, I don't think he always got the credit he deserves,'' Nutt said. ``It was a real loss for us.''