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Nutt says he has his ‘dream job’ Published: Monday, November 26, 2007 PRINT E-MAIL FAYETTEVILLE — Still jubilant two days after Arkansas ’ 50-48 triple-overtime upset of No. 1-ranked LSU, Houston Nutt called his position “my dream job” during his season-wrap press conference on Sunday at the Broyles Athletic Center. Nutt was bouncing with energy during his lengthy opening statement, and he was optimistic, and sometimes reflective, in a 35-minute question-and-answer session with reporters. “This has been the dream job that I’ve always wanted,” Nutt said. “I never will forget the night, coming from Boise, Idaho, when I got the call from Coach [Frank ] Broyles. “ Sometimes it seems like yesterday. If you look around that table in the SEC, there’s been 26 changes [of head coaches ], now 27, and it’s a very tough, a very difficult job profession right now in college football.”
With 10 years at the Arkansas helm, Nutt has the second-longest tenure in the SEC behind Tennessee’s Phillip Fulmer, and the biggest question in the state is whether that tenure will stretch into another season. Nutt made a lot of Hogs fans happy with Friday’s shocker over the Tigers in Baton Rouge, a signature victory he was still calling the biggest of his career. The Razorbacks are 8-4 and in decent shape to receive an invitation from one of the SEC’s upper-tier bowls, possibly the hoped-for Cotton Bowl. Nutt said he has had phone conversations with UA Chancellor John White and athletic director Broyles in recent days. “Right now, I’m excited,” Nutt said. “Chancellor White and Coach Broyles, they want me here. They want me to stay, and that’s a good feeling.” Broyles wraps up his tenure as AD on Dec. 31, and the legendary coach and administrator will be replaced by Jeff Long. Nutt said he expects to meet with Long this week. “We’ll probably have some more formal discussions,” Nutt said. “There’s always evaluations, as y’all know, always evaluations. You know I have to evaluate for my staff, myself, after the last regular-season game, and they have to do the same, on the Hill and the athletic director. They do the same. Let’s see.” Efforts to speak to Long on Sunday were unsuccessful. Discussions about whether Nutt should stay or go have been on the tongues of Arkansans and fodder for sports talk radio and Internet message boards for much of the season, particularly after the Razorbacks’ 0-3 start in SEC play. “They easily could have gone south,” Nutt said. “But the one trademark that we have is we keep fighting. We keep playing and we stay together for each other.” At times, Nutt sounded like a man rationalizing why he should stay on at Arkansas. “You look, we have some national championship coaches in this league, guys that won national titles and held up the crystal ball, but guys, they only won six this year,” he said. “Two [Alabama’s Nick Saban and South Carolina’s Steve Spurrier ] who only won six. It’s a difficult league. It’s hard to get to Atlanta, Ga., each and every year. That’s not to say we are not trying to.” Nutt was asked if he had any interest in the various head coaching jobs that have come open in recent days, such as Baylor, Ole Miss, Texas A&M and Nebraska. “There’s seven or eight jobs. There’s going to be more,” Nutt said. “I haven’t thought about things like that right now. You know, again, we’ve got 19 solid commitments after all this that are still hanging there very, very strong, and I’m proud of that. And all I’m doing right now is just touching base with those guys. “ The thing I’m not good at is, ‘OK, I’m going to go call this person or call that person.’ I’ve never been that kind of guy. I’ve always been, I’m going to go take care of the job that I had. If you’re doing a good enough job they’ll call you. “ That’s why I feel very fortunate to be able to be here 10 years, because that’s a long time.” Nutt was also asked what he would like to see happen in the coming days. “Oh, you always just want to be supported,” he said. “You want to be... I’ve always been a pleaser. I’ve always wanted to please. I’ve always wanted to try to do the right thing. “ I never one time ever grabbed a player or cursed a player. I’ve never done that. I’ve always tried to be a team player.... You want them to know you’re a team player and you’re willing to do whatever it takes to see things, you want things to go very smooth. You want to have one of the top programs in the country. You’re in the SEC and I’m proud of the eight wins and going hopefully to a good bowl, maybe a major bowl, maybe a Jan. 1 bowl. There’s a lot of good, good things when you look close, but we’ll have to see what is best. This week we’ll see.” Yesterday's Most Popular 1. HOG FUTURES JERRY MITCHELL : Hurricane brings Mitchell to Hogs 2. THE RECRUITING GUY : Purifoy's size fits into UA's plans 3. Iowa prep standout Kelly joins UA track 4. Former Diamond Hog Richards inks contract with Marlins Today's Most E-mailed |
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