Watching the news Sunday night and hearing Houston Nutt talk about his dream job at Arkansas, only one thought came to mind.

He looked like he had aged 10 years in the past three weeks.

The stress has obviously been intense.

Not so much on the field, but off it.

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For almost a year Nutt — and to a degree his wife, Diana — has been scrutinized by fans statewide.

He was such a polarizing figure that the fan base fractured, and Monday night he said that was the primary reason he was resigning, so the state and program could be unified again.

He said that several times Monday night. Chancellor John White emphasized that Nutt’s decision was made in the best interest of the Nutt family, and Director of Athletics Frank Broyles lavished praise on Nutt for the job he did.

It was the perfect time for Nutt to make the move — and he will end up coaching again, maybe against the Hogs — because the Razorbacks finished 8-4 and his stock as a coach was not going to go up in the next two years. The cupboard isn’t bare, but it’s close.

Of the 22 starters last Friday, 11 are seniors, and juniors Darren McFadden and Felix Jones are probably NFL first-rounders next spring.

The situation was so similar to Nolan Richardson’s in 2000 it was almost scary.

The board of trustees was ready to terminate Richardson, but he ran the table in the SEC Tournament. By the time he asked for his money two years later and was fired, the program was almost void of SEC-caliber talent.

Stan Heath initially suffered through two losing seasons, each time going 4-12 in SEC play, and had his only winning conference record (10-6 ) in his fourth season.

The Razorbacks football team beat No. 1 LSU last Friday in three overtimes and Nutt, according to White during Monday night’s news conference, actually was offered an extension and a raise to stay on the strength of that game.

Instead he will receive approximately $ 3. 5 million, or close to what he would have if he had been terminated, and he can still coach and draw a full salary somewhere else.

If it is confusing that on the heels of his greatest victory, at his dream job, and with a very generous payoff he would resign, do understand this is the culmination of a very rocky year.

There is no sense in going back through everything in detail that has transpired since last December, but that was the beginning of the end.

Nutt was involved in almost every controversy, but you have to give him credit. He held the team together despite stumbling out of the blocks in SEC play and finished strong.

In the aftermath of that great victory last Friday, Nutt called out a local television reporter and those on ESPN for having reported that he would resign when the season was over.

Which he did in that finely tuned news conference Monday night.

One can only wonder if some members of the board of trustees watched the LSU game and wondered why a team that could beat LSU on the road could not have done the same thing at home against Kentucky and Auburn.

By NCAA bylaws, the board can make recommendations but not take direct action against or for coaches, but they can be as proactive about chancellors and presidents as they choose.

It had become obvious to most of the board — and we now know it was to the UA administration, too — that a large part of the Razorbacks nation felt there were irreconcilable differences.

So in making the decision that was best for his family, Nutt also made the right decision for the long term of the UA football program by removing himself.

Nutt will reinvent his career within days.

What the UA has to do is recreate the unity of the program, so Jeff Long’s first hire might be his most important.

Hopefully someone has impressed upon him the importance of Razorbacks pride and passion so the healing can begin.