Houston Nutt, a funny man

[Jamos]

It's strange how you can dislike someone until you meet them and you find out that maybe they aren't so bad after all.

Tonight Houston Nutt, ex football coach, was the guest speaker at our Red Elephant Club (REC) meeting and I must say, he had everyone laughing. The introduction got everything off to a good start as Kirk McNair had dug up every bit of information that he could find on Nutt from his high school days to his present job as a sports analyst for CBS.

He was introduced to the sports world by his father Houston Nutt SR who himself was a very good athlete. His father graduated from Fordyce High School in 1951 and then attended the University of Kentucky on a basketball scholarship playing for Adolph Rupp.  He transferred to Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State) where he played for Henry Iba.  Upon graduation from Oklahoma A&M in 1956, he began a 31 year coaching and teaching career at the Arkansas School for the Deaf. At the school of deaf is where his father taught him about all about sports.

Nutt was actually recruited by Bear Bryant and had a wonderful story about it. He detailed every moment of how his recruitment and how overwhelmed he was when Bear came to his home for a visit. The one part of the story that stood out was how much Bear enjoyed the meal that his mother had prepared and before leaving, Bear wanted the recipe for the peach cobbler that she had prepared.

He had many stories about some of his players that we all are very famillier with McFadden being one of the most talked about. He was also asked which game stood out the most that his team had lost and the one that they had won. The Tennessee game, where a fumble at the end beat them, was the game that hurt the most but the game that stood out the most that they won, was anytime that they could beat Bama which wasn't very often.

There were many stories about the rigors of being a coach and how he so admired Nick Saban for his work ethics and how he coaches his players for the game itself but most of all for their life after football.

He was asked about the ineligible receiver rule that everyone is complaining about these days and he explained that he is an offense minded coach but the rule, the way it is being enforced now, is totally wrong. He said the same as so many coaches have said, it's impossible to defense the play the way the officials are ruling on it. Naturally that brought a big round of applause.

After the meeting I had a chance to meet him and chat with him for a few minutes and I couldn't help but think about all of the nasty things that I had said and thought about him in the past when he was coaching against Bama. He seemed to be a very nice guy and no doubt he is but when you're coaching against Bama, there's not many good things that can be thought or said about you. RTR!!!

[SUPERCOACH]

Good stuff J.

[N.AL-Tider]

That sounded like a really special meeting of the REC.  Good to hear things about a person that many of us have not had good things to say or think about over the years.  Thanks for sharing that with us Jamos...

[Old Tider]

Nutt was actually recruited by Bear Bryant and had a wonderful story about it. He detailed every moment of how his recruitment and how overwhelmed he was when Bear came to his home for a visit. The one part of the story that stood out was how much Bear enjoyed the meal that his mother had prepared and before leaving, Bear wanted the recipe for the peach cobbler that she had prepared.

 

Ah yes.  I couldn't guess how many players Bear recruited through their mothers.  Remember his telephone commercial urging people to call their mothers, ending with "I wish I could still call my mama."  Something like that.

[2Stater]

Great stuff, J! I figured he would be very entertaining.

[Chechem]

Thanks for the excellent writeup, Jamos.  

I met with Houston Nutt at Ole Miss soon after he was hired as HC.  At the time I served on the Academic Subcommittee of the OM Athletic Committee.  I asked him direct questions, and he was very honest in his responses.  Everything he said turned out to be true, and I respect him for his honesty.

Glad to see you had a positive impression of him too, J.  Houston Nutt has had a tough time coaching, but remains a colorful personality.

BTW, I never knew about Coach Bryant recruiting him.  Thanks.  

[pmull]

I always liked Nutt. At Arkansas he was always won a big game or two each year and one of those wins was normally Auburn. He coached with emotion and played to win. I respected that.

[Hannibal Lecter, MD]

Awesome story, Jamos.

Sometimes we seem to forget some of the sports figures, especially our rivals, are just people like us.  Never are they perfect, but generally they aren't bad people.

[Chechem]

Awesome story, Jamos.

Sometimes we seem to forget some of the sports figures, especially our rivals, are just people like us.  Never are they perfect, but generally they aren't bad people.

The Houston Nutt I met certainly wasn't a bad person.
But the one who was in Arkansas may have been different!   

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