Hogs' faithful want Nutt to crack BCS
On Tour: Arkansas Razorbacks Expecting success

By Marlon W. Morgan
morgan@gomemphis.com
August 9, 2002

After four consecutive trips to bowl games, Arkansas coach Houston Nutt is starting to feel the pressure as he heads into his fifth season at the helm of the Razorbacks program.

It's not the kind of pressure that will cost you your job. It would be kind of hard to dismiss a coach who was the 2001 Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year and the man responsible for restoring the Hogs to national prominence.

No, Nutt has been feeling a different kind of pressure these days. All of the sudden, just going to a bowl game is no longer good enough for Razorback fans. That thirst has been quenched.

Now they want a sip of what schools like Florida State, Florida, Tennessee, Miami and Nebraska have had.

"My question from our Razorback clubs is, 'Are you going to take us to the next level?' " Nutt said. " 'Are you going to take us to the BCS? We want to go to the BCS.' I do, too. I just know it's a tough, tough deal out there."

When Nutt took over the Razorbacks in 1998, they had been to just two bowl games since 1990. Nutt said back then, the only question he got from boosters was, "Can you beat SMU?"

Now that he's taken them to the Citrus Bowl, two Cotton Bowls and the Las Vegas Bowl - becoming just the third coach in school history to take the Hogs to a bowl game in each of his first four seasons - the stakes have risen.

But Nutt doesn't let it get to him.

"Everything steps up," Nutt said. "I'm in the hot seat every day. But I don't want to live like that. I don't play like that. I've got a great chancellor in John White. I've got a great athletic director in Frank Broyles.

"I've got great faculty. I'm a head coach in the SEC. I'm going to do the best I can and I'm going to leave it all out on the field every single game. If that's not good enough, then coach Broyles will let me know. But I don't feel like I'm on the hot seat."

Each season, Nutt learns something more about coaching at the major college level. This past offseason, he learned how to deal with the turmoil of players getting into trouble with the law.

First, it was running back Cedric Cobbs being cited for marijuana possession, driving while intoxicated and speeding. Then, there was former Frayser High safety Ken Hamlin being picked up for his second driving under the influence offense.

Those issues, along with the regular chores of a college head coach, were enough to steer receiver George Wilson away from his thoughts of getting into coaching.

"In coach Nutt's position, I think it's extremely hard," Wilson said. "Especially with all of our off-the-field incidents, and trying to run all the football camps he's run all summer, still trying to recruit during the summer, and just being on the road, he's away from his family. He hasn't had much time to sit back and relax."

But to Nutt, it's not a strenuous situation. Nor is it taxing or onerous. Nutt couldn't think of anything he'd rather be doing more.

"I just love what I do and I love coaching," he said. "I love making a difference for 17, 18, 19 year olds."

He also loves the challenge of keeping the Hogs competitive in the SEC's Western Division. After a 1-3 start to the season in which the offense was horrendous, the Hogs rebounded to win six in a row before a regular season-ending loss at LSU, 41-38.

A 10-3 loss to Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl left Arkansas a 7-5. This year, with a stable of running backs, more depth at receiver and sophomore quarterback Matt Jones with a chance to win the job on a full-time basis this season, Arkansas looks to be a more wide open offensively.

If the Hogs are to contend with LSU for the Western Division title again, they must show improvement defensively. Defensive coordinator Dave Wommack, taking over for the departed John Thompson, who left for the same post at Florida, plans to use a more attacking style.

"The defense is phenomenal," nose guard Jermaine Brooks said. "We're young in areas, but wise. We have a great secondary, and the linemen we have are young, but wonderful."

But if things can come together for the Hogs, and they can find their way to a BCS game, it won't take boosters long before they come up with another question for Nutt:

"Are you going to win us a national championship?"