pretty good post RE: Houston Nutt

[TUSK.sixpack]

I jacked this from Tiggerdroppings:<div>
</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 11px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; "><font class="SubjectDisplay" style="color: black; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; ">re: Why is Nutt a QB "Killer"</font></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 11px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; "><font class="PostInfo" style="color: black; font-size: 10px; text-decoration: none; "> (Posted on 10/12/09 at 9:30 p.m. toFootballHog)
</font></span>_________________________________________________<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 11px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; "><font class="PostDisplay" style="color: black; font-size: 13px; font-family: Arial; line-height: 17px; ">Aside from the game philosophy, I really don't think Nutt focuses on helping the QB improve.I don't think he knows how.

A lot of people here speculated that it was because Nutt had some kind of weird ego thing going on about having been a flat-footed whiteboy QB from Central High and not actually being very good, but having been told he was greatness by his father.I don't know. I do think the guy has narcissistic personality disorder.

Perhaps we all read way too much into why Houston Nutt does what he does.I really don't think the guy is all that intelligent. He sure is a lobbyist and politician, though. Maybe he missed his true calling. But, he is also making 2.5 million per year, so I guess he's Peter Principled out this whole coaching gig.

I have a suggestion for you if you want to see the comparison Arkansas fans are making. Go on your TV guide and see if you can find the Bobby Petrino Show on FSN or whatever. DVR it. Watch it. Then compare it to the Houston Nutt show.Petrino uses his segments to breakdown individual plays with an on screen marker, and explain why a play works. Its pretty awesome.Compare that to the "emotions first", heart-string tugging that HDN resorts to. Just compare and see how big the difference is there.

I believe people rely on emotion and appeals to the "heart" when they reach the limit of their ability to understand, reason, and think. The fact that Nutt's first move is towards cheerleading shows you how limited his intelligence is when it comes to football. His genius lies in stroking egos and inspiring emotions. That shite flies for a season, then it fails. I saw it happen here in 1998, and I am not the least bit surprised in how Ole Miss' season has gone so far in the second year of the Nutt era.</font></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 11px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; "><font class="PostDisplay" style="color: black; font-size: 13px; font-family: Arial; line-height: 17px; ">
</font></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 11px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; "><font class="PostDisplay" style="color: black; font-size: 13px; font-family: Arial; line-height: 17px; ">http://www.tigerdroppings.com/rant/display.aspx?p=15732628&pg=2</font></span></div>

 

[RebelBruiser]

There are more ways than one to be a good coach.

If you're going to be the emotional leader, you need to be able to surround yourself with people who have great technical skills. That's what Bobby Bowden typically did in his heyday, even though his strength was the living room of a recruit, the chicken dinner circuit, or the locker room in front of his team.

That's the part Nutt needs to work on, understanding his limitations. He thinks he's a better offensive mind than he is. The funny thing is though that his offenses over the years usually do put up decent to good numbers, even though I don't feel that he's much of a tactician at all. Still, he'd be better off hiring good people at his assistant positions and letting them handle the operational side of things while he handles the glad-handing and the motivational side of things.

His failings have come when he's done a poor job hiring assistants typically. It's the same problem Croom had at MSU. He could've been fine if he would've been able to spot coaching talent, hire it, and delegate to it. Of course Nutt is WAY better at creating offense than Croom could ever dream to be, but you can see a good example in MSU's 2007 season, where Croom had hired Ellis Johnson, and Johnson made that MSU team into a team that went bowling.

Nick Saban, on the other hand, is the type that can micromanage, because he's a technical mind. He's good in the living room too, but he leads by basically being a jerk and demanding certain things from his team/coaches. He doesn't need to rely on great assistant coaching hires, though he does do a good job at that as well.

 

[TUSK.sixpack]

I think that as time has progressed, it seems the "micromanager/techie" coach has increased their advantage over the "cheerleader".... a hybrid is probably best...<div>
</div><div>good post.</div>

 

[EAVdog]

Croom was good in many respects when it came time to giving speeches on the rubber chicken circuit but was a micromanager as a coach. Which is probably why he isbest at being a position coach in the NFL. He can focus on the little things in a limited scope. Offensively he may understand the West Coast offense as well as he believes but he never showed the ability to teach it on a macro level. Saban and Meyer are micromanager detail guys but they can also see the big picture. That is why theyare/were so successful and paid so well. Those guys will burn out eventually if they don't have good assitants, or can't keep good assistants.

Nutt has always been a good motivator. I really don't know much about his managerial approach but him hiring backthe same old cast of characters tells me he either accepts that he needs more folks he canlean onor he wants a gagle of yes men. I'm not sure which it is. I think the season needs to play out before a verdict can be delivered. I believe thisyear is critical to his coaching future, if the team regresses at all on Offense or Defense he will bear a lot of the blame, and deservedly so. The one thing about Nutt though, he typically underperforms when expectations are high and overperforms when the heat is on. So maybe he survives or even better.

 

[codeDawg]

He is simply the classic underachiever. The pattern I have seen with Nutt is that he finds a brilliant strategy that pulls him ahead of the competition for a big game, but he gets complacent and does not adjust until he loses to a team he shouldn't have lost to. After that he tucks his tail and goes back to the drawing board and pulls something remarkable out of his *** again.

I completely agree with Bruiser about his inability to delegate to competent assistants. Nix should be gone, recruiting be damned. That is going to cost UM this year. If he could simply delegate not just the game planning, but real coaching and mentoring, things would go better.

I get my giggles with all the struggles the team is having this year, but the truth of the matter is UM will be better than last year because it looks like Nutt is putting in the work to bring the team together. I'm actually nervous about the Egg Bowl this year because we should maul them, but I know Nutt is going to obsess over that game all year. That game could be a turning point for his team the way it was for us almost three years ago.

There is enough young talent on the team that 2012 should be good a good year for UM. What they have to worry about is Nutt getting lazy again and letting things get out of hand with controversy, transfers, discipline problems, etc.

 

[GroveHard]

He would probably fall on his sword for the nucleus of the Murray State mafia, but he had no problem with the departures of Austin, Dameron, and Dickerson. I have a feeling that if and/or when Nix's defense gets shredded again this year, we will be looking for a defensive coordinator to hepp. Nutt will be the HC in 2012 barring a 3 wins or less season.

 

[EAVdog]

Nix really is expendable.

 

[rebelthustra]

for themselves. The statement that Nutt acts like a cheerleader so he must be dumb is not very convincing to me because it creates a false dichotomy. The author of the post has no idea what Nutt says or does in closed meeting and practices. He has no idea how Nutt watches film or gameplans. All the speculation is based on Nutt's persona in the media, which I consider unpolished and generally ineffective at furthering his goals as a coach. Nutt frequently uses inane emotionally tinged football cliches when he speaks in public, I've always taken this to be a combination of his undeniably emotional character and as a signal that he speaks a lot of ******** so he doesn't have to say anything substantive, which plenty of coaches do. Nutt just does this in his ownidiosyncraticway. The suggestion that we compare coaching shows so we can understand the real difference between Nutt and Petrino is idiotic and another example of poor deductive reasoning. Do you think Nutt and Petrino are creative directors of their own shows? Maybe Petrino's show has better content, which I'm sure it does, bc Arkansas has a better production staff, or Nutt hates doing his show and Petrino kind of likes it. Either way it doesn't tell us anything about their abilities as coaches and to say such is ridiculous.<div><div>
</div><div>Nutt has plenty of weaknesses as a coach. I agree with the other poster that the most egregious one seems to be that Nutt is inconsistent in the intensity with which he does his job, e.g. he is prone to laziness. 2010 is a prime example, instead of developing Stanley and the Oline, Nutt goes for the quick fix with Masoli: lazy. Nutt failed to manage fan expectations knowing good and damn well that the whole defense was weak except at DT (and one strong position group does not a defense make). Nutt also apparently took a hands off approach to offseason workout program last year, another sign of laziness. I think this kind of thing accounts for the up and down nature of his teams at Arkansas and now at OM. He has success and coasts some because he knows he can. When Nutt is coaching his *** off, he's a very good coach, not great, certainly not the best, but very good. The problem is, he doesn't coach his *** off all the time. That might make him calculating as hell, but it doesn't make him dumb. </div> </div>

 

[8dog]

1. That doesn't have all that much talent when he takes over and

2. Without Markuson.

 

[TUSK.sixpack]

so, either:<div>
</div><div>A) Nutt is a subpar coach (he is <500 type SEC coach), or</div><div>B) He doesn't try his best all the time...<div>
</div><div>I'm not sure which is worse.</div> </div>

 

[RebelBruiser]

I think that as time has progressed, it seems the "micromanager/techie" coach has increased their advantage over the "cheerleader".... a hybrid is probably best...<div>
</div><div>good post.</div>

Just a guess, but I think that's probably because coaches move so frequently these days that it's tough to continue to replace good assistants with more good assistants, because they are so often getting better jobs.

Tommy Tuberville, for a while there, had a good run of hiring good assistants at Auburn. He made one bad one (Franklin), or at least it being forced on him hurt him, and it ended his tenure there.

While Tubby was a decent technical coach, I don't think he's elite in that area. He needs good support.

Even the guys that are technically savvy usually need to hire someone strong for the other side of the ball. My favorite was hearing Chip Kelly interviewed postgame last year at one point. They asked him about the defensive changes made at halftime in that particular game, and he said he didn't know what they'd done. He doesn't even touch the defense. He's the OC/program manager, and he hires his DC and doesn't really have the time to devote any of his energy there. If he hires a crappy DC, his team will suffer some.

 

[rebelthustra]

I guess I think A is worse. I will take Nutt's inconsistent success over a Croom or Orgeron any day. Let's see next year he gets us back to being pretty competitive and we do a surprise Atl trip 3 years from now (not saying it will happen just a hypo), will the at times maddening inconsistency still be worth the money after the taste of success? Maybe not see Exhibit A: Arkansas. Greener pastures are relative, but they are always there.

 

[RonnyAtmosphere]

..exists for reaching this conclusion? Your gut feeling?

I get my giggles with all the struggles the team is having this year, but the truth of the matter is UM will be better than last year because it looks like Nutt is putting in the work to bring the team together.

OM has beendevastated by graduation, injuries & defections.

On top of that is they are breaking in a new QB who doesn't have the talent around him to offset his rookie mistakes.

They also play a tougher schedule this fall.

I have no idea whatempirical evidenceis leading you to this conclusion.

I have no desire to psychoanalyze Houston Nutt.

All I see is a coach whosePlan A was to ride Ed Orgeron'srecruits to glory then had no Plan B after that.