BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Houston Nutt told the assembled scribes Thursday morning at SEC Football Media Days that new offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn will be given carte blanche to call plays.
“ I’m going to let Gus go, ” the Arkansas head coach said from the dais in the ballroom of the Wynfrey Hotel. “ I’m going to turn him loose. I don’t think you can mess with a play-caller and have a veto every play. I think you’re going to disrupt, you’re going to hurt.
“ Maybe after a series we’ll discuss or maybe it’s a timeout and you have a discussion between [quarterbacks coach ] Alex Wood, myself and Gus. But it will go down with Gus calling the plays. ”
Nutt said he will offer his input during the week of preparation leading up to games. He said the coaches’ meetings during that week are when most of the important play-calling decisions are made.
“ I tell you where it’s all going to start, ” Nutt said. “ Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, we’ll all be in that room together. When I called plays, the thing that we had was we had a good group of coaches in that room.
“ It just doesn’t happen on Sunday. There is feel, there is instinct, no question. But the preparation and the study is done Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, through the week.
“ And I won’t be shy if Gus needs my help or if there’s a time in the game where he says, ‘ Hey, what do you think here ? ’ That’s where we won’t be shy. ”
Nutt said there are two misconceptions about Arkansas’ offense. The first being that the Razorbacks will disavow the robust running game that has led the conference three out of the last four years. The second being that there is acrimony among the coaching staff.
“ I think there’s two misconceptions, ” Nutt said. “ One is that now it’s going to be five wideouts, empty and we’re going to throw it 60, 65 times a game. I think that’s one.
“ Two, is that there’s animosity amongst the staff. That’s the two things that’s really come out, if you look real closely, since the time they arrived. Whether it be just from boredom, rumor, whatever, it just seems like sometimes there are stories that take off, which nothing’s further from the truth. ”
Nutt said hiring Malzahn and Wood will help bring balance to Arkansas’ runheavy offense. Their collective expertise in the passing game is the tonic Arkansas’ offense needed, Nutt said.
“ What those two guys will bring, tremendous imagination, great detail in the passing game, ” Nutt said. “ The one thing we’ve been good at, we’ve been good at running the football. The last three out of four years, we’ve led the SEC in rushing. We’re constantly striving for balance. Hopefully those guys will bring balance to our offense. ”
Nutt said the fact that Malzahn coached incoming freshman quarterback Mitch Mustain — the Gatorade, USA Today and Parade Magazine National Player of the Year — should make Mustain’s transition from high school to college quarterback more seamless.
“ He probably will feel a little more comfortable in the passing game because he’s done some of those things at his high school, ” Nutt said. “ That’s going to be a natural carry-over. Jumping from Friday night to Saturday night, it’s an awful big step in this league, in the SEC. That’s going to be real interesting to see how all that plays out. ”
Nutt said after successive 5-6 and 4-7 seasons, Arkansas now has the personnel to post a winning record. While leading the Razorbacks to six straight bowl games during his first six years as coach, Nutt said he foresaw the struggles of 2004 and 2005.
Nutt attributed the two losing seasons to penalties stemming from NCAA violations perpetrated by an Arkansas booster in the 1990 s. The penalties limited Arkansas’ complement of scholarships and gave other schools fodder to disparage Arkansas in front of recruits.
“ We didn’t know what hit us, ” Nutt said. “ It hit us actually when we were at the 2000 Cotton Bowl. We didn’t think much about it then. But about two years later I told [athletic director Frank Broyles ] that it’s going to be very, very difficult because of the vicious recruiting, the competitiveness, people are going to use that. ”
Nutt said he told Broyles the penalties would prevent Arkansas from landing the “ same horses, the Kenny Hamlins, the Tony Buas, the Brandon Holmes, Decori Birminghams and Batman Carrolls.
“ I never mentioned it publicly or to my team, but I told [Broyles ] that it was going to be a very tough two seasons. ”
Arkansas has served its penance and many in the know are picking them to be a darkhorse in this year in the SEC, including several preseason publications.
“ We had a tough year last year, ” Nutt said. “ It’s a terrible feeling. The only thing is I look in their eyes. I look at their work ethic. I look at their attitude. I look at their sacrifice. I look at the chemistry.
“ These guys are ready. They’re hungry. Our fans are hungry. The coaches are hungry times 10. I believe that. They expect to win. They expect good things to happen. That’s the way I want them to feel. ”
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