Houston Nutt out at Ole Miss

[Ned Clampett]

nutt sacked?

Beautiful Son......It made me laugh. I knew there was a joke there somewhere.

[anhil8tor]

Nice list. Hearing Malzahn (former walk-on receiver at Arkansas) is an early front-runner given the results at Tulsa, Arkansas and Auburn as offensive coordinator, although his lack of head coaching experience at the college level could be a concern to some.

Leach would be an interesting fit with his wide-open offense, bigger-than-life personality and coaching experience in the SEC (Kentucky, where he helped turn Tim Couch into the top pick in the 1999 NFL draft), but the school would likely ask him to drop lawsuit against ESPN.

Holtz worked under his dad at South Carolina and has won at East Carolina and South Florida.

Fedora was an offensive coordinator at Florida, has won consistently at Southern Miss with an exciting-to-watch offense and has strong ties in the state. Southern Miss just cracked into the top 25, too.

I wouldn't count out Freeze or Hudspeth being in the mix. Really depends on how much Ole Miss wants to spend and how confident some of the candidates feel about the school's leadership.

Thanks Josh! I really appreciate that coming from you. I'm surprised Fedora wouldn't be higher being he has done it longer than Hud. Make no mistake Freeze and Hud are doing great jobs but only 1 year so far. Any mention of Rich Rod?

[cajun4life]

Thanks Josh! I really appreciate that coming from you. I'm surprised Fedora wouldn't be higher being he has done it longer than Hud. Make no mistake Freeze and Hud are doing great jobs but only 1 year so far. Any mention of Rich Rod?

Fedora will likely end up at Arizona...but Ole Miss opening up could change things.

[Boomer]

Touhey ----- the dad in the Blind side movie could push for Freeze---I assume that everybody knows that he coached Michael Ohorr at the High school!!! Sorry about the spelling !!!

[Parrott]

Thanks Josh! I really appreciate that coming from you. I'm surprised Fedora wouldn't be higher being he has done it longer than Hud. Make no mistake Freeze and Hud are doing great jobs but only 1 year so far. Any mention of Rich Rod?

The thing to consider about Freeze and Hudspeth is while they're in Year 1 as an FBS head coach, both have previous experience taking lower-level programs to the postseason. Strong recruiters with deep Mississippi ties, relatively young and energetic coaches with a proven ability to turn around a program, put people in the stands and raise money. College ADs would be smart to give them a look.

I don't see Rich Rodriguez ending up in Oxford and the SEC. See his next stop as a head coach outside the six power conferences. Have heard him mentioned plenty for the Tulane job.

[douglas]

HUD is the third coach from out of town I have personally spoken with and have listened to them say that Lafayette has something that cant be seen and you won't believe it till you get here. The first was Shipley, HUD was the second, marlin the third. If we hold up our end of the deal I see them doing the same for the long term and we grow together.

[RaginFan2]

The thing to consider about Freeze and Hudspeth is while they're in Year 1 as an FBS head coach, both have previous experience taking lower-level programs to the postseason. Strong recruiters with deep Mississippi ties, relatively young and energetic coaches with a proven ability to turn around a program, put people in the stands and raise money. College ADs would be smart to give them a look.

I don't see Rich Rodriguez ending up in Oxford and the SEC. See his next stop as a head coach outside the six power conferences. Have heard him mentioned plenty for the Tulane job.

Seems like Freeze would be more of an Ole Miss guy and Hud more of a Miss. State guy. Just thinkin' ... I'm with you on RichRod, he's got some baggage that most AQ conference teams don't need.

[RaginFan2]

HUD is the third coach from out of town I have personally spoken with and have listened to them say that Lafayette has something that cant be seen and you won't believe it till you get here. The first was Shipley, HUD was the second, marlin the third. If we hold up our end of the deal I see them doing the same for the long term and we grow together.

Seems I recall hearing Coach Hatfield (who succeeded Shipley) say that moving onto Miss. State from U(S)L was a mistake. He said he should've stayed. I was hoping he talked with Hud last year at the basketball reunion. As they say, the grass ain't always greener in that big pasture over yonder.

[NOCajun]

The thing to consider about Freeze and Hudspeth is while they're in Year 1 as an FBS head coach, both have previous experience taking lower-level programs to the postseason. Strong recruiters with deep Mississippi ties, relatively young and energetic coaches with a proven ability to turn around a program, put people in the stands and raise money. College ADs would be smart to give them a look.

I don't see Rich Rodriguez ending up in Oxford and the SEC. See his next stop as a head coach outside the six power conferences. Have heard him mentioned plenty for the Tulane job.

I don't know if Rodriguez would want to go to toolame after they snubbed him for the job after Bowden left.

[RagnCajunRebel]

The thing to consider about Freeze and Hudspeth is while they're in Year 1 as an FBS head coach, both have previous experience taking lower-level programs to the postseason. Strong recruiters with deep Mississippi ties, relatively young and energetic coaches with a proven ability to turn around a program, put people in the stands and raise money. College ADs would be smart to give them a look.

I don't see Rich Rodriguez ending up in Oxford and the SEC. See his next stop as a head coach outside the six power conferences. Have heard him mentioned plenty for the Tulane job.

It's pretty well known that Mike Glenn is a big fan of Freeze, which is one reason you'll see Freeze's name come up a lot in the next few weeks. I personally wouldn't have a big problem with either Rich Rod or Leach, although right now I would love to see Sumlin or Kirby Smart (but only if they could hire Freeze or a similar type offensive mind as his OC).

My concern with Freeze, and with Hud, isn't that they won't be successful (although I think Hud is the better choice). My concern is that it's going to take about 3 years to turn that program into a mid-level SEC contender again, like they were when Cut was there. Houston Nutt is leaving a fairly empty depleted roster, and while there is young talent at WR, that's about it. I think the fans will be patient next year, but two years down the road there will need to be more of a turn around, and fans may not be as patient with Hud or Freeze as they would be with Smart or Sumlin (because they're a "bigger name" type hire). I know this is stupid, but I think fans, on the whole, only care about winning and sometimes forget how long things can take.

I also think that speaks to how great of a job Hud has done here. My dad and I were talking before the season started, and we both said that if Hud could win 4 of the 5 home games, we'd be overly impressed. What he and the Cajuns have accomplished this season is nothing short of amazing and bigger, AQ programs will take notice.

This isn't a shot at the Cajuns, as some here seem to think. I hope that Hud stays forever and helps continuing to build this program into the next mid-major power and beyond. And I believe that's possible. But to think that Hud--or Marlin or anyone else--will continue to stay at UL just because they love the area, well that's wishing in one hand. And the bottom line is that if we're going to be wishing in one hand, we better use the other hand to write checks, because while I'm sure Hud got into coaching to help turn boys to men and teach them about life--he can do that at other schools where they pay him a lot more cash. So we better be ready to pony up the money when it comes time to extend that contract, which will hopefully starts after the New Orleans Bowl. So get ready to donate to the RCAF or however else we're told is necessary to keep him here.

Finally--a couple of more notes about how the Ole Miss coaching search indirectly touches us. First, I think that Freeze will be hearing a lot more buzz than Hud will, for the reasons I and others said earlier. I hope that this causes a little bit of a distraction up in ASU this week...I like any advantage possible. Second, I know that Ole Miss AD Pete Boone will not have any say so in the coaching hire, and I expect him to be replaced by no later than April or so of next year. HOWEVER, I wonder how much Pete being there will influence Hud from even considering that move. As some of you may remember, our Coach David Saunders is currently suing Ole Miss and AD Pete Boone for some breach of contract issues from when David was at Ole Miss. Knowing both men in some capacity, I can say with confidence that David is on the right side of the legal fence. I have nothing but the highest regard for Sarge and I'm sure Hud thinks the same. Thus, I have to think that as long as Pete is even on the outskirts of the AD office, I can't imagine Hud even CONSIDERING going to Ole Miss. So there's that.

That was a lot of opinion and info, and I apologize for the length. As most of you know, I grew up a Cajuns fan and have been one my whole life, but I did my undergrad at Ole Miss and have a special place in my heart for Oxford and the University. I'm so thankful that I've remained a Cajuns fan, as they've saved my football season this year. (Also, I donate more money to RCAF than I do to Ole Miss, so please don't question my loyalty. I've seen some of that on here and I hate it.)

[Just1More]

(Also, I donate more money to RCAF than I do to Ole Miss, so please don't question my loyalty. I've seen some of that on here and I hate it.)

Your loyalty choices aren't really in conflict... unless you scumbag Ole Miss people steal our Hud.

[RagnCajunRebel]

Your loyalty choices aren't really in conflict... unless you scumbag Ole Miss people steal our Hud.

HA! Thanks. I've said it before--I hope that Hud stays here. I'd rather see him build something here, and I think it's more feasible here than in most other places. That being said, I hope we can put up the money to keep him here, because that's what it's going to take!