General

This Would Be Crazy, But It Is Houston Nutt We’re Talking About

Dec 8, 2009, 8:40 PM UTC

â†µToday, this moved from the dodgy realms of Arkansas-based sports talkâ†µradio stations willing to say or do anything that makes Houston Nutt lookâ†µbad to the august realms of an actual reporter's Twitter feed, so it appears thereâ†µis some meat on this crazy, googly-eyed bone:â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥A source close to Houston Nutt told me [Dienhart] he will interview for theâ†µâ‡¥Kansas job.â†µâ†µâ†µWhat? If this was not coaching Loki himself this would be yet anotherâ†µobviously dumb rumor soon proven incorrect, but with Houston Nutt allâ†µthings are possible. He could show up to a game and switch teams atâ†µhalftime, and both fanbases would devolve into warring factions aboutâ†µwhether he should be executed or elected governor. Houston Nutt is theâ†µalpha and omega. â†µ

â†µâ†µStill, jumping from a middling SEC program that gets Jevan Snead backâ†µto a Kansas program that’s been a wasteland for 95% of its existenceâ†µseems beyond even Nutt’s brand of mayhem. Kansas just graduated Toddâ†µReesing, the only thing separating them from the abyss, and figures toâ†µresume its longstanding tenure at the bottom of the Big 12 North. Theyâ†µmight be spending their days there alongside four or five other teamsâ†µthat somehow manage to cram into the conference cellar -- this is the Bigâ†µ12 North we’re talking about -- but there they will be. â†µ

â†µâ†µSure enough, Nutt has issued a standard nothing-to-see-here statement denying any interestâ†µin other jobs. Once denied another six to eight times, the thing willâ†µfinally go away. So there’s nothing there. â†µ

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â†µWhat's this all about, then? Look no further than the googly-eyedâ†µone's agent, Jimmy Sexton. Sexton looks exactly like you'd expect a slightly reptile sports agent to lookâ†µand acts like he's been scripted by Jerry Bruckheimer. Sexton representsâ†µabout half of the coaches south of the Mason-Dixon line and is almostâ†µcertainly the "source close to Houston Nutt" cited above. â†µ

â†µâ†µSexton is almost singlehandedly responsible for creating theâ†µmaelstrom of coaching insanity in the South. Any opportunity to pretendâ†µhis clients are thinking about jumping ship is taken, whether it’s toâ†µwheedle out a contract extension or just buy a guy who turned a top fiveâ†µpreseason ranking into obscurity a little more goodwill at his currentâ†µhome. Here’s an archetypal example: â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥In November 2006, he brought Butch Davis back to the college ranks atâ†µâ‡¥North Carolina. A year later, despite a 4-8 start, Davis received aâ†µâ‡¥contract extension and a raise from UNC, a response to rumors that heâ†µâ‡¥might leave Chapel Hill and take the vacant job at Arkansas, his almaâ†µâ‡¥mater. Even though Davis vehemently denied the chatter, he stillâ†µâ‡¥received an extra year and $291,000 more per season.â†µâ†µâ†µSexton is the coaching equivalent of sleazy, soul-patched pickupâ†µartists displaying “PUMAâ†µSKILLS”; there’s nothing to see here except posturing andâ†µpossibly a Nutt contract extension. â†µ

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This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

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