Houston Nutt apparently interested in UConn coaching job

Houston Nutt has been out of football coaching since 2011, but he seems to have some interest in UConn’s head position. Nutt has said he doesn’t have any desire to return to the gridiron with the Huskies, but that might not be the case. Whether UConn would actually want him is, of course, another issue.

He has reached out to at least one high school coach in Connecticut to get an idea of the local high school talent, according to Paul Devlin at the Hearst Connecticut Media Group:

“Houston wanted to know about the landscape of football in Connecticut and what kind of players we had, the skill-level, and the hot-beds for talent,” said the coach who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “I guess he’s doing his research. I was taken by surprise a little bit. I’m not sure how he got my cell number.”

Nutt’s last coaching gig was at Ole MIss, where he led the Rebels for four seasons. He compiled a 24-26 record in four seasons and was relieved of his duties after a 2-10 record in 2011. Prior to the job in Oxford, he coached at Arkansas from 1998-2007. The Razorbacks were 75-48 under Nutt and won or shared three SEC West Division titles. He also has coaching stops at Murray State and Boise State. For his career, the Oklahoma State alum is 135-96.

A move to UConn would be a significant change of location for Nutt. Aside from his one-year stint in Boise, the farthest north he’s ever been in his entire playing and coaching career was with the Racers in Murray, Ky.

Needless to say, Nutt was not on our list of potential Huskies candidates.

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