1998 – 2007: Arkansas (head coach)
1997: Boise State (head coach)
1993 – 1996: Murray State (head coach)
1990 – 1992: Arkansas (WRs coach)
1984 – 1989: Oklahoma State (WRs coach)
1984: Arkansas State (QBs coach – did not stay for season)
1983: Arkansas (Graduate Assistant – RBs)
1982 – 1981: Oklahoma State (Graduate Assistant – RBs & DBs)
Ole Miss made a mistake when it fired David Cutcliffe following the 2004 season. That decision spawned the Ed Orgeron era and 10 wins in three seasons, which featured an embarrassing 0-8 SEC season in 2007. In Houston Nutt, the Rebs get a coach with a proven track record at Arkansas - a program with a similar, albeit slightly higher, profile to Ole Miss.
Nutt had a succesful 10 year run as Arkansas' head coach which saw him compile a 75-48 record (42-38 in SEC play) and lead his team to 3 SEC West titles and 8 bowl games (5 New Year's Day bowls). Nutt inherited a Razorback squad that had posted back-to-back 4-7 seasons, but Nutt won his first 8 games in Fayetteville. His teams took home the SEC rushing title in 5 of his last 6 seasons. Prior to his head coaching stint at Arkansas, Nutt guided Murray State to back-to-back 11 win seasons and also served as the head coach at Boise State for one season. In total, Nutt has served as a head coach for 15 years and has tallied a 0.613 record.
Perhaps the three time SEC coach of the year's best work came in the 2006 season. The Razorbacks won 10 games and the SEC West despite a flurry of rumors Nutt would be canned at season's end due to growing booster displeasure. At Ole Miss Nutt gets a fresh start and should be better appreciated. He'll be more out of the public eye in Oxford than he was in the circus scene that developed in Fayetteville. Nutt should be able to capitalize off of the only positive Orgeron brought to the Grove - solid recruiting classes - and win quickly.
The only knock on the Nutt hire is that he may bring little more to the table than what Cutcliffe did. Cutcliffe's 0.603 winning percentage in 6 years at Ole Miss is only slightly worse than the 0.610 Nutt had at Arkansas. Nutt, like Cutcliffe, had many solid seasons in the SEC but was never able to win any big prizes. That fact may not change, but Nutt stands a fantastic chance to do what he did at Arkansas: turn a non-traditional power into a consistent threat in the SEC West.
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