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Players React To Nutt Criticism

Last updated Saturday, November 17, 2007 9:33 PM CST
in Razorback Central

By Nathan Allen
THE MORNING NEWS

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LITTLE ROCK -- Arkansas offensive tackle Robert Felton took the news personally.

For Felton and the rest of Arkansas' football players, there was no other choice when they were bombarded by news, radio and internet message board reports concerning their coach, Houston Nutt, on Friday. Numerous outlets using unnamed sources were reporting Nutt would not return next season.

"A lot of fans are just trying to divide us right now, and I can't believe that," Felton said following Arkansas' 45-31 victory over Mississippi State in War Memorial Stadium. "To the fans who are not behind us, get out of our way and don't say anything."

That was the sentiment of several Arkansas players, who said Saturday they're tired of the rumors and reports about Nutt. Arkansas linebacker Weston Dacus, who had four tackles against the Bulldogs, said the recent rumors have been easy motivation for the Razorbacks.

"Stuff like this has been happening for a solid year now," Dacus said. "So we've just kind of learned to shuck it off and not pay attention to it. (Nutt) always lets us know that he would tell us first if anything was about to go down."

Arkansas quarterback Casey Dick said he feels like fans don't know the whole story and feel like they're making up rumors just to keep Nutt on the hot seat.

"Most people don't even know what's going on with the situation," Dick said. "They just want to start rumors because they don't agree with what's going on and that's fine.

"We have to tuck that behind us and use that as a little motivation."

Arkansas offensive coordinator David Lee couldn't believe the recent news of Nutt's future, saying people just don't understand how tough it is to coach college football.

"This isn't an easy time for coaches here at Arkansas," Lee said. "This controversy never stops, somebody keeps stirring everything up. Houston Nutt won 10 games last year, we're 7-4 right now -- what are we going through?

"That's the thing that concerns you as a staff."

The Razorbacks now have one Southeastern Conference game left against LSU next Friday at Baton Rouge.

"We stick together, we're one family, one unit," senior receiver Marcus Monk said. "Once somebody comes at our family, it brings us even closer.

"We're here, (Nutt) is here, the coaches are here and we've still got a few more games left."



Reader Comments (8 comment(s))


The following comments are provided by readers and are the sole responsibility of their authors. The Morning News does not review comments before their publication, nor do we guarantee their accuracy. By publishing a comment here you agree to abide by our comment policy. If you see a comment that violates our policy, please notify the web editor.

heehog wrote on Nov 18, 2007 7:23 AM:

" The players realize the task at hand and it's not as simple as some fans want it to be. The one issue crusaders will be whining about the next coach too. "

ShillerRepellant wrote on Nov 18, 2007 7:57 AM:

" Someone needs to "clue" these players "in".... The FANS didn't LEAK this story. The truth has a way of coming out and it's LONG overdue about Mr. Nutt and his minions. "

BigHog wrote on Nov 18, 2007 8:25 AM:

" Interesting .... the EDITORS CHOOSE to post THREE - 3x - stories (non-stories) that Coach Nutt was to be fired or to quit at the end of season ... INSTEAD of stories about another Razorback victory & DMac's likely last game in Little Rock!!! Amazing how much hostility and anti-Univ. of Arkansas this Springdale paper demonstrates week after week after week. Regardless of my personal beliefs about Coach Nutt, there is a responsible time & place for such business decisions. During the season it's about supporting the kids & coaches. This paper DID NOT produce ONE (1x) witness - named UofA authority (nor has any other drive-by media) to validate their claim. In court that's called hearsay and is inadmissable! In Springdale & Washington DC it's misconstrued as a "fact" ... like DC this paper & it's EDITORS & writers demonstrate that factually they are devoid of moral integrity. Innuendos & gossip & rumors may be acceptable in the National Inquirer, but for a "mainline news organization" ???? Unacceptable! Time to undermine this paper similar to how it's undermining the University of Arkansas! "

PearlHarbor wrote on Nov 18, 2007 9:05 AM:

" Apparently some of our players are extremely naive. Here's a hint: If houston's lips are moving,.... Houston Nutt has won half of our conference games in the 10 long seasons he's been here. That isn't good enough folks. The arkansas razorbacks are better than that. Houston Dale Nutt is not good enough. He's proven that over a decade. Let's get a real coach in here. "

Westcoast Hawg wrote on Nov 18, 2007 9:18 AM:

" AMEN ON PEARL HARBOR QUOTE WE NEED A REAL COACH FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS! "

NEW TULSA FAN wrote on Nov 18, 2007 3:02 PM:

" Whoa, I say the Huckster didn't build the House. Frank built the House along with some of his well connected friends who had some big bucks. Frank just turned to the Huckster after it was built and said "now you have to fill it". The House was filled with fans who welcomed what they thought was going to be a big time program. They suffered through 4-7 years in 2004 and 2005. They thought maybe the program had turned the corner in 2006. I think because of the Huckster's manipulative manuvering, his ego and basically his trying to hold onto the job mentality, he made a bunch of errors in judgement that really hurt the program. All of that may empty some of those seats by next year. "

NEW TULSA FAN wrote on Nov 18, 2007 3:12 PM:

" You know every newspaper has a reader response email feature these days. You can't pick on The Morning News for following the trend. I once responded to a Tulsa World's football article. I voiced my concern over Tulsa's use of the 3-3-5 defense which sometimes equates to a "prevent" defense. The rest of the bloggers just went back to debating how much smarter Tulsa players were than OU's players. Arkansas fans are a lot less polite and a heck of a lot more fun. "

hoggchadder wrote on Nov 19, 2007 7:55 AM:

" did some of you read this artical? one quote sums up how some of the players feel. "A lot of fans are just trying to divide us right now, and I can't believe that," Felton said following Arkansas' 45-31 victory over Mississippi State in War Memorial Stadium. "To the fans who are not behind us, get out of our way and don't say anything." ENOUGH SAID!!! "


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