Resignation about two families
Last updated Monday, November 26, 2007 9:33 PM CST in Columns
By Harry King
THE MORNING NEWS
FAYETTEVILLE -- The official end of Houston Nutt's tenure as the Arkansas football coach was imminent and the man at the center of the storm was with his family, posing for a picture.
Houston, wife Diana, Hailey, Hanna, Haven, and Houston III surrounded the "Boot" that his Razorbacks had liberated from LSU on Friday night in Baton Rouge and there were smiles all around. Just looking, a witness said, you could tell that each and every one felt the weight of the world had been lifted off their shoulders.
Family was at the heart of Nutt's decision -- his own and the one that falls under the larger umbrella of Razorback.
Nutt met briefly with the players about an hour before his 6:30 p.m. news conference, told them he was proud of them, and added that he could no longer deal with the rancor. It was, he said, "tearing his family apart."
"As somebody who has been through a lots of ups and downs this season, I understand where he's coming from," said running back Michael Smith. "For him to get his family out of this situation, I think it takes a strong man."
Diana and their children entered the Hall of Champions moments before those doing the speaking and they sat on the front row, just below the stage occupied by Chancellor John White, Nutt, and outgoing athletic director Frank Broyles.
Nutt was not specific about abuse of his immediate family, but he did say, "I hate some of the things they had to encounter."
Diana and the girls attended practice much more regularly than in years past and those who watched said Nutt would often step away from the field for a moment or two to acknowledge them.
More than once, he said something to friends about getting up early on Sunday to remove "For Sale" signs from in front of his house and there was that day when "This Space For Rent" was written in his parking place.
White said the coach "loves his families," the Nutt family and the Razorback family. The chancellor said lots of people contacted him about their desires for the Arkansas football program, but that not one talked about what was best for Nutt and his family.
White looked at Darren McFadden, Jonathan Luigs and Weston Dacus when he said, Nutt was "caught between the love for his family and his love for you."
White called it a difficult year for the Nutt family and later said, "Unless you have walked in his moccasins, you cannot imagine ...," the things that Nutt has been through.
Nutt said that when he arrived in December 1998, the state was united behind the Razorbacks, but that the fan base is now fractured. There are a variety of reasons for the dissatisfaction, items to be recited on another day.
The timing of Nutt's announcement is ironic.
When Arkansas beat then-No. 1 LSU in triple overtime on Friday, there was an immediate and positive reaction throughout much of the state. But, the discontent that had been building for months was not going to be swept away by one stunning victory. Nutt said he preaches "one heartbeat" to his players and that reality eventually replaced the euphoria of the 50-48 triumph and he realized that the fans were not going to have that "one heartbeat" as long as he was the coach.
"This is why this needed to happen," Nutt said.
That point may have been driven home Saturday during a meeting with White. The chancellor probably told Nutt that if he wanted to stay, he would "get in the trenches" with him -- a phrase White used Monday -- but that the criticism would not subside.
It is likely that White then made it clear that if Nutt resigned, he would be given deferred compensation and other money he would have received if he had stayed until 2009. It's possible that Nutt interpreted that to mean that the university wanted him to resign because it was not in a position to fire him.
All along, people who have seen this coming have said that Nutt deserved the money and that officials wanted Nutt to leave with his dignity and without the stigma of a firing.
It was at the end of that meeting that he told the chancellor he wanted to take a few days and think about the situation.
Nutt said he and his wife talked until the wee hours Monday and agreed on the decision.
Harry King is sports columnist for Stephens Media's Arkansas News Bureau. His e-mail address is hking@arkansasnews.com.
About this columnist
The dean of Arkansas sports writers, Harry King updates his column five days per week with the latest on the Razorbacks. A 35-year veteran of The Associated Press, King joined the Arkansas News Bureau in May of 2002. He's covered the Razorbacks since the Arkansas-Texas game dubbed the Big Shootout in 1969.
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