I have a good friend that attended the University of Mississippi. We speak on a regular basis about Razorback and Rebel football. Before the 2008 NCAA football season, I honestly could have cared less about Ole Miss football unless Arkansas was about to play them. In my mind, they were in the lower echelon of the SEC. Yes, down with Mississippi State, Vanderbilt and Kentucky. However, something very interesting happened prior to the 2008 season. Houston Dale Nutt decided to take a head coaching job at another SEC school and that school happened to be the University of Mississippi. Hotty toddy ya'll!!!
I will admit that I do feel bad for the fans of the Miss that is Ole. They're good people that fell for THE Car Salesman. He can talk a good game, but when it comes down to having something under the hood, the engine is that of a '72 Ford Pinto and it will almost assuredly explode somewhere down the road. In my metaphor though, the Pinto actually slowly implodes by means of poor (repetitive) play calling, bad recruiting and just being an idiot.
In my various communications with my Ole Miss friend after the initial announcement of HDN, I was surprised to hear that Ole Miss fans were excited to have him! I asked him if he had been paying attention to the last decade of Arkansas football. I asked him if he had been paying attention to the repeated excitement and certainty that our football team was on the edge of being a regular in the top 25 rankings, only to be crushed by the recruiting and coaching of HDN.
Sure, we remember the good times with HDN: Matt Jones, Peyton Hillis, D-Mac, Felix and just not being Danny Ford. Sure, we remember being ranked sometimes (only to be knocked off by running the option two or three times in a row, to the same side, on third and long.) Sure, we remember going to bowls (only to lose to the Minnessote Golden Gophers or the Wisconsin Badgers after we'd talked up the SEC to all of our friends in other conferences.)
After almost a decade of hope, followed shortly thereafter by crushing disappointment, it came time for HDN to leave Arkansas. How, though, did you get rid of someone who shortly after a terrible football related move, seemingly completely redeemed himself, by either beating Texas, any number of ranked SEC teams or even a little Miracle on Markham? (Sidenote: Any and all terrible football related move by HDN that was followed by an amazing win, was undoubtedly immediately followed by another terrible football related move. A discerning Arkansas football fan knows this as HDN gospel.) In order to get an entire state against a coach that will never allow you to grow past a certain point as a football program, apparently all you need is the Freedom of Information Act. Thanks George W. Bush!
I'll leave the steamy details to the dossier, but let's just say my screen name isn't Springdale Holiday Inn because of their wonderful turndown service and excellent food. However, I do hear that their staff is very discreet.
The Freedom of Information Act and homely looking Northwest Arkansas newscaster Donna Bragg combined to allow Arkansans a chance to see the human side of the coaching equation: HDN is a d-bag. The FIA/Donna Bragg attention was the push that HDN needed to get rolling off of the Hill. Even though personal things should probably stay personal, I'm happy that HDN was revealed for the d-bag, liar he was/is so that the Natural State could finally come together in our hatred of the highest paid person under state employment.
My Ole Miss friend and I have continued to talk about Ole Miss and Arkansas football, but I must admit I have let up significantly on the trash talking, mainly because HDN does the work for me as Ole Miss nation is learning the ways of the Nutt on their own. I'll hold the details of Ole Miss' journey until my end of season HDN post entitled either "Ole Miss, Meet Houston Nutt" or "Ole Miss, Welcome to your Mediocre Era."
In summation, the only time HDN will rise to the occasion is when he is alone with a newscaster in a classy hotel. Hey, at least it was better than the Holiday Inn Express!
Hotty toddy Donna Bragg, hotty toddy indeed,
Springdale Holiday Inn
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