Boise State's impression of Nutt not the real deal

WALLY HALL
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

"I do respect the guy, but he is a used car salesman," said Boise State defensive tackle Brad Phillips about Houston Nutt in the Idaho Statesman Thursday morning.
FAYETTEVILLE -- J.J. Jones nailed it.
When asked about any extra emotions that might be attached to the Boise State-Arkansas game, the Razorbacks' senior inside linebacker was quietly specific.
"There may be some for their players," he said. "But I don't think Coach Nutt has anything but respect for those guys. He sure hasn't said anything to indicate otherwise."
Why would Phillips take a verbal slap at his former coach?
In a Nuttshell, 18 of the Broncos were recruited or played for Nutt in his one year at BSU.
The picture that was painted around Boise was that Nutt abandoned his team under the cloak of darkness.
As we learned Sunday from Scott Cain's excellent story, it was more Athletic Director Gene Bleymaier not wanting Nutt and Dirk Koetter, who was interviewing for the job, to crash into each other.
Or maybe Bleymaier was hot at Nutt for grabbing the golden ring during prime recruiting time.
Obviously some of the BSU players don't understand the real deal.
"We've had our ups and downs," Boise State safety Shaunard Harts said. "I'm sure we'll make eye contact and whatever expression he shows on his face, I'm going to come back with the same thing, you know what I mean?"
Harts better get ready to smile then.
Koetter, like any head coach, would have had a cow if Nutt had tried to personally stay in touch with those guys.
"I've tried to keep up with how the players are doing since I left," Nutt said. "If this job hadn't come along, I probably would still be there."
Nutt quickly admits there were some bumpy roads while at BSU.
Like people making fun of his accent (which is always grammatically correct) or like the day after he put redshirt freshman quarterback Bart Hendricks into a game.
"The story the next day in the paper was something like 'Nutt costs BSU the game by inserting unproven freshman,' " Nutt said. "I'm glad they blamed me instead of Bart, but you can see now it was the right decision."
Hendricks hasn't forgotten the confidence Nutt showed in him.
"He's a great coach who really got you motivated to play," he said. "He was good for me. I'm not going to lie about that."
If the Broncos and their 300 or so fans who are making the trip want to know exactly why Nutt came home -- and it wasn't just big bucks -- let them get to the game three hours early.
Go north of War Memorial Stadium and just absorb:
The unofficial state barbecue championships where fans can eat for five bucks.
The Hog Walk, when 5,000 fans, or more, line the way for the Razorbacks to make their entry into the stadium.
The music and other festivities.
The people holding up two, three or more fingers wanting tickets to this game.
Stroll through the golf course and hear the hog calls and see the colors of fall -- cardinal and white.
Of course, the Broncos might want to stay in street clothes for this tour.
When they do put on their uniforms, they should get on the field early for the grand entrance -- the Hog Run through the "A."
The defense goes left and the offense right and they meet in the middle in what has proven to be an undefeated show of team spirit and enthusiasm.
There may not be any Frankvision or luxury suites, but Razorbacks football is still special at War Memorial Stadium.
The Broncos will understand that -- especially if the crowd decides to roar -- and why their former coach had to come home after experiencing the pregame heaven and the War Memorial hell.
And Mr. Brad Phillips, the Broncos' top stopper of the run, he may want to show a little more respect when he lines up in the face of the roughnecks -- Kenny Sandlin, Josh Melton, La'Zerius White, Gary Hobbs and Shannon Money.
They like their coach.
He's led them to two New Year's Day bowls and he didn't do it by blowing smoke up their shirts.
Actually, there's nothing wrong with being a car salesman, used or otherwise.
There's just not anything about Houston Nutt that brings to mind a car salesman, but if Phillips or Harts ever need a recommendation for a job or a tryout with an NFL team they can bet Nutt will do everything he can to sell them.

This article was published on Friday, September 15, 2000

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