UA notes: Hogs' Thompson could leave for Southern Miss

Arkansas Coach Houston Nutt already is losing one valued assistant, Fitz Hill, after the Las Vegas Bowl. He hopes he won't be losing defensive coordinator John Thompson.
Hill, who has been the Razorbacks' receivers coach and recruiting coordinator, is leaving to become head coach at San Jose State.
Depending on what happens with Georgia's vacancy, Nutt might be looking to replace Thompson.
Southern Mississippi Coach Jeff Bower is considered a leading candidate for the Georgia job, and if he leaves, Thompson likely would be among the candidates to be the Golden Eagles' next coach.
Thompson was Southern Mississippi's defensive coordinator from 1992-98 and is highly thought of in Hattiesburg, Miss.
"I'm thrilled for Jeff if he gets the Georgia job and that's what he wants, but all that right now is just a rumor," Thompson said. "I'm more than happy where I am, and I'm looking forward to staying at Arkansas for a while."
But what if the Southern Mississippi job comes open?
"That is a head coaching job and the people there were always good to me, and if they called, I'd have to listen," Thompson said. "I'm not looking to leave Arkansas, though. I'm very happy where I am."
Nutt, who lost defensive coordinator Keith Burns to the Tulsa head coaching job after last season, would be happy, too, if Thompson stays.
"I'm always worried about losing coaches," Nutt said. "I don't want to lose anybody, but we're on a trend where our coaches have been moving on.
"I'm sure if the Southern Miss job does come open, they'll come after John."
-- Bob Holt

GIFT TO REMEMBER
One of the reasons Arkansas Coach Houston Nutt used to work the opponents' sideline as a ball boy at War Memorial Stadium in the early 1970s was that the visitors usually gave him a sweat-soaked memento of some kind.
One of his favorites was a practice sweat shirt worn by Southern Cal tailback Charles White when Nutt worked the 1974 Arkansas-USC game. White didn't actually give the shirt to him, an equipment manager did. But Nutt treasured it anyway and still has it packed away somewhere, he said.
The significance?
UNLV Coach John Robinson was USC's offensive coordinator for that game, a 22-7 Arkansas victory. About the only memory Nutt and Robinson said they have of that game is White returning a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown.
-- Scott Cain

ARKANSAS WILL TAKE SIX-FIGURE HIT
Lots of people leave Las Vegas having lost money on their trip. So it will be for the Arkansas football program.
Arkansas figures to lose between $100,000 to $200,000 because of unsold tickets for the Las Vegas Bowl, senior associate athletic director Katie Hill said.
In conjunction with securing the bowl invitation, Arkansas agreed to purchase 12,500 tickets at a cost of $650,000.
Arkansas has sold only about 3,500 tickets, so the 9,000 unsold combined with bowl expenses and dividing the Razorbacks' $800,000 bowl payout with other SEC members means Arkansas will lose money overall on the game.
"We'll definitely lose money, but we'll gain in residual benefits from the bowl," Arkansas Athletic Director Frank Broyles said. "We're getting extra exposure for recruiting, extra practices and a reward for the players for finishing strong.
"How do you place a dollar value on that? It's all invaluable to our program."
Broyles said ticket sales were hurt because final exams at Arkansas didn't end until Wednesday and many high schools around the state are still having classes.
"I think we had a lot more people who wanted to come to Las Vegas," Broyles said. "But they just couldn't work it out because school is still in session."
-- Bob Holt

BAD BACK MAY PROVE COSTLY
UNLV senior offensive tackle John Greer has the credentials of a future NFL player.
He's 6-5, 290, a unanimous first-team All-Mountain West Conference selection, has started 44 of 45 career games and has given up only one sack this season in becoming the Rebels' highest graded lineman.
He also has a bad back.
Greer has suffered from bulging discs in his back since his sophomore season, a condition he said came from the "constant pounding and squatting."
He has missed only one game because of the condition, and that came two years ago.
Greer rehabs his back every day with stretching exercises. It didn't give him problems last year, but he said the problem has flared up again this season.
-- Robert Turbeville

BLACK AND BOO, AND QUINTON, TOO
UNLV safety Randy Black and offensive tackle John Greer answered about as expected when asked during Wednesday's news conference what concerns them most about Arkansas.
"Boo Williams, Boo Williams, Boo Williams," Black said of Arkansas' senior wide receiver who averages 14.2 yards a catch. "Boo Williams, excuse my language, is a hell of a player. He could be a first-round draft pick."
"I was watching that guy over there play," Black said, motioning toward Razorbacks linebacker Quinton Caver, a consensus first-team All-SEC selection. "I'd say he should be an All-American."
-- Robert Turbeville

ONE CHANGES, OTHER STAYS SAME
Arkansas and UNLV took different approaches to life on the day before the Las Vegas Bowl.
The Razorbacks were off limits to the media at Wednesday's closed walk-through practice at Sam Boyd Stadium, then moved the players from the Golden Nugget to another hotel Wednesday night so they could concentrate on the task at hand.
UNLV allowed its walk-through to be open and players to be interviewed by the media. The Rebels also spent Wednesday night at the MGM Grand, where they have stayed since Monday.
-- Robert Turbeville

This article was published on Thursday, December 21, 2000

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