interesting Commercial Appeal article on our offense

[Hagar]

By Scott Cacciola
Memphis Commercial Appeal
August 6, 2008

OXFORD, Miss. -- Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt operates in sales pitches and platitudes, a breathless mix of inspiration and perspiration. He talks about his "love" for the game, running backs who are "fast," and linebackers who have "up, up, up, upside!"

His offensive coordinator, on the other hand, seems to treat football as an academic exercise. Kent Austin views part of his job as being able to "calibrate how quickly" his players can digest new material. He mulls the difference between being right-brained and left-brained. And when he mentions "ancillary distractions that aren't relevant to the process," he might as well be teaching advanced psychology.

In some ways, Nutt and Austin -- the salesman and the professor, the run-oriented motivator and the pass-happy coordinator -- are the odd couple of the Southeastern Conference, and questions have lingered since Austin was hired in January: Who will have control of the offense? Can these two minds meld?

Each says the process will be collaborative, even if Nutt has veto power. But this is one of those grand experiments -- and there are many for the Rebels this season -- that has fans intrigued and players excited.

"It's amazing," senior fullback Jason Cook said. "Both guys have great football minds. Them working together has got us in the right place."

Nutt, after spending 10 seasons at Arkansas, arrived at Ole Miss with the reputation of preferring to run rather than throw. And it was hard to argue (though some did) with his results in Fayetteville, where Darren McFadden and Felix Jones combined to rush for 5,807 yards over the past two seasons. Nutt has long favored running backs, but he also appeared to lack confidence in his quarterbacks at Arkansas.

"You have to be a physical team in this conference," he said. "You have to run the ball. But what you'd really love to have is that balance where they can't play left-handed, they can't over-populate the line of scrimmage."

At the same time, he acknowledged that his schemes need to highlight his team's strengths. He listed three at Rebel Media Day on Tuesday morning: sophomore quarterback Jevan Snead, an improving offensive line, and an experienced group of receivers.

"You have to get the ball to your playmakers," Nutt said.

He expects Austin to help devise ways to make that happen. Austin, whose name still peppers Ole Miss' record book from his days as the team's quarterback from 1981-85, spent 10 years playing in the Canadian Football League and the past five coaching. Because the field is larger and offenses have just three downs to gain 10 yards, the CFL rewards creativity and innovation.

"And certainly we're going to bring some of those concepts -- a lot of them, quite frankly -- from there to here," said Austin, who emphasized that he has enjoyed the give-and-take with Nutt. "He hasn't been a winning coach, a successful coach, by being stupid and by being stubborn. He's going to do what he needs to do to win football games, and that should be everybody's attitude."

Each game will take on its own complexion depending on the opponent, Austin said. Some games will be weighted toward the run, others toward the pass. Nothing, he said, is rigid. The entire staff will remain flexible.

And the process of scripting the offense will extend beyond Nutt and Austin, who doubles as the quarterbacks coach. Mike Markuson, the offensive line coach and running game coordinator, will be involved, as will tight ends coach James Shibest, wide receivers coach Ron Dickerson and running backs coach Derrick Nix.

Austin offered his take on the staff's approach: "All of us working together, without agendas, to piece together an offense based on the collective skills and knowledge and experience of our players, to put them in the best position possible to be successful."

Cook said he has had more "fun" in this offense than he did with the previous staff, even if part of that is due to playing with the same teammates for three or four years. Familiarity breeds confidence, though Austin and Nutt plan to saturate the team with material -- their material.

"We want to throw a lot at the guys, see what sticks, then pare back," Austin said. "When you take the approach of only incorporating two or three things each practice, you go back and say, 'I wish we'd done four or five.' You never know unless you push it. So push early, regroup, then say, 'OK, what are they not getting?' Then figure out why they're not getting it."

Photo by Dave Darnell/The Commercial Appeal

Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Kent Austin works with offensive players during the morning walk through, with head coach Houston Nutt (at right).

[RebinGA]

Thanks Sammy Hagar -

That is a very good article, and the type I'm looking for, not some fluffy hype piece. Austin's comments/replys have elevated him in my mind, he seems to be a VERY intelligent guy. I am really looking forward to the season.

I have high hopes for the program, but for this year I am turning down the volume and just hoping we can send our seinors out into the world with a bowl victory.

By the way - are you and Eddie Van Halen ever going to make up?

[Hagar]

Thanks Sammy Hagar -

That is a very good article, and the type I'm looking for, not some fluffy hype piece. Austin's comments/replys have elevated him in my mind, he seems to be a VERY intelligent guy. I am really looking forward to the season.

I have high hopes for the program, but for this year I am turning down the volume and just hoping we can send our seinors out into the world with a bowl victory.

By the way - are you and Eddie Van Halen ever going to make up?

Wrong Hagar... he ain't even related to me at all either.