Gator Country

College football fans should circle October 25thon their calendar. That will be the day when Houston Nutt brings his Ole Miss squad to Fayetteville for a play date against the Razorbacks. What has been a decent Southeastern Conference rivalry has just been juiced.

Why do we care at Florida? Because it’s good for the Southeastern Conference. The Gators already face enough teams on their schedule that make Florida among their top two most hated rivals --- Georgia, Tennessee, LSU, Florida State, Miami and South Carolina.

This just adds fuel to the massive bonfire that the SEC is the premier conference in all of college football.

Since joining the conference, Arkansas has tried to make the case for LSU being their big rivalry opponent. At times, that game has been pretty big. But when compared to Alabama-Auburn, Florida-Georgia and Auburn-Georgia it absolutely pales in comparison. And let’s face it, doesn’t it pale in comparison to Florida-LSU, Tennessee-Georgia, and South Carolina-Georgia?

Ole Miss and Arkansas had a history even before the Razorbacks joined the Southeastern Conference. The Rebels handed the Razorbacks losses in 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962 (Sugar Bowl), and 1970 (Sugar Bowl) which was dubbed the “Damned Ole Miss Era.” In four of those fives games, the Ole Miss victory resulted in just the second loss of the season by Arkansas and those were some of the most successful years of Razorbacks football in that era.

Both Nutt and the man who replaced him at Arkansas downplayed it as best they could at SEC Media Days, but one glance at the message boards representing both schools will quickly tell you that the fans just won’t allow that to happen.

New Arkansas head coach Bobby Petrino was asked how special this game might be for the Razorbacks squad during SEC Media Days.

“No, we have not even talked about it,” Petrino said. “I’ve heard a lot at booster functions, a lot from the fans on their desire for it. But that’s a long way for us. We have to play Western Illinois in the opener. We’ve got to get better as a football team. I do think that our players understand that, you know, it’s not us playing Coach (Houston) Nutt. It is our players playing against their players, University of Arkansas playing Ole Miss, which has always been a great rivalry.”

Nutt spent a decade in Fayetteville and it’s bound to be an emotional game. And anybody who has ever experienced an Ole Miss-Mississippi State baseball game, can tell you that Rebels fans love to get geared up for a good fight.

“You can’t help but think about it,” Nutt said. “You grew up in Arkansas. You thought at one time you’d be there for life. I had ten great years of experience there working with some great people. We won three titles- two of them went to Atlanta. We came very close against Florida, almost winning that ballgame. So, we had some great days, great times there. You can’t help but think what it’s gonna be like coming in from the visitor side.”

Nutt finished with this…

“But, quickly my mind goes back to Memphis.”

Sure it does coach. Sure it does.

* * *

The retirement of Frank Broyles will make the Razorbacks program an interesting one to watch over the coming years. There are those in Fayetteville that believe for all of the good Broyles did at Arkansas, he was equally bad. Some speculate that he seemed to be consumed by controlling situations and individuals who did not kiss his ring, so to speak.

New athletic director Jeff Long is already receiving praise for his leadership skills.

Broyles had numerous run-ins with coaches at Arkansas. He refused to retain Lou Holtz after the ‘Hogs had gone 6-5, which ridiculous considering the fact that Holtz had compiled an overall record of 60-21-2 and appeared in six bowl games during his seven year tenure as the Razorbacks head football coach.

Broyles and former basketball coach Nolan Richardson had a tempestuous relationship which resulted in the firing of the coach, who later filed a lawsuit against the Arkansas’ athletic program accusing them of racial discrimination. That suit was won by the University of Arkansas athletic program.

Broyles also suffered criticism by Arkansas fans for the manner in which the Springdale Seven dispute was handled. They felt as though, Broyles should have taken control of the situation when the parents of the student-athletes became involved in meetings with coaches.

He was magnificent through much of his tenure at Arkansas. Personally, I can think of no better ways that he managed the program better than mentoring and securing facilities for a school that only has an enrollment of about 19,000. More than 30 of Broyles former players who went on to become head coaches in collegiate or professional football including the likes of Joe Gibbs, Jimmy Johnson, Barry Switzer, Hayden Fry, Doug Dickey, and Houston Nutt. In fact, Dickey was a player at Florida when Broyles coached as an assistant there. And who could forget Jerry Jones, who made his money in business and purchased the Dallas Cowboys.

He also surrounded himself with outstanding assistant coaches. Some of the more notable hires made by Broyles are Johnny Majors, Jackie Sherrill, Gibbs, and Johnson. The Frank Broyles Award is given annually to the nation’s top assistant coach.

Frank Broyles was a fantastic football coach who finished with a 144-58-5 record at Arkansas, winning a national title in 1964. He directed the Razorbacks athletic program for 34 years before retiring last December.

Broyles tutored under then Baylor coach Bob Woodruff in 1947. Broyles followed Woodruff to Gainesville in 1950 when Woodruff took over the Florida program and stayed one year

New Arkansas Athletic Director Jeff Long has an impressive resume and his reputation is one that seemingly allows coaches to do their job, while he serves as a manager. I have to believe that the Razorbacks program will benefit from the change. Broyles was in his eighties and it just appeared as if it was some time ago for him to step down. And Gators fans have gotten a first-hand glimpse at what that has done to a school in the capitol city.

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