Jackson Boyd
Investigative Report
College athletics have been becoming more and more scrutinized as time has gone on. The importance and impact put on athletics on the college level causes fans to be more involved in what their perspective team is doing. It also opens the door for extreme joy and even more extreme disappointment.
Here at The University of Mississippi there has been so much more misery with the success of out athletic programs than there ever has been excitement. The main athletic programs (football, basketball, and baseball) are mainly always at the lower tear of the SEC, and if we ever are expected to be successful prior to a given season, it seems like our teams find a way to screw it up.
When it comes to the football program, the teams of the new day and age haven’t come close to tasting the success of some of the teams of old here in Oxford.
According to secsportsfan.com, The University of Mississippi football program has only a handful of accomplishments. These include: Three National Championships (1959, 1960, 1962) Six SEC titles (1947, 1954, 1955, 1960, 1962, and 1963) One SEC Western Division Title (2003)
As recently stated, the success of the football program here at Ole Miss all came in the 50’s and 60’s.
Many various coaches have come to Ole Miss with high hopes of success, but realize that winning in a program like we have here is much harder than expected.
The firing of head coach Houston Nutt has been a hot topic as of late due to the constant struggles he has had leading the Rebels to victory.
Many fans want athletic director Pete Boone to resign from his current position. After an embarrassing loss to a horrible Vanderbilt team, rumor began to swirl about Boone calling it quits.
Parish Alford, writer for the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal in Tupelo did an article about this certain topic concerning Boone and whether or not his position at Ole Miss was stable.
In the article Boone stated, “There is absolutely no accuracy to the question you were asking me about my resignation.”
The article went on to specify how under the leadership of Pete Boone and Houston Nutt, Ole Miss has consistently under-performed in the SEC.
The article ended with the comment, “It’s time for a change.”
It is evident that fans and alumni alike are sick and tired of the lack of success not only on the football field, but also on the basketball court and on the baseball field.
Don’t get me wrong, there have been glimpses of greatness here, however the keyword in that statement is “glimpses.”
In 2009, the football team was ranked sixth in the country and a sub-par South Carolina team derailed us.
We did go on to win the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, TX that year, but that year just seems like the “year that could have been.”
An Ole Miss blogger who goes by “Jake” wrote a piece listing reasons and facts that show the potential firing of Houston Nutt to be logical.
Jake’s reasons were as listed:
1.His (Houston Nutt) record against Vanderbilt is 1-3
2.The style in which he lost to Vanderbilt. Made Vandy look like “world beaters.”
3.Jacksonville State loss
4.Having a football program that is the current laughing stock on college football. On ESPN radio recently they were literally laughing at the Ole Miss football team.
Jake had many other logical and true reasons why Coach Nutt is on the hot seat when it comes to keeping his job.
Thomas Schmidt, a long time Arkansas Razorback fan, who has been a follower of Houston Nutt for years said,
“I predicted that Nutt would give us two good years, like he did in Arkansas, and then our program would go to crap…look what is happening.”
Schmidt went on to tell me about how Coach Nutt, who has the arguably the three best running backs in the SEC, could never coach the talent that was available to him.
Schmidt said, “There was always a game here and there that Nutt would win, and upset an SEC juggernaut, and then the next game his teams will come out and completely lay an egg.”
With games against Alabama, Arkansas, LSU and Mississippi St. on the horizon, it will be interesting to see if Ole Miss will win another game the whole year, which in turn will definitely cause an uproar when it comes to the jobs of Pete Boone and Houston Nutt.
Anna Frost, Journalism major at Ole Miss is a girl that absolutely knows sports and Ole Miss football.
When I asked Anna about the current state of Ole Miss Football and athletics she said,
“Sometimes completely starting over and revamping a program is beneficial to players and coaches alike. I am in no position to judge someone by how many games he/she wins or loses, but all that I am saying is that I agree with the masses in that it is time for a change.”
Ole Miss Athletics is a hot topic with many alumni and students on Campus and all over Mississippi.
People want to see Ole Miss succeed, like they did in the days of Archie and Eli. It is time for a change here at the University…Something needs to be done.
Sources
Thomas Schmidt (501) 580-4445 Email: twschmid15@olemiss.edu
Anna Frost (615) 403-3510
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