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Many people have approached me with the opinion that Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt was too critical of freshman receiver Donte Moncrief for his drop of a great pass from Randall
Mackey, a deep ball that would have put the Rebels down around the Arkansas 15 in a game that was tied at 17 in the third quarter.
I have mixed opinions there. I thought Nutt lingered too long on the subject, even came back to it a second time. You're just not going to catch every ball.
I'm also a proponent of responsibility for players, guys who are old enough for military service.
Here's Nutt in his opening statement: “I wish Donte would have caught one more ball. He made some great catches today, but I wish he'd have caught one more ball. I think that would have put us over the edge right there. We needed something in the third quarter to give us the confidence to go ahead and finish it,” Nutt said.
Later in response to a question about the third quarter Nutt said, “We got off rhythm a little bit. We dropped some balls, illegal procedure, too many penalties, then you drop a ball like that that changes the end of the field. Man, all we needed was one score. I really feel like all we needed was one score to get that confidence where you say, 'Hey, we're going to win now.'”
I don't have the audio file saved, but it seems like Nutt had less to say about Nick Brassell's end zone drop against BYU. Circumstances gave that one a better chance of being the difference in winning and losing in that game than Moncrief's drop – a very big drop – did against Arkansas.
Moncrief had five other catches for 73 yards in the game. He had two touchdown catches, neither of which were easy.
The critical line is a fine one to walk in public for coaches, and different coaches handle it differently. Offensive coordinator David Lee, who has an extensive background coaching NFL players, has done pretty well this season with holding players accountable for performance, but he had little to say about Moncrief's drop.
“Listen, Donte's a really good player, a really good player. A freshman who's played way past what I thought would happen when he came in here. You're not going to catch every ball. It sure would have helped. We were down on the 12, I think, or the 15. I thought he played well, and I'm not going to put anything on his plate for that play.”
Some will say Nutt was trying to deflect attention away from the coaching. I don't think that's the case. He was genuinely bothered by the play that got away, one he truly believed would have been the difference-maker for Ole Miss.
but giving nutt a year does not mean same ole stuff, he has some exciting freshman, i would like to see what they could do next year and what he could do if he could recruit one more year,
that being said ,he has to learn to look ahead
we can not have two years to say we need a quarterback or two years to say well bolden is gone and we do not have a running back
he has to have folks in place to replace
JB
The end result being much gnashing of teeth and verbal abuse to the poor tv to see players improve but be outcoached.
I really think that if the team can play like they did in the first half, and have more motivation in the second half...keep that up and build on it each week, there is no reason why we couldn't take 3 of these last 5 games.
And I also agree that it is time for a change in the upper administration. Not sure that is going to happen, but with as many people that are not happy with the current group...you know, people feed off of other people's energy. Make some changes that people like...and that energy could very well flow past the crowd base and start helping the players.
You actually never know. There could be player/coaches that would like to see the chang in administration as well. They just can't say it!
Nutts first year he had fire and passion it seemed and it showed in his players. Truck on and last year it seemed he had ZERO passion for the game anymore and this year its more of the same. To me its almost as if he is tired of coaching but just can't seem to give it up.
What is needed is a new slate all the way around from coaches to upper Administration. Bring in a fiery young guy and staff and then give them the time needed to turn things around. No one questioned Coach O's fire - just his ability to be a head coach. Cutcliff I think got a raw deal, but thats old news also. I am sure I would like Nutt as a friend, but this isn't Arkansas. Its time for a change.
I might be totally off my rocker, but how schools handle a couple of loosing seasons just makes me laugh.
Everyone loved HDN the first couple of years...and now they are ready to string him up.
Again, some may agree...and some may not.
Nut should have just made the comment that “Moncrief has worked his tail off, made some HUGE plays for us not just during this game but all year. He was down on himself after the drop, but he is a competitor and he proved that by coming back and making another big play for us in the 4th quarter.”
It seems HDN blames every loss on this play and that play; how about blaming this game and that game on coaching and lack of adjustments at half time along with suspect play calling (on both sides of the ball). Penalties have also been very costly for us this year, but that is not just the player’s fault it falls on the coaches too, especially when they keep occurring. Talent alone is not our issue, lack of depth and coaching is. I was for keeping the HDN crew, less Nix, around for another year (and still waiver) but what’s on paper speaks volumes and it is hard for me to look past a 10 game losing streak in the SEC with the possibility of more to come. I cannot stand to read his comments on anything because it is all BS and excuse ridden; all you have to do is look at the product on the field to know that he is full of it. I am ready for someone in both the administration and coaching staff to get the fans/me jacked up and excited to be a Rebel again. Right now, pro sports is all I have less my Grizzlies of course (a whole other terrible subject).