Houston Nutt Resigns as Arkansas Football Coach

Atlanta, GA 11/26/2007 10:46 PM GMT (FINDITT)

Houston Nutt will not return as Arkansas head football coach, according to sources Monday. This will end the second-longest head coaching tenure in the SEC.

Nutt will announce his resignation at a news conference scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET. Nutt is second only to Frank Broyles in victories in Razorbacks history.

This announcement comes days after his Razorbacks defeated the No. 1 team in the country, LSU, in Baton Rouge 50-48 in triple overtime. Running back Darren McFadden, who can become the first Heisman Trophy winner in Arkansas history, ended the game with 32 carries for 206 yards and three touchdowns. McFadden also threw for a touchdown.

After the game, university chancellor John A. White responded by offering Nutt an annual salary of $2.4 million annually to remain coach. However, Nutt believes the university community will not unite as long as he is the coach.

The last couple of years have been controversial for Nutt as far as his recruiting and use of local stars Mitch Mustain and Damian Williams, the quarterback and wide receiver who transferred to USC after the 2006 season. An Arkansas fan also acquired Nutt's cell phone records through the Freedom of Information Act.

This season, the Razorbacks ended with an 8-4 record. Nutt will leave Arkansas with a 10-year record of 75-48 (.610) and three SEC West championships, including two trips to the SEC championship game.

He is expected to be a candidate for at least three jobs that were recently vacated: Baylor, SMU and Ole Miss.

For more sports news, please check out http://news.finditt.com/NewsList.aspx?cat=6&wcat=5

befound@finditt.com

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