Full table

“There’s a bunch of Lions and Tigers and Bears, but there’s only one Razorback.”

—Houston Nutt in his first pre-game speech as coach of the Razorbacks in 1998.

BY MOST counts, 15 years represents half a social generation. That’s a long time to hold a grudge.

Former Razorback coach Houston Nutt—he of the three SEC West titles and two trips to Atlanta, the Little Rock boy who bled Razorback red—was back before the Little Rock Touchdown Club this week.

The paper reports he addressed a full house of 600-plus; an enthusiastic 600-plus.

That any pining for Houston Nutt associated with his appearance came on the heels of consecutive home losses in Fayetteville is coincidence, despite any current angst attached to the program.

Ah, the ebbs and flows of fandom, part of college football’s DNA. Coach Nutt experienced as much over the course of his tenure in Fayetteville.

After nine seasons, the Houston Nutt era had run its course; even his staunchest supporters acknowledge as much. And the departure was bitter on both sides. But now it feels something like official that the grudges are gone. Coach Nutt did much to elevate the program, and looking back at the record book, that 75-46 slate from 1998 to 2007 looks pretty darn good given the program’s past decade pre-Pittman.

Some of the greatest memories associated with the program were delivered in Houston’s tenure. And more will be under Sam Pittman, we’re confident. (Some already have been—the three unlikely covid wins, the 2021 Texas beatdown, the New Year’s Day win over Penn State . . .)

Houston Nutt and Sam Pittman are alike in their passion for Arkansas, for the Hogs. And though no guarantor of success, passion is job one. Those two had—and have—it in spades.

Besides, Coach Nutt never stopped loving the Hogs, even if his anger led him briefly over the river. He’s family. And isn’t it nice to have an estranged family member back at the table for Thanksgiving?