General Hogspital

The soap opera continues in Fayetteville, home of the Arkansas Razorbacks. Orson at Every Day Should Be Saturday compares it to a Spanish telenovela.

Arkansas offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn resigned this week to become co-offensive coordinator for new head coach Todd Graham at the University of Tulsa. This sounds really crazy, as Arkansas went 10-3 this season, winning the SEC West, and Tulsa is a mid-major program in Conference USA. Why would he make this move? And, why is Hog Nation in mutiny tonight? Why does this matter?

Coach Malzahn was hired this season from the campus of Springdale High School, where his team finished as undefeated state champions and in the top five in the nation in 2005. His Springdale team featured five Division I recruits, including Gatorade National Player of the Year QB Mitch Mustain. Arkansas head coach Houston Nutt was strongly encouraged to hire Malzahn as his offensive coordinator, in an effort to sign Mustain and the other home-grown prospects. There was a problem, however. Nutt favors a run-based offense, and the Hogs had Heisman runner-up running back Darren McFadden. Malzahn is a guru of the Hurry-Up No-Huddle offense (HUNH), and has written a book about it. As could be expected, their philosophies clashed. Malzahn handled the situation with class, even after having his play-calling duties sharply reduced in spite of an 8-1 start.

At the end of the regular season, the parents of the Springdale recruits asked for and got a meeting with resident fossil/athletic director Frank Broyles. Broyles listened to their concerns, and told them that "experts" had told him they didn’t think the HUNH offense would work in the SEC, and that he agreed with them. This wouldn’t be the first time Broyles has interfered with the coaches after retiring as coach-ask Ken Hatfield. The parents were upset, and aired their concerns to the press. Mustain had already made some questionable comments about Nutt during his recruitment, as a local reporter wrote a book on the Springdale championship run. Needless to say, all was not well in Fayetteville, even as the Hogs were having a good season.

A ton of Hog fans are upset, because they feel that Nutt, Broyles, and company lied to Malzahn and the Springdale recruits regarding the offense. They were told the Hogs would throw the ball more, but Nutt did the opposite toward the end of the season, especially after Mustain was benched after going 8-0 as a starter.

So, no-huddle guru Malzahn starts up the Gus Bus and goes down Highway 412 to Tulsa, where he will receive the same $175,000/year salary with the Golden Hurricane. Little ol’ University of Tulsa paying $175,000 for a co-offensive coordinator? There is a lot of old oil money floating around on 11th Street. And, QB Mustain is preparing to follow him down the road.

So, Gus Malzahn, the people’s choice, ends up in Tulsa, and Houston Nutt is more on the hot seat than ever at Arkansas. Nutt turned down the Nebraska job three years ago before it went to Bill Callahan. That’s nuts. He also flirted with jobs at LSU, N.C. State, and Alabama in recent years. But, as long as he does things the Broyles way, he’ll have a job at Arkansas.

This really doesn’t matter outside of the state of Arkansas, and the city of Tulsa. It is an interesting story to follow, however. From everything I’ve read, Gus Malzahn is a really good guy, and deserves success at the college level. As for the Hogs, they are just waiting for Frank Broyles to be escorted out of the athletic building, in one way, shape or form. Their football program will not reach its potential as long as the old man is on the hill in Fayetteville.