Ole Miss has an odd couple for its offense
For most football followers that are familiar with Houston Nutt and Kent Austin, the idea of their working together is a little surprising.
Yet, there they are, Nutt in his first year as head coach at Ole Miss, Austin in his first season as offensive coordinator at his alma mater.
The two have joined forces to get the Rebels off to a 2-1 start heading into Saturday’s Southeastern Conference matchup with visiting Vanderbilt.
It’s a bit of an unusual coupling in that Nutt has historically brought a run-first, ask-questions-later approach to that side of the ball, while Austin — who spent the bulk of his professional playing career in Canada, where teams only have three downs to get 10 yards — is considerably more pass-oriented.
Count Carlton Flatt among those intrigued by the pairing.
“I bet he and Houston won’t always agree on that,” said Flatt, who coached Austin at Brentwood Academy in 1979 and 1980. In the mid-’90s, Austin worked with Flatt’s quarterbacks before embarking on his own coaching career.
tennessean.com
9/19/08
