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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Houston Nutt Press Conference
12/30/2009 | Football
On playing in Cowboys Stadium: "They did not leave one stone unturned. ... There was a lot of oohing and ahhing the first day. They just love being in there. It's going to be fun. We're excited. Our fans are excited. They're probably making their way down. It's going to get crowded. I hope all the stores have stocked their shelves. They will help your economy this week, I promise you."
On the high expectations for Ole Miss coming into the season: "We were in some uncharted waters. For the first time in 40 years, we were picked in the Top 10. ... When things didn't go right - especially early in Columbia, S.C. - it was easy to get down. ... But the bottom line is this is what makes this game the greatest game there is. It's about getting knocked down, and it's about getting back up. And that's really what we did. That's where I credit our seniors. We have a good group of seniors. Our seniors really were the backbone of our team. I really thought the perseverance, their spirit, their attitude was good. ... I was excited with the way we fought through it. There's nothing wrong about being in the Cotton Bowl. There's nothing wrong with that at all. We had the goal of getting to Atlanta (for the Southeastern Conference championship game). One day we're going to get there. But this is a good step. It's always about the way you finish. Our last regular season game (a loss to Mississippi State) wasn't very good. This is a great reward to be able to have all of these extra practices. ... Now, you get to play one more game in the greatest stadium in the world."
On Oklahoma State's talent level: "They've done an excellent job recruiting. ... They're very athletic. They're really good looking guys, good athletes. You can see why they won the number of games that they did."
On whether the way coaches interact with players has changed: "My dad was a coach for 34 years. My brothers were coaches. I had the opportunity to be around Frank Broyles, Lou Holtz, Jimmy Johnson, Pat Jones, Jack Crowe, Joe Kines - just good, good coaches. I can only be myself. I think the one thing our players would tell you about our staff is that No. 1, we want to be a difference maker. I will never hire anyone unless I would want him to coach my son. We tell our players all the time, 'We're going to coach you very hard.' Off the field, we're going to talk about fishing, basketball, girlfriends or family. But on the field, we want you to know that we're going to coach you very, very hard, and we want you to have the attitude of 'coach me, and coach me hard.' That's with discipline, with structure - to be able to take the criticism, to be able to take constructive criticism."
On taking things from other coaches with whom he has worked: "They all had their way, so you took a little bit from each of them. But you have to be yourself. We're going to treat each player as it if were my son. We're going to treat them with respect, love, discipline and all of those things. But it's a tough love sometimes. We want them to know that they're going to do things the right way. We're going to hold them accountable. As far as looking around the country at how others handle their players, I don't really do that. I hear what you hear. I don't know the stories. I don't know exactly what has happened. I just kind of go by what we've done and what we believe in. That's trying to make a difference in a young person's life."
On the distractions of playing in Cowboys Stadium: "We practiced in there with the big screen going every day. So it kind of got us out of looking up all the time. It has been just fabulous. It has been awesome - a different atmosphere. I think it has helped that every single day we have been able to go into that stadium."
On balancing work with personal life as a head coach: "We're all jugglers, trying to juggle our time. I think you have to get away. I think during the day that I need to let our guys go get lunch, go get on the bike, go jog. I like fresh coaches. I like high-energy guys. ... We just can't close the shop at 4 p.m. It can't be a 9-to-4 or 9-to-5 job. ... It's 24-7. You want to win. You want to do everything you can to give your guys a chance to be successful, to win, to be that difference maker. It's every day. It's summertime. ... It's 24/7. It's every day. It's going to summer school, it's working out."
On looking out for his assistant coaches: "I want our guys to have a physical. ... It's things like that. It brings attention to the fact that you better take care of yourself, you better eat right, you better get a little exercise."
On the Rebels' 8-4 regular season: "We had one open date. We had 11 straight weeks of football. That was pretty tough. It kind of took its toll on a few of our players. But we're back and doing a lot better now. That time off was good. This will be our 17th or 18th practice if you count the practices we had back home."
On the tradition of the AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic: "There is a special place in my heart for the Cotton Bowl. ... I was begging. I was really wanting to come back to be the last team in the old stadium and the first team able to come into the new stadium. ... It has gone to another level. We have always known about the hospitality. It's first class in every manner. But now you're at a different level, a different stage. That's what you have now. ... Your players are able to walk into the stadium and say, 'This is the stadium where all of the great ones play.' That's where they want to play one day. They all want to play on Sunday. It is a tremendous opportunity for both schools, especially for us to be able to close the old one and come into the new one."
On the importance of winning the bowl game: "Winning helps everything - it helps recruiting, it helps your program, it helps the winter conditioning, it helps the 5:30 a.m. weight workouts, it helps the summer workouts, all of those things. It just helps everything. There's nothing like winning."
On the progress of QB Jevan Snead: "When he is focused, when he is in tune, he can be one of the best quarterbacks in the country. Starting out this year, he pressed a little bit. We had a couple of new guys in new positions. You lose a Michael Oher, you lose a Michael Wallace, and all of a sudden you get sacked early and there are some thoughts going on. When you take the snap, sometimes you look to make sure everybody is going to get their jobs done, and it takes away from looking downfield. ... But toward the middle of the year, a lot like last year, he really started focusing and letting everybody do their job. You don't have to be Superman. Just distribute the ball to your teammates, manage the game, take care of the ball. When he does that, he's a good quarterback."
On whether Snead should come back for his senior season: "I always try to talk to all of the juniors who may be looking over the fence. I talk to all of them about the future and about decision making. If they are in the top 10, 15 or 20 picks (in the NFL draft), they probably should go. We'll have that information. We'll have a good idea of what's going to happen - not 100 percent, but we'll have a very good idea. I think they'll know that we're going to be honest with them and get a lot of good information from professional people. ... I like recruiting guys who have the ability to come out their junior year. But right now that has not been a focus. I don't want to talk about that until after our very last ballgame. So we haven't talked about this in three or four months. That really goes for all our guys. ... Michael Oher had the opportunity to come out. But we talked to Michael and based on the information we got, we said, 'Michael, you're really going to be a mid-round pick. Come back one more year. We'll have you stronger, quicker, better.' It really worked out for Michael. ... That's the same type of conversation we'll have (with Snead) after the last game."