Jean-Francois to Join Tiger Squad for Conference Championship

(CSTV U-WIRE) BATON ROUGE, La. -- A relatively unfamiliar face will be rejoining the LSU football team Saturday.

Sophomore defensive end Ricky Jean-Francois, who LSU (10-2, 6-2) suspended for the entire regular season because of academic reasons, is expected to dress for the Southeastern Conference Championship on Saturday at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

"He's gonna play," said LSU coach Les Miles. "He'll take some snaps in the game, I promise you. We're going to see if we can get him tired."

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Miles declined to say exactly why Jean-Francois was suspended for the season, but he did say he continued to practice with the team.

"It's a pretty big game," Miles said. "Would you want to play the championship game? I think he does."

INJURY UPDATE

Miles said senior quarterback Matt Flynn and sophomore wide receiver Trindon Holliday have been practicing for the game against Tennessee (9-3, 6-2).

Injured ankles kept Holliday from dressing out for Friday's loss to Arkansas, but Miles said he took snaps, ran routes and caught passes in Wednesday's practice.

Flynn suffered a shoulder injury during a two-point conversion play against Arkansas. He missed practice early in the week, but Miles said he expects Flynn to start Saturday.

"He's limited some, but he threw the ball well," Miles said.

Miles denied that Flynn had undergone tests or procedures following his injury.

He said the quarterback will not be hurt by missing a couple practices.

"The whole issue is, we're not going to change anything," Miles said. "We're going to run the things that we run. All he's got to do is be healthy and ready to play."

BACKUPS READY TO PLAY

Sophomore quarterback Ryan Perrilloux has been taking some first team snaps in the event he has to replace Flynn.

Miles said he does not expect Perrilloux will start but would be confident in the offense if he did.

"Through the year, anytime a guy takes the number of snaps that he has, he has full command of the offense," Miles said. "He certainly has been through a season and understands what we're asking him to do."

EXTRACURRICULAR COMMUNICATIONS

Miles addressed the open Michigan coaching position by saying there have been no communications between him and his alma mater.

He also said defensive coordinator Bo Pelini's alleged talks with Nebraska have had no affect on the team.

Miles said it is unfair to a team to have its coach called on for a new position during a season. He said it might be better if those talks were held off until all games were played.

"I'm not saying it's not appropriate," Miles said. "But the significance of competition ... is based on a commitment that's full and complete. I don't want anything to distract me from the next game with this team."

Nutt Takes Over at Ole Miss

Five weeks after defeating Ole Miss, Houston Nutt returned to this oak-studded campus Wednesday as the Rebels' new coach.



Nutt was introduced to 1,500 cheering fans during a news conference less than 48 hours after resigning at Arkansas and the day after Ole Miss athletics director Pete Boone announced he'd hired Nutt to resurrect his football program.

"It gives me chills when you clap and applaud because it means you're hungry," Nutt said.

No doubt Nutt is wanted at Ole Miss, where they embrace his winning record and have seen up close how good his Arkansas teams have been.

In Oxford, about 500 Ole Miss fans had to be turned away at the door of the campus' Gertrude Castellow Ford Center for Performing Arts, and Nutt had to pause through several ovations from the standing room-only crowd. Signs that the Ole Miss faithful approved of the hire were everywhere.

"One thing I love about Ole Miss is the tradition," Nutt said, naming past players such as Archie Manning and Frank "Bruiser" Kinard. "It's about tradition. That's the reason I am here. I feel like this place can be successful. I feel like this place can win."

Nutt agreed to a four-year, $7.4 million contract with options for three more years totaling $6.6 million. He appears to have the credentials required to turn around the Rebel program.

He replaces Ed Orgeron, who was fired Saturday after the Rebels finished 3-9. The team went winless in the Southeastern Conference for the first time since 1982.

Boone said Nutt matches the description of the kind of coach he told chancellor Robert Khayat he was looking for: "I said, 'It's fairly simple. I'd like a proven Southeastern Conference coach.'"

Nutt's resume matches Ole Miss' needs. The 2006 SEC coach of the year led Arkansas to an 8-4 finish and a likely Cotton Bowl berth, the school's eighth postseason trip in Nutt's 10 years.

The 50-year-old is 111-70 in 15 years as a head coach at Arkansas, Boise State and Murray State, and he's been a winner in the SEC. He revived the Razorbacks after replacing Danny Ford in 1997, going 75-48. Nutt was 42-38 in conference and won three SEC West titles.

Nutt grew up in Little Rock, Ark., played for the Razorbacks for a season and was an assistant coach in Fayetteville. He expressed hope Sunday that he could stay in Fayetteville but resigned Monday evening and was hired by Boone about four hours later.

The Rebels won six SEC championships between 1947-63, and Nutt said it's his goal to bring titles to Oxford again.

"We want to win an SEC championship outright," Nutt said. "We want to do those things. But you're in the toughest conference in America. So it's going to take an unbelievable commitment by everyone."

LSU Grants Permission to Michigan to Talk with Miles

Michigan athletics officials asked for and received permission from LSU to meet with Les Miles about the Wolverines' head football coaching vacancy.

LSU athletic director Skip Bertman granted the request on condition that Michigan representatives wait until after Saturday's Southeastern Conference championship game in Atlanta before starting negotiations, LSU spokesman Herb Vincent said.





Vincent said Bertman and LSU chancellor Sean O'Keefe also plan to meet with Miles next week to discuss his contract.

"We're trying to get the SEC championship game behind us that's why we're scheduling these things for next week," Vincent said.

LSU was not prepared to make a statement about the extent to which the school was prepared to compete with Michigan's offer, should one be made, Vincent said.

"We're just looking forward to the game Saturday and that's the focus of the entire program right now, Saturday's game against Tennessee," Vincent said.

Miles, in his third season as LSU coach, went 11-2 his first two years. The Tigers are 10-2 this season and ranked fifth in the AP poll.

Calls and e-mails seeking comment were left with Michigan athletic director Bill Martin on Wednesday afternoon and evening.

Martin, who has not commented on the search since Carr's announcement, interviewed Michigan coordinators Ron English and Mike DeBord earlier this week.

"We're not going to make any comments on the search," Michigan spokesman Bruce Madej said Wednesday night.

Miles seems to have everything college football's winningest program is looking for, including ties to the school and the late-great coach Bo Schembechler.

He played at Michigan and was on the coaching staff in Ann Arbor, Mich., where he met his wife.

Last week, though, Miles pleaded with the media to let the topic rest.

Even though Miles appears in a great situation leading the Tigers in a talent-rich area without a competing school nearby, LSU was concerned enough about him bolting for Michigan that it put a specific clause in his contract to make it an expensive move.

In the "termination by coach" section of his deal, Michigan is the only other school mentioned. It states that Miles will not seek or accept employment as Michigan's coach. If Miles does leave LSU to coach the Wolverines, he must pay LSU $1.25 million.

Martin has said he is looking for the next Carr, who led Michigan to the 1997 national championship and five Big Ten titles while keeping the school above even suspicions about NCAA violations.

Michigan traditionally has gotten away with paying its football coach less than top of the market rates.

Martin acknowledged the school might have to offer a candidate up to $3 million a season or roughly twice as much as Carr earned annually.

After Carr announced his retirement, Martin said he did not expect it would be difficult to land a coach to lead what Carr told him is the best job in the country.

"Not only because it's Michigan, but because of the renovations we're doing to the Big House and also because we broke ground last Friday morning for our $28 million indoor practice facility," Martin said. "We'll have the finest facilities in the country. We also have patience to work with a coach as he transitions in."

Jon Lester wins Conigliaro Award

Jon Lester, who came back from a cancer diagnosis in 2006 to win this year's World Series clincher for Boston, was honored Wednesday with the Tony Conigliaro Award for overcoming adversity through spirit, determination and courage.

The 23-year-old pitcher was diagnosed with a rare form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in August 2006. After cancer treatment during the offseason, he started the year on the disabled list. Lester was recalled in July and finished the regular season 4-0 with a 4.57 ERA.

Lester is cancer-free and will have another checkup when he returns to Boston in January to receive the award.

"It's just a storybook-type ending," he said. "If you'd have told me that at the end of last year in spring training that we would have been in that situation, I probably would have laughed at you."

The award, which will be presented at the Boston chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America dinner on Jan. 17, is named for the promising Red Sox player whose career was derailed when he was hit in the face by a pitch in 1967.

Pitching coach John Farrell said Lester looks great and "will be counted on heavily once spring training opens."

The team will have an abbreviated spring training in Florida because of its Tokyo opener against Oakland on March 25. Questions remain about the rotation.

"It's important to acknowledge that, yes, some informal discussions have been had on the six-man rotation, pros and cons to it. But we also look at the schedule and the amount of off days that we'll have, particularly with the international travel," Farrell said. "But I think, most importantly, we want to keep all our pitchers as healthy and as strong as possible, even into September and beyond."

To that end, Lester this week joined Curt Schilling, Manny Delcarmen, Clay Buchholz, Justin Masterson, Michael Bowden and Caleb Clay for offseason workouts at Fenway. Tim Wakefield was expected to join them Thursday.

"It's a combination of guys that had needs, whether it was surgery-related at some point during the season or just a condition that we felt warranted further evaluation and to monitor where they are in their offseason program," Farrell said.

Joining Lester in receiving awards at the writers' dinner were first baseman Kevin Youkilis for the Jackie Jensen Award, which goes to a Red Sox player for hustle and determination; Terry Francona as the MLB manager of the year, as voted by the chapter; and Jacoby Ellsbury and Buchholz as Red Sox minor-league players of the year.

Nutt to be Paid $7.4 Million for Four Years

New Ole Miss football coach Houston Nutt stands to make $7.4 million in his first four years on the job, with an option for three more years at a total of $6.6 million, athletic director Pete Boone said today.

“The price of poker has gone up,” said Boone. “They’re high, but reasonable numbers, with the market as it is.”

Boone announced in an e-mailed news release that Nutt is the new Rebel coach. The announcement came less than 24 hours after Nutt resigned as the Arkansas coach, and some three days after Ed Orgeron was fired after three years as the Rebel coach.

Boone did not speak to reporters about the hire until 5 p.m. today. Nutt has not returned messages to his cell phone today. He’s scheduled to be introduced as the new coach on Wednesday at a noon news conference at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts on the Ole Miss campus.

Orgeron made about $900,000 annually, with $210,000 in state salary and the rest from the University of Mississippi Athletic Association, the school’s private fund-raising arm for athletics.

Nutt’s contract starts at $1.7 million the first year and escalates to $1.8 million, $1.9 million and $2 million by the fourth year. The option years are for $2.1 million, $2.2 million and $2.3 million.

Boone hired a national headhunter company to aid in the search, but said he’ll only pay them “a couple of thousands of dollars,” because a deal was reached with Nutt so quickly. He said he talked to Nutt briefly on Sunday, then talks intensified throughout the day on Monday. Nutt announced his resignation at Arkansas at 6:30 Monday night, and a deal with Ole Miss was reached by 10 p.m., said Boone.

Nutt, who will receive some $3 million in deferred compensation from Arkansas’ Razorback Foundation, compiled a 75-48 record over 10 seasons. He was offered a reported $2.4 million to stay with the Razorbacks, but chose instead to resign, citing unrest among the Arkansas fan base.

Although the Razorbacks are 8-4 this season, went 10-4 last year and won the Southeastern Conference Western Division title, the last two seasons in Fayetteville, Ark., have been marked with growing fan unrest with Nutt and his program.

Some readers, posting on the clarionledger.com forums and blogs, have stated their opposition to the hiring of Nutt, but Boone said he has “done his homework,” and considered Nutt the perfect coach to rally what has become a fractured Rebel fan base.

“There’s not many Houston Nutts out there who have his success in the SEC and have recruited where we recruit,” Boone said. “I mean, it was just an absolute perfect fit.”

Nutt, 50, won three SEC West Division titles and had a 3-4 bowl record during his tenure. Arkansas, which beat Ole Miss 44-8 on Oct. 20 in Oxford, capped its regular season last Friday with a 50-48 three-overtime victory at Baton Rouge that knocked then-No. 1-ranked LSU out of the national title picture. Nutt will not coach in Arkansas’ yet-to-be-determined bowl game.

Nutt is 111-70 in 15 years as a head coach at Arkansas, Boise State and Murray State. He was 42-38 in SEC games and twice took the Razorbacks to the SEC championship game in Atlanta — a trip Ole Miss has not made since the SEC was expanded to 12 teams and split into divisions in 1992.

While Arkansas is likely headed to the Cotton Bowl, Nutt will be going to the homes of recruits attempting to hold together the promising class Orgeron was assembling.

Nutt said Monday he left Arkansas to help mend a split among fans after off-the-field problems were compounded by a difficult season. The Razorbacks started the year ranked and were expected to contend for the SEC West title against the Tigers.

Arkansas lost its first three SEC games and dropped out of the poll in September, fueling fan discontent over last year's transfer of quarterback Mitch Mustain and the loss of offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn, who left for Tulsa.

Several members of Orgeron’s staff were on the road recruiting Tuesday. Boone said Nutt will have free reign to hire a new staff, but that the three coaches “most interested” in remaining from Orgeron’s staff are recruiting coordinator Hugh Freeze, offensive line coach Art Kehoe and defensive coordinator John Thompson. Thompson, in the first year of a three-year contract worth about $1 million, served as Nutt’s defensive coordinator at Arkansas in 2000-01.

Hiring Nutt Great Move for Ole Miss

This morning, Ole Miss hired former Arkansas coach Houston Nutt as its 36th football coach in school history.

In less than 24 hours, the question as to who the next coach will be has changed to a deal being completed by brunch.

Just as soon as Nutt left his coveted football position in Fayetteville Monday evening, the schools wanting him for their own lined up around the block.

Not only had Ole Miss made Nutt its No. 1 choice to replace Ed Orgeron, but so had Baylor, which got rid of Guy Morriss last week. Georgia Tech, which fired Chan Gailey, had reportedly set its sights on the former Razorback head man, while Nebraska, which wanted Nutt four years ago before hiring Bill Callahan, was also a possibility to go after the run-happy Nutt.

In the fast-paced world of coaching hires, Nutt clearly rose to the top of many schools’ wish lists.

Who could blame Ole Miss and other schools for looking at Nutt? He had a tremendous 10-year run at Arkansas. He led the Razorbacks to three Southeastern Conference West titles, eight bowl games and 75 wins. Oh yeah, he was the SEC Coach of the Year in 2006. Sure he was just 2-5 in bowl games with the Razorbacks, but going to bowl games is something the Rebels have forgotten how to do.

Thanks to a win over then-No. 1 LSU this past Friday, Nutt now has 111 career wins in 15 seasons as a head coach.

Nutt knows how to win
The man knows how to win and win big, and schools like Ole Miss, which has suffered through four straight losing seasons, and Baylor, which hasn’t been good since Grant Teaff piloted the Bears in the 1970s through the early 1990s, were ready to offer Nutt in the neighborhood of $2 million per year in the attempt to end the losing.

There seem to be several reasons why Nutt is no longer at Arkansas, but winning games, big games, has never been much of an issue. Sure Arkansas fans would have loved to win one or both of the SEC title games the Razorbacks were involved in, but it’s hard to argue with the overall success of the Razorbacks under Nutt.

Not only has the program flourished since Nutt took over for Danny Ford in 1998, Arkansas is on solid footing from a talent standpoint so that even his successor should be able to produce a winning season in 2008.

With players like Felix Jones, Jonathan Luigs, Casey Dick, Malcolm Sheppard, Andrew Davie, Jerrell Norton, Alex Tejada and Jeremy Davis still having at least a year of eligibility left, Nutt has left the cupboard pretty full for the next coach, which says a lot about the stability of the program.

Sure, star running back and Heisman Trophy front runner Darren McFadden is just a junior, but he wasn’t coming back even if Nutt was there in 2008.

Nutt loved by his players
The Arkansas players loved Nutt and they have always given him every ounce of effort. In a one-game setting, Nutt has proven he is one of the best, if not the best, coach in the SEC time and time again.

He has shown the ability to adapt his coaching skills around the players on the roster, and rather than force them to do something they couldn’t do, he has made them better by coaching to their strengths.

It didn’t take a rocket scientist, or better yet, somebody with a high football IQ to recognize that Nutt was the best coach available to fill any and all of the openings in college football currently. His record and accomplishments on the field speak for themselves.

Thankfully for Ole Miss’ sake, the school was able to hire a quality coach like Nutt to run the program. Negotiations continued to progress throughout the night Monday, while a press conference to announce his hiring will be Wednesday.

All of this is indeed good news for Rebel fans all over the state, the South and beyond. Hope and excitement is sure to return to a fan base that became fractured, to say the least, under Orgeron. The hiring of Nutt in this wild, wacky coaching search business is a good thing and obtaining Nutt’s services to lead the Rebels in 2008 and beyond is definitely an upgrade and a reason to celebrate for many reasons.

Nutt Leaves Arkansas for Ole Miss

JACKSON, Miss. -- One day, Houston Nutt was leaving Arkansas. The next, he was heading to Mississippi.

Ole Miss will introduce Nutt as its new coach Wednesday, ending a whirlwind hiring that began when he resigned at Arkansas on Monday and agreed to become the Rebels' coach hours later.

Mississippi was without a coach for less than three days. Athletic director Pete Boone fired Ed Orgeron on Saturday after three losing seasons.

"It's human nature not to like change, but I think in this case, change is going to be a good thing," fullback Jason Cook said. "Especially as a player, you get excited when a guy gets hired like coach Nutt. He's more than proven in the SEC and proven as a coach that he can take talent and work with it. We're very excited."

Nutt agreed to a contract around 10 p.m. Monday, less than four hours after announcing he was resigning. He led Arkansas to an 8-4 record and a likely Cotton Bowl berth while the Rebels stumbled to a 3-9 finish under Orgeron and were winless in the SEC for the first time since 1982.



Nutt will be introduced at a news conference on campus Wednesday in Oxford, ending a frenetic 48 hours for the school and its new coach.

"You know the old metaphor," Boone said. "When you smell blood you need to go and find out if you can get the job done. I think we were thorough in our discussions and covered all the things we needed to cover, but I felt like let's get this thing done."

Nutt agreed to a four-year contract that will pay him $1.7 million to start and increase by $100,000 each year. He has an option for three more seasons as well, with the opportunity to earn more money with incentives.

Ole Miss was searching for a proven winner after years of mediocrity. Nutt neatly fits the description.

He is 111-70 in 15 years as a head coach at Arkansas, Boise State and Murray State, and he's been a winner in the SEC. The Little Rock, Ark., native revived the Arkansas program, going 75-48 since he replaced Danny Ford in 1997. Nutt was 42-38 in conference with one of his biggest wins coming last week when the Razorbacks beat then-No. 1 LSU 50-48 in triple overtime.

While the Razorbacks head into the postseason, Nutt will be going to the homes of recruits attempting to hold together the promising class Orgeron was assembling.




Shortly after Houston Nutt announced his resignation at Arkansas, he was being courted by Mississippi.

The 50-year-old Nutt said Monday he left Arkansas to help mend a split among fans after off-the-field problems were compounded by a difficult season. The Razorbacks started the year ranked and were expected to contend for the SEC West title.

A source told ESPN.com's Ivan Maisel that Nutt turned down a two-year extension from Arkansas worth $2.4 million annually after the Razorbacks upset No. 1 ranked LSU last week.

Arkansas lost its first three SEC games and dropped out of the poll in September, fueling fan discontent over last year's transfer of quarterback Mitch Mustain and the loss of offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn, who left for Tulsa.

Calls to Nutt's agent, Jimmy Sexton, were not immediately returned.

Arkansas officials said they would not comment until after Wednesday's formal announcement.

Nutt takes over a program that's won four or fewer games a season since 2003's 10-win effort under David Cutcliffe. The Rebels won a share of the SEC West that season with Eli Manning at quarterback.

Since the Rebels are 14-32. Boone fired Cutcliffe in 2004 for not recruiting well enough. He had hoped Orgeron, who helped build two national title teams at Southern California as Pete Carroll's recruiting coordinator, would bring the kind of energy needed to compete in the tough SEC.

Orgeron finished 10-25 and was routinely the target of fan discontent.

Boone and Chancellor Robert Khayat endorsed Orgeron midway through the season, but decided to go in a new direction after the Rebels lost five of six to end the year.

The Rebels have been looking for a coach who can produce championships since Johnny Vaught retired in 1970. Vaught won three national titles and six SEC championships between 1947-63.

The school has fired six of the eight coaches who have come since and a seventh, Steve Sloan, likely would have been fired after five losing seasons had he not left for Duke.

The last three coaches have been assistants in their first job as leading man. Orgeron, Cutcliffe and Tommy Tuberville went 73-69 over the last 13 years.

Only Tuberville left on his own, taking the job at Auburn in 1998.

Boone thinks he's finally found the right coach. He contacted Nutt on Sunday after he heard the rumor the coach would be resigning.

Nutt didn't really want to talk then "because he had a job," Boone said. But that changed Monday.

"This all happened overnight with me," Boone said.