Ole Miss Football: Is Houston Nutt Now on the Hot Seat?

As we all know, recruiting is arguably the most important aspect to having any kind of success at any level of college football.

And when Houston Nutt was the head coach at the University of Arkansas, he did well despite being in the SEC West.

There, Nutt compiled a record of 75-48 (42-38 in the SEC), finished ranked four times, went to eight bowl games (six straight), and had one 10-win season to go with seven winning seasons in 10 years.

In 2008 however, Houston took over a dismal Ole Miss Rebels football team, and proceeded to go 9-4 in each of his first two seasons.

However, as previously mentioned, recruiting is very important, and although Ole Miss was bad before Nutt, they had some players but nothing to show for their talent.

So to give hope to Rebels fans in the SEC East, Ole Miss finished ranked No. 15 in 2008 and No. 21 in 2009.

2010, however, proved that he had inherited a solid team but managed to make them better.

The ultimate result of his recruiting came in 2010 when those were now his players, and unfortunately for Ole Miss fans, they finished a rough 4-8 (1-7 in the SEC).

And with in-state rival Mississippi State on the rise, Ole Miss is going to be at the bottom of the SEC West for quite a while.

Add in Alabama, LSU, Arkansas and Auburn's solidity, and the Rebels need to make some changes and fast.

The biggest reason is because on Saturday, the Vanderbilt Commodores of the SEC East completely demolished the Rebels 30-7.

The worst part, however, is that Vandy held a 30-0 lead late in the fourth quarter, and the Rebels managed to score a petty TD with two minutes left in the game.

In addition, Ole Miss threw five interceptions and totaled 234 yards against one of the worst teams in the SEC.

Houston Nutt's recruited players aren't getting the job done like the one's he inherited in 2008, and if Ole Miss ends up losing to Fresno State in early October, there's a good chance the Rebels will be heading in a new direction despite being in midseason mode.

So to be blunt about the question, is Houston Nutt now on the hot-seat?

Yes.

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