Nutt on Defensive After Offensive Hire

A sign of desperation, perhaps? Arkansas has had back-to-back losing records for the first time under Houston Nutt, and he completed a shuffling of his staff by naming Springdale High coach Gus Malzahn as his offensive coordinator. What makes this hire, shall we say, interesting, is that Malzahn is coach of Mitch Mustain, left, arguably the nation's top prep player. Mustain had committed to Arkansas over Notre Dame on Aug. 15, but withdrew that commitment last weekend after reportedly being courted by David Cutcliffe, who himself was a candidate to become the Razorback offensive coordinator before being hired by Tennessee. There is much speculation going around, and Nutt spent much of the press conference defending his selection, but did he hire Malzahn to secure Mustain as a recruit? (some registration).