The Battle Royale Awaits: Nutt vs Orgeron

If nothing else, the Ole Miss game ought to be fun in the sense that it pits the two most ridiculed SEC coaches (sorry, Sylvester) against each other.

In this corner, Houston Nutt, called out by SI's Stewart Mandel today as one of three college coaches who are "Dead Men Walking". The entire article is definitely worth a read, but here's a key excerpt:

"Remember all the craziness that hovered over Arkansas' program last winter and spring (lawsuits, fans requesting cell-phone records, etc.)? Remember how bizarre it seemed to anyone outside that state that even a segment of the Razorbacks' fan base could be so put out by a coach who had just orchestrated the school's best season in 17 years?

Turns out, the very events that touched off their outrage -- Nutt's condescending treatment of offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn and subsequent transfer of ballyhooed QB Mitch Mustain -- are what's biting him now. Arkansas has no passing attack. None. Zippo. Certainly star receiver Marcus Monk's season-long injury hasn't helped, but neither has Nutt's continued, puzzling faith in career 51-percent passer Casey Dick, or his mistaken belief that bringing back former assistant David Lee to be offensive coordinator (Malzahn, who subsequently left for Tulsa, was still on staff at the time), would fix the problem.

Which brings us to an important lesson to be learned from these three (not including Doba) high-profile coaching downfalls, all of which can be traced to one common trait: arrogance."

And in the other corner, Ed Orgeron, whose work mostly speaks for itself. Best of all, he's inspired a new website called FireCoachO.com, which features one of the most bizarrely catchy YouTube videos of all time. I'm sure I'll be singing this song for days now:

The early winner: the final verdict will come on Saturday, of course, but for now I give Orgeron the edge. None of the anti-Nutt sites I've seen have been nearly that entertaining.