Dare to dream ... again?

[SMUFan]

OK, so it's not going to happen. But for what it's worth:




SPRINGDALE, Ark. -- Quarterback Mitch Mustain, who had committed to Arkansas, has reopened his recruitment, a newspaper reported.

ESPN.com ranks Mustain as the second best high school quarterback recruit in the nation. Overall, he is ranked as the seventh-best recruit in the United States.

Mustain told The Morning News that he's met with Arkansas head coach Houston Nutt and offensive coordinator, Gus Malzahn whom the Razorbacks have just hired to run the offense. To make room for Malzahn, the Razorbacks had quarterbacks coach Roy Wittke step down.

"I knew that if Coach Nutt was going to hire an offensive coordinator, regardless of who he chose, it would likely mean the firing of Coach Wittke," Mustain said of the coach who recruited him at Arkansas.

Earlier, reports surfaced that Mustain was looking at schools other than Arkansas.

Mustain won't name the schools on his list or detail his reasons for backing out of his commitment to the Razorbacks.

"Out of respect for the people involved, I don't want to get into details about it," Mustain told the newspaper.

Mustain, who threw for 3,817 yards and 47 touchdowns this season, has several weeks to make a decision. National signing day is Feb. 1.

Mustain, the Gatorade National Football Player of the Year, is a highly sought after recruit and the Razorbacks thought they'd wrapped up a prize when the QB orally committed last August. Mustain said he meant it when he committed to the Razorbacks, but his outlook has changed.

Nutt and Malzhan can't comment on Mustain because it is against NCAA rules to discuss any recruit.

From ESPN.com.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

[PonySnob]

Wasn't he also looking at Texas before he committed to Arkansas?

[McClown27]

Wasn't he also looking at Texas before he committed to Arkansas?

Vince Young is looking to hire an agent.

[mrydel]

His highly recruited teammates are committed to Florida, and he may consider there. My guess is that he stays with Arkansas, but if not, Tennessee to play under Cutcliff whom he likes. It is interesting how the rules apply. Nutt and Malzahn may not contact him under NCAA guidelines but Mustain is free to call them as often as he likes. There were plenty of articles letting him know that he was welcome to contact them any time he so desired.

[DiamondM75]

I know it is a pipe dream, but doesn't MUSTANG MUSTAIN have a nice ring? Or, MUSTAIN'S MUSTANGS.

[PhirePhilBennett]

ARK just hired his HS Head Coach...

[mrydel]

ARK just hired his HS Head Coach...

That is Malzahn that we are talking about. Malzahn has been running a very successful spread offense for many years at the high school level. Arkansas is trying to upgrade their offense to be more explosive. I normally would question a High school coach moving into a OC position at an SEC school, but this guys stats are impressive. If he can keep his high school QB (Mustain) and persuade the highly touted receivers now committed to Florida to come to Arkansas also, he would have the makings of a high powered offense immediately. Interestingly, Nutt wanted to name the QB coach as OC and bring in Malzahn as QB coach. Broyles ASKED NUTT TO CONSIDER firing the QB coach and bring in Malzahn as OC. Malzahn will end up being either the QB coach or wide receiver coach also, depending on the next hire. It will be interesting to see this play out but whatever happens, like it or not, we are not in any portion of the equation.