Nutt won't return to Arkansas as coach next season

[Mustangunner]

Houston Nutt will not return next season as Arkansas football coach, multiple sources told ESPN.com Friday night.

ESPN college football analyst Mark May also reported on Saturday that, according to sources, Nutt will not be retained at Arkansas, even if he wins his final two games.

Nutt is the second longest tenured coach in the Southeastern Conference behind Tennessee's Phillip Fulmer. He's taken the Razorbacks to two SEC championship games, including last season when the Hogs were defeated by eventual national champion Florida.

An Arkansas spokesman wouldn't confirm to ESPN.com Friday night that Nutt was out as coach and said no decision has been made about Nutt's future at the school.

"Coach Nutt hasn't resigned and he hasn't been fired," Arkansas sports information director Kevin Trainor said. "The chancellor and athletics director haven't made a decision yet."

A Fort Smith, Ark., TV station also reported Friday night that Nutt wouldn't return to coach the Razorbacks next season. KHBS-TV reported on its Web site that multiple sources confirmed Nutt will be "leaving at the end of the season. Sources could not confirm whether Nutt would offer his resignation, be fired or possibly accept another position."

Earlier this week, multiple sources told ESPN.com that new Arkansas athletics director Jeff Long, who officially takes over when long-time Razorbacks AD Frank Broyles retires Dec. 31, was leaning toward replacing Nutt as the school's football coach.

The sources told ESPN.com that a decision wouldn't be announced until after the Razorbacks finish the regular season. Arkansas plays Mississippi State in Little Rock, Ark., on Saturday and plays at No. 1 LSU on Nov. 23.

The Hogs are laboring through a disappointing season with a 6-4 record, 2-4 in the Western Division standings. Nutt has a 73-48 record in his 10th season at Arkansas and has led the Hogs to seven bowl games.

Sources told ESPN.com that Arkansas could owe Nutt as much as $5 million, including deferred money, to buy out the remaining five years of his contract. Nutt received a one-year extension last season following the Hogs' SEC championship game appearance. He earns about $1.05 million per year, not including more than $400,000 in annual deferred annuities he would be owed by the school.

Nutt has been under intense scrutiny since the Razorbacks lost their last three games to finish 10-4 last season. Arkansas won the West, but lost to Florida 38-28 in the SEC Championship Game. The Hogs then lost to Wisconsin 17-14 in the Capital One Bowl.

After the 2006 season, highly regarded quarterback Mitch Mustain and receiver Damian Williams transferred to Southern California. Offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn, who coached Mustain, Williams and two other Arkansas players at Springdale (Ark.) High School, left for the same position at Tulsa.

The defections were only the beginning of Nutt's problems last summer. Fans filed open records requests for Nutt's cell phone records, and the coach was subpoenaed as part of a lawsuit over an e-mail one of Nutt's family friends sent Mustain.

Chris Low is a college football writer for ESPN.com. Send your questions and comments to Chris at [email protected]. Mark Schlabach covers college football and men's college basketball for ESPN.com. You can contact him at [email protected].

[J.T.supporta]

Lloyd Carr wont be coaching Michigan ever again either...

[FordtoTolbert]

...so, this is NEWS????!!? The Civil War is over as well, btw.....