HOOVER, Ala. –The University of Mississippi football coach Houston Nutt has some very public advice for his in-state peer and rival.
Nutt wasn”t impressed with the Mississippi State football billboards that popped up around his state — we”ll get to the ownership statement in a minute. He”s not sure if the $72,000 public relations campaign has had an impact.
“You checked the recruiting this past season, right?” Nutt asked rhetorically Friday morning on the third and final day of Southeastern Conference Media Day at The Wynfrey Hotel.
If you didn”t, that”s OK. He told us.
“It didn”t affect us. We had the best recruiting in the state of Mississippi,” Nutt proudly proclaimed, referring to his incoming freshmen who Rivals.com ranked 18th nationally. The recruiting web site ranked MSU”s incoming class No. 44.
Then there was coach Dan Mullen”s statements Wednesday in his media session. Mullen called MSU “the people”s university.”
“To me, we are the state university for Mississippi,” Mullen said. “It”s really important for us and for me to get out there and make sure we show that. We represent the people of the state well.”
Two days later, Nutt scoffed at the notion.
“Sometimes when coaches make a statement like that, I don”t really worry about it,” Nutt said. “I don”t concern myself with that because it all comes down to your body of work.”
Then, Nutt took a few more seconds to discuss it, prompted by several follow-up questions from reporters.
“To waste your time and energy, just using valuable energy on something like that is a waste of time,” Nutt said. “You better be concentrating on recruiting, concentrating on winning, helping your players become a better person and a better football player.”
Earlier this year, MSU placed eight billboards — “Welcome to Our State” — at major entrances to the state, from Interstate 55 southbound from Memphis, Tenn., to Interstate 10 eastbound from New Orleans. There also is a billboard on Highway 82 entering Starkville.
The marketing campaign, which will run three to five years, is the latest jab in back-and-forth relationship of two neighbors that don”t particularly care for the other. That”s what rivals do. They find any way to show they are THAT much better than the other guys down the block, up the highway. It”s no different than what would happen if you drove into a gas station in Ann Arbor, Mich., with an Ohio State license plate, or ordered fast food in College Station, Texas, wearing burnt orange.
Not surprisingly, Ole Miss running back Brandon Bolden isn”t impressed with the billboards. But he understands the importance for either school to dominate the college football scene in the state.
“It”s very important to own Mississippi,” Bolden said. “That helps with recruiting and all types of stuff (including) school enrollment. That”s how big that battle is; whoever wins has the highest enrollment.
“Guys make that decision on where to play based on who wins (the Egg Bowl) game. They don”t pick who has the better uniform or I like the girls at this school. It”s who won that last game.”
Ole Miss leads the series 60-41-6, although MSU has won the past two games, including 31-23 last November. Both schools, though, hope to enter this season”s Egg Bowl with winning records, a sure way to redefine the rivalry”s importance.
It will be an uphill climb from the bottom of the SEC West, according to the media. They picked MSU to finish fourth in the West in 2011, and Ole Miss sixth.
Ole Miss, which went 4-8 last season, has not won a SEC championship since 1963, and MSU, which won the Gator Bowl to finish 9-4, last won the SEC in 1941.
MSU spokesman Joe Galbraith said Mullen would have no further comment, but Galbraith said, “We stand by what coach said on Wednesday.”
Nutt knows why MSU and its fan base is buzzing.
“The reason they”re loud right now is they”ve won the last two years,” said Nutt, who is 10-3 against the Bulldogs. “But, again, my energy is going to be what”s going to help us win.
Coach, anything else you want to add?
“You know,” Nutt said, “that first year we beat Mississippi State 45-0, didn”t think nothing about it because the previous nine out of 10 years we”d beaten them.”
Nov. 26, 2011, can”t come soon enough.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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