Houston Nutt's Synapses Operate in a World of Chaos

In today's Clarion-Ledger, there is an article about changes to recruiting rules for the elaborate junior college system in Mississippi. One of the poorest states in the nation, Mississippi is home to 15 junior colleges (as well as EIGHT public universities; no, it's not you, this makes no sense), 14 of which also have football programs in what is considered one of the best, if not the best, junior college football leagues in the country.

As a result, many a good player has come from one of these Mississippi JUCOS, making it a regular recruiting destination for D-I schools. However, that may change with a set of new rules recently passed by the presidents of the JUCOS. Not to wade neck-deep in rules no one cares about until one of your school's recruits can't get into your school, but essentially, it's going to be harder for out-of-state players to get into Mississippi JUCOS and protected areas, which allowed only one JUCO to recruit in that area, are now gone.

Some JUCO coaches are upset because the "community" aspect for each school is in danger of going away, and the costs of recruiting will most likely go up. Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen expressed concern over the loss of so many out-of-state scholarships (106 in total each year), and Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt, as usual, was concerned about the kids he so badly wants to help.

Mainly, he doesn't want a high school kid being flooded with extra calls, now that more JUCOS can recruit him with the end of protected areas. How I wish my brain rattled off something like this:

"Now that same young man is going to have to take 16, 17, 25, 30 calls from junior colleges plus Division I," Nutt said. "That part is a real headache."

That list of numbers moved in increments of one, eight, and five. Had he kept going, I feel confident he would have inadvertently begun the Fibonacci sequence. That kind of scatter-brain might cause one to play a running back at a safety/linebacker hybrid position five games into a season, with that player not having played defense since maybe high school, and has never shown the type of lateral movement and quickness needed to play such a position.

Oh, what's that? It did cause him to do that? WHAT KIND OF SPELL HAS ENRIQUE DAVIS CAST ON HOUSTON NUTT?