[ED: Well, this couldn't have come at a more appropriate date, considering Dan Jones' response to his critics.]
Typically reserved for the college football offseason, there is a wonderful period of about four or five weeks where a dozen or so new head coaches are hired to replace their recently departed predecessors. During this time, the "coaching carosel," as the lamestream media would have it called, is ever rotating with new head men hopping on with the freshly fired being flung from the ride, buyouts and controversy in tow.
But Rebel impatience has reared its head two-fold this season with regards to coaching changes, with Ole Miss partisans demanding change - now - and already putting together their wish lists for head coaches to replace a guy who isn't yet fired. (It's okay, y'all. We're doing it too.) Resulting from this impatience is a boatload of wild, wacky, and wonderful rumors regarding the futures of Houston Nutt, Pete Boone, Dan Jones, and the University of Mississippi in general.
What are people saying? Namely,
- that Houston Nutt was going to retire last Monday, with Pete Boone retiring the Tuesday after that.
- that Houston Nutt was going to retire two Monday's ago, with Pete Boone retiring the Tuesday after that.
- that Houston Nutt's stickin' around for another season, with Pete Boone getting the axe at the end of these. You know, because all Houston Nutt needs is a new athletic director for his offensive line to block better and his quarterbacks to have a clue to what play he or David Lee's trying to call.
- that Pete Boone and Houston Nutt are embezzling money out of the Business School and will, with the funds secured, buy a rocket and launch themselves into the sun. The fucking sun, I say.
- that Dan Jones will retire under intense political pressure from the IHL, allowing Houston Nutt to emerge as chancellor, reinstate Colonel Reb, and name Wednesday as "Mandatory Hawaiian Shirt Day" on campus.
- that Houston Nutt's going to be fired as soon as he loses again, with a successor to be named in a few weeks.
A lot of those, though, aren't likely to happen.
What is most likely to happen, as far as I can tell, is that Houston Nutt is fired after the Egg Bowl. I then think that there's a decent chance that Pete Boone retires shortly thereafter, but I can't say I'd be shocked if he decided to take a victory lap with his athletics directorship. Is this the ideal situation? Perhaps not. Is it the situation that much of our fan base would prefer? No. Is it the most reasonable conclusion to reach? I do believe so. I also feel that such is the most sensible way to go about this whole cluster of controversy we are watching our university and athletics administrators endure.
If you wanna post rumors and wildly spread ideas of clandestine boardroom dealings, imminent resignations, contract negotiations, blackmail and general malaise in and about the Lyceum, be my guest. I won't stop you. Just be sure to always ask yourself if you really believe the things you're hearing, reading, and distributing. Oftentimes, the answer to that question, while underwhelming or even undesirable, will offer a little more peace of mind than hoping to believe the idealized results of speculation run amok.