Arkansas football, at its high and low historical points, has had extended periods where its identity was in crisis.
Smashmouth, option-heavy attacks were chic when Frank Broyles, followed by Lou Holtz and Ken Hatfield, deployed that approach. When the program transitioned to the SEC in the early 1990s, grinding between the tackles and then pitching to the edges wasn’t going to work anymore.
Houston Nutt complicated the modernization of Arkansas offense by spending all but a fraction of his decade-long tenure calling his own plays. Nutt, to his credit, didn’t mind jazzing up the attack when the personnel allowed, but he was too staid even when he had weapons.