Nutt calls it quits at Arkansas

Embattled Arkansas Coach Houston Nutt resigned Monday, giving up his job three days after directing the Razorbacks to a victory over top-ranked Louisiana State. Defensive coordinator Reggie Herring will coach the team in its bowl game.

Nutt told Chancellor John A. White that he wanted to close a chapter in his life.

“Houston’s decision to resign was neither forced, or encouraged, or requested,� White said.

Nutt said he was hopeful that his departure would unify the state, which had been torn with turmoil surrounding the football program.

“Deep, deep down in my heart as an Arkansan, as a person who loves the Razorbacks so much, [I wanted] for the state to come together as one,� Nutt said. “At this time, I didn’t think we could have one heartbeat.�

Nutt was 75-48 at Arkansas since being hired in December 1997 to replace Danny Ford.

Bill Doba said he would not return as coach at Washington State after a 5-7 season in which the Cougars missed going to a bowl game for a fourth consecutive year.

Doba, 67, blamed widespread speculation that he would be fired for damaging his ability to recruit, and said he wanted to take a break after four decades of coaching.

Doba was 30-29 in five seasons with the Cougars.

Georgia Tech fired Coach Chan Gailey, two days after his sixth straight loss to rival Georgia ended a disappointing season.

Gailey, 55, had a record of 44-32 in six seasons, and he never lost fewer than five games in a year. The Yellow Jackets are 7-5 this season.

Former Green Bay Packers coach Mike Sherman was hired at Texas A&M;, three days after Dennis Franchione resigned.

Sherman, an assistant head coach with the Houston Texans for two seasons, will return to the school where he was the offensive line coach from 1989-93 and in 1995-96 under R.C. Slocum.

Sherman signed a seven-year contract that will pay him $1.8 million a year.

Jeff Bower resigned after 17 seasons as coach at Southern Mississippi. His record is 119-82-1 with 14 consecutive winning seasons.

Duke fired Ted Roof as coach, two days after the Blue Devils concluded a 1-11 season with their ninth straight loss. His record was 6-45.

Colorado State’s president and athletic director want Coach Sonny Lubick to stick around -- just not on the football field that bears his name.

Lubick, 70, has been offered a job as an associate athletic director focusing on fundraising, the clearest signal yet that his coaching career with the Rams is over after 15 years.

Bill Lynch got his dream job, and Indiana finally got some stability in its program. Nine days after the Hoosiers completed their most successful regular season in 14 years, the interim coach was rewarded with a four-year contract.

Athletic Director Rick Greenspan said he did not interview anyone to replace Lynch, who coached this season under a one-year deal after coach Terry Hoeppner’s death in June from complications of a brain tumor.

Indiana finished 7-5 for its most wins since 1993, and the team is probably headed to its first bowl game since that same season.