Position: Assistant Coach - Running Backs
Years at EIU: 2nd year
Alma Mater: Arkansas, 1985
Danny Nutt is in his second season as an assistant coach at Eastern Illinois on head coach Kim Dameron’s staff., Nutt serves as the Panthers running backs coach.
In Nutt's first season at EIU he coached a backfield that included two running backs - Shepard Little and Taylor Duncan, that both finished the season ranked in the EIU career top 15 for rushing yards. ,During the season the running backs tied a school record for rushing yards in a game with 413 yards against Austin Peay. ,Individually senior Jimmy Lera had a 96-yard touchdown run at Southeast Missouri to tie the school mark for longest TD run. ,EIU posted four games with 300 or more rushing yards while ranking 11th in the FCS in rushing offense. ,
Nutt worked on his brother Houston Nutt's first Ole Miss staff as Assistant Athletics Director for Development until 2011. ,Prior to returning to the college football game at EIU, he worked at Riverview High School in Sarasota, Florida for two years.
Nutt assisted his oldest brother (Houston) since joining his staff at Murray State for the 1994 season and the Arkansas staff on Dec. 11, 1997. He spent nine seasons as the Razorbacks' running backs coach before stepping down prior to the 2007 season with health concerns.
During Nutt's tenure, Arkansas backs posted five 1,000-yard rushing seasons including 1,647 yards from Doak Walker Award winner and Heisman Trophy runner-up Darren McFadden and 1,168 yards from first team All-SEC selection Felix Jones in 2006.
Nutt's backs helped Arkansas lead the SEC in rushing for the fourth time in five years in 2006 and ranked No. 4 in the nation with 228.5 yards per game.
In 2005, McFadden ran for 1,113 yards to rank fourth in the league while another freshman All-American, Jones, ran for 626 and ranked 10th. McFadden was named first team All-SEC, the SEC Freshman of the Year and a freshman All-American. Jones was named a first-team All-American as a kick returner.
Nutt helped Arkansas rank second in the SEC and No. 22 in the nation in 2004 by rushing for 187.4 yards per game. De'Arrius Howard, DeCori Birmingham and Peyton Hillis combined for 1,225 yards and 15 touchdowns in 2004. Birmingham signed with the New England Patriots.
In 2003, tailback Cedric Cobbs led the SEC in rushing with a 110.0 yards per game average to become the first Razorback to top the conference in rushing. Cobbs was a fourth-round selection by New England in the 2004 NFL Draft and finished his career as the school's third-leading rusher with 3,018 yards.
In 2002, under Nutt's guidance, Arkansas running backs did not have a fumble during the regular season and SEC Championship Game. The Razorbacks also led the SEC in rushing yards per game (218.9) behind All-SEC tailback Fred Talley.
Nutt's 2001 rotation of Talley, Cobbs and Brandon Holmes produced a total of 1,279 yards and 14 touchdowns, while Birmingham and Mark Pierce added another 166 yards and four TDs.
The long line of talented backs Nutt has mentored reaches back to his early coaching years at Murray State, where he tutored two Racer running backs to 1,000-yard rushing seasons. Derrick Cullors tallied a school-record 1,765 yards on the ground in 1995, followed in 1996 by Anthony Downs' 1,160-yard rushing season.
Upon his return to Arkansas in 1998, Nutt coached the tailback tandem of Chrys Chukwuma and Madre Hill to a total of five games with 100 or more rushing yards - three by Chukwuma and two by Hill. In 1999, Cobbs, Chukwuma and Michael Jenkins each broke the 100-yard rushing barrier in a game with Cobbs going for 107 yards in the Razorbacks' 28-24 upset of No. 3 Tennessee.
Â
With 21 years of coaching experience, Nutt developed a reputation as a hard worker both on the recruiting trail and on the practice field. Never was this determination more evident than when he was hospitalized and underwent a delicate surgical procedure to stop bleeding from his brain stem just days before the Razorbacks faced Michigan in the 1999 Comp USA Florida Citrus Bowl. Nutt endured an arduous rehabilitation and a relapse that forced him to miss spring drills in 2000 before returning to the sidelines for 2000 pre-season practice.
Nutt began his coaching career at Arkansas where he helped the Razorbacks to three straight bowl appearances as a graduate assistant during the 1986, 1987 and 1988 seasons. After making his full-time coaching debut as the receivers coach at Appalachian State in 1989, Nutt joined the staff at Arkansas Tech, serving as the quarterbacks, running backs and receivers coach at the Russellville school from 1990 to 1993 before joining his brother's Murray State staff. Nutt landed his first full-time Division I-A job when he followed Houston to Boise State for the 1997 season before returning to his alma mater for the 1998 season.
An all-state prep quarterback at Central High School in Little Rock, Nutt was also a member of a state championship basketball team at CHS. He began his career on the college gridiron at Central Arkansas. As a sophomore in 1982, Nutt was the Bears' starting quarterback and passed for 1,092 yards during UCA's first season under head coach Harold Horton, who now serves as vice president of The Razorback Foundation, Inc. Nutt later transferred to Arkansas where as a senior in 1984 he passed for 520 yards and four touchdowns while helping the Razorbacks to the 1984 Liberty Bowl.
Nutt is third-born of four brothers (Houston, Dickey and Dennis Nutt), all of whom are collegiate coaches. Nutt's older brother Dickey spent 13 seasons as head basketball coach at Arkansas State and is currently the head coach at OVC member Southeast Missouri, while younger brother Dennis was the head basketball coach at Texas State for six years and spent time as an NBA scout.
Nutt is married to the former Carla Carlton. The couple has four daughters - Dallas, and triplets Ashley, Brenna and Caylan.