Father of Arkansas coach Nutt dies

From: CNN/SI - Apr 20, 2005

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -- Houston Nutt Sr., the father of head coaches at universities in Arkansas and Texas, died Wednesday, two days after suffering a stroke. He was 74.

Nutt died at Baptist Health Medical Center, hospital spokeswoman Cara Wade said.

He was the father of Arkansas football coach Houston Nutt and Arkansas State basketball coach Dickey Nutt. Another son, Dennis, is the basketball coach at Texas State in San Marcos and son Danny is an assistant football coach at Arkansas.

Houston Nutt Sr. was coach and director of athletics and student life at Arkansas School for the Deaf. The elder Nutt spent 32 years at the Little Rock school before retiring in 1987. He was a member of the school's board of trustees.

In his college years, he played basketball at Oklahoma A&M and at Kentucky. He was inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame in 2001. A native of Fordyce, Houston Nutt Sr. had hearing problems since he was a child.

"He was a wonderful man," said Katie Hodge, administrative assistant at the Arkansas School for the Blind, which shares a campus with the deaf school. "I remember his smile and he was always trying to teach me sign language. He was just a kind man and always interested in everyone else."

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