JSU's Crowe mentored Nutt

Jacksonville State University football coach Jack Crowe said playing Ole Miss on Saturday could make for an unusual experience.

Crowe said when he signed a contract to play Ole Miss, Houston Nutt was not the coach.

“When I was the head coach at Arkansas, Houston was on my staff,” Crowe said. “Playing Ole Miss makes for an unusual scenario for myself.”

From 1990 to 1992, Crowe was the head coach at the University of Arkansas and Nutt was an assistant coach.

“He could have probably said at one time that he was a pupil of mine,” Crowe said. “But I think he has far ascended me as a BCS-level head coach.”

Since 1990, Crowe said he has been following Nutt’s career with interest.

“I’ve kept up with him, and over time, I have grown more and more in respect for him,” Crowe said. “I saw glimpses of a special coach when he was on my staff. There are good football coaches and greats, and I think Houston is one of the really special coaches.”

Crowe is from Birmingham, Ala. He graduated from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and began his career as a high school coach.

“From there, I went on to coach Division II football at Livingston,” Crowe said. “I coached at Auburn and Clemson before going to Arkansas as the head coach.”

In 1991, the Razorbacks tied for second in the conference, but in 1992, Crowe was fired after the first game, an upset loss to a Division I-AA team.

“I left from there and coached at Baylor for a few years, and then I got out of coaching,” Crowe said. “I spent four years trying to live without it.”

Ultimately, he couldn’t live without it and took the head-coaching job at JSU, a Division I Football Championship Subdivision team in Northern Alabama, in 2000.

“I ended up coming here because it was a place I knew very well, and to a certain degree, it was like coming home to coach, “ Crowe said.

Since taking over as head coach, Crowe has led the Gamecocks to a 65–45 overall record.

“We have had winning seasons, but have had a degree of inconsistency in winning the championship,” Crowe said. “But we have the highest winning percentage in our league since I have been in it.”

Last season, Jacksonville State went 8–3, 6–1 in conference, and was second in the Ohio Valley Conference.

“I think we are emerging,” Crowe said. “We have talented players, and I think we are ambitious. We are trying to position ourselves for a national championship.”

The Ohio Valley Conference is competitive, but Crowe said he believes the Gamecocks have a chance to win it.

“I think if we win the close games, we have a really good chance of winning it,” Crowe said.

Crowe said he was really impressed with his defense.

“We are showing signs of evolving into a really good defensive team at the FCS level,” Crowe said. “We are pretty mobile, and we have the type of tackling style where we are not afraid to come after people. (UM defensive coordinator) Tyrone Nix runs a defense that is a lot like ours.”

Crowe said in the opener against Ole Miss, he will be playing a different style than he normally does.

“We do have some matchups that don’t favor us,” Crowe said. “If we are predictable, the mismatches will get us, so we have to play unpredictably.”

The Gamecocks have played in these types of games before, so Crowe said his team knows what to expect.

“Some of these types of games have been closer than others,” Crowe said. “I think we have to have a solid game out of our kicking, and we can’t give up the big plays.”

Crowe said the Rebels have people who can make big plays.

“They are a new crop of playmakers, but the Rebels do have playmakers,” Crowe said.

Generating points against the Ole Miss defense was something Crowe said he was concerned with.

“The Ole Miss D — I don’t know who is better,” Crowe said. “I am getting more and more impressed the more I read and see out of them.”