Desperate times call for desperate measures.
Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt proved that when he accepted troubled quarterback Jeremiah Masoli onto his team a week ago.
Masoli has been arrested for theft, marijuana possession and driving with a suspended license — all since the start of 2010. After his first arrest for theft earlier this year (he pleaded guilty to a second-degree burglary charge), Oregon head coach Chip Kelly suspended him for the 2010-11 season.
Masoli was then kicked out of the program on June 9 after being arrested following a traffic stop that resulted in him being charged with possessing a small amount of marijuana and driving with a suspended license.
Remember, now, Nutt is the same coach who at first had no interest in the troubled quarterback until the sudden, unexpected departure of backup quarterback Raymond Cotton - leaving the coach with just two scholarship signal-callers.
Then all of sudden he was extremely interested - I guess you could even say desperate.
Nutt has stuck his neck way out there on this one and has taken severe abuse by the national media. He's been called a "dirty coach" by SI columnist Stewart Mandel. My favorite headline so far is "Marijuana quarterback has coach blowing smoke" for Scott Soshnick's column for the website bloomberg.com.
Some of the criticism of Nutt has been a little extreme, but there is nothing wrong with holding the coach's feet to the fire on this decision.
Ole Miss fans have spun the issue just like any other fan base would have if their coach had maybe sold his soul for Masoli's help. They say everybody deserves a second chance.
Hey, Rebel fans, get off your high horses because this has nothing to do with second, third of fourth chances. This move was made for one reason only: to try and win more football games. Nutt is paid $2.6 million a year to win games.
If Masoli were not a standout quarterback who can give the Rebels a huge boost offensively, there would be no debate because Ole Miss would have had nothing to do with him. It's all about wins and losses for all college coaches, especially those in a high-profile league such as the Southeastern Conference.
The Ole Miss coach knows he's taking a big chance, but in the pressure-packed world of college football, the end nearly always justifies the means.
In a column earlier this week, the Clarion Ledger's Rick Cleveland found the following quote from Nutt to be the most telling: "I'm always concerned about criticism that the program might receive in a situation such as this. But I'm also concerned about criticism I might receive if I don't have a quarterback to finish the year if something was to happen."
Right or wrong (and we all have our opinions), Nutt did what a lot of other coaches would have done if they found themselves in a similar desperate situation.
The website mrsec.com summed it up neatly: "Good players get more chances than bad players. Smart coaches give good players as many chances as possible."
The Masoli-to-Ole Miss move is more like a business deal that can benefit both parties. Both sides are using each other for what they can get out of the deal, and there is no doubt both sides will benefit greatly from this business deal if Masoli can keep his nose clean.
With so much at stake, the guess here is Nutt will do all he can to make sure Masoli doesn't find trouble in Oxford.
If Masoli messes up again, Nutt's image will be damaged beyond repair — and therefore Ole Miss' too.
• Contact Bill Burrus at bburrus@gwcommonwealth.com.
