Paige Birdsong doesn't know Houston Nutt. She didn't even know he was Arkansas' football coach until Monday. Much to her surprise, and bewilderment, Birdsong's cell phone number showed up on an Internet report of Nutt's cell phone correspondence which was released last week after a Freedom Of Information Act request was made by an Arkansas fan.

Birdsong, 41, works for a development company in Raleigh. She's not employed by N.C. State, nor does she have any affiliation with its athletic department. Unbeknownst to her, she became a part of the Nutt brouhaha, which gained steam after being highlighted on the national web site, Deadspin.

Birdsong said she's received at least 20 calls from an Arkansas area code, and one over the weekend at 2 a.m.

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"They've all hung up, except one," Birdsong said. "I had no idea why I was getting all these calls from Arkansas."

According to the report, Nutt called Birdsong's number twice. She said she never talked talked Nutt, he dialed the wrong number. Birdsong's cell number shares the first six digits with Joe Pate, an assistant athletic director at N.C. State and longtime friend of Nutt. Two of the three numbers on the report belong to Pate.

Pate said Monday was the first he had heard about the FOIA report, which can be viewed here (PDF format). (The details of Nutt's correspondence with N.C. State are on page 10 of the report). Pate said he talks regularly with Nutt. Pate, a former State assistant coach who's credited with recruiting Philip Rivers, said he has not received any random calls from Arkansas.

Nutt's dealings with N.C. State are insignificant compared to the revelations that he sent a text message to a female televsion reporter 19 minutes before the Razorbacks' kickoff in the Capital One Bowl. The report also includes a section on Nutt's courtship with Miami and its job opening (pages 8-10).

04/10/07 at 13:58
I find it amusing that Houston Nutt is not even competent enough to figure out that he dialed the wrong # the second time he tried it. What I find even more amusing, yet utterly disheartening, is the fact that it appears Nutt will survive this latest evidence of his lack of integrity, which includes evidence that he was in contact with a woman who sent hate mail to the starting QB. In fact, he had a phone conversation with her immediately preceding the email being sent. Apparently, the more dirt that stacks up, the more Nutt becomes like glue to our ailing program.

04/11/07 at 15:47
I lived in Little Rock for a little while. No seemed to much like Houston Nutt then (they only had 4 or 5 wins for the season that I lived there, hardly acceptable for an SEC school), I doubt any of this new information will change that opinion.

04/18/07 at 10:28
Less than 10%, probably around 5%, of Arkansas fans are pushing to try and get Nutt fired. Those few fans are of the opinion that Arkansas is a top ten program. That is not true today. Perhaps a top 20 program. Internet bias, talk shows, and poor media coverage has resulted in many fans feeling they know more than the coaches. It is not little league, folks. Not everyone can do it. Let the coaches coach.

Interesting how 99% of his co-workers and peers feel Nutt is brimming with character and integrity.

This is hogwash and will blow over in the near future.