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The University of Mississippi Athletics
INSIDER: Life On The Road With The Rebels
10/24/2008 | Football
OleMissSports.com INSIDER
Ole Miss head football coach Houston Nutt and his players have a lot to worry about from week to week during football season, but luckily for the Rebels, team travel isn't among those things.
However, that in no way means that travel plans aren't an integral part of Ole Miss' football program. In order for Nutt's team to have a chance to win, everything prior to a game, whether home or away, must go off without a hitch.
The team's travel arrangements are taken care of by a committee of personnel on Nutt's staff, including Assistant Athletics Director for Football Operations Mike Beaumont.
"Travel gets done very smoothly," said Beaumont, who followed Nutt from Arkansas. "For the head coach and players to be happy, we have to make sure it's a smooth process."
Beaumont already knew how Nutt wanted things done, but being new to the Rebels, wasn't very familiar with the way Ole Miss traditionally handled team travel. That's where he turned to Tim Mullins, who is in his 11th season as part of Ole Miss' athletic training staff and his seventh as head trainer.
"(Mullins) is such a huge asset to this university," Beaumont said. "Nobody outside of our little inner circle knows what all he does to make travel happen.
"What's behind that is Tim has been with the program for a long time so he has a lot of connections. We came from that other SEC school, so we didn't know were Ole Miss stays in Tuscaloosa or usually stays in Baton Rouge."
Between Beaumont, Mullins, Assistant A.D. for Community Relations Clifton Ealy and Senior Associate A.D. for Finance John Hartwell among others, the Rebels quickly found a routine for their travel that suited Nutt and his players.
"Houston has what he likes to do," Beaumont said. "You can call it superstition, or you can just say it's the way he's always known. I would say that a majority of it is based on what the kids' needs are for that game."
One constant on all of Nutt's teams is his pregame meals. According to Beaumont, Nutt's preference for gameday meals is steak, macaroni and cheese and potatoes. If it's an early game, the macaroni and cheese is usually replaced by scrambled eggs.
The Rebels stay at hotels before both home and away games. When there's a home game on the schedule, the Rebels pack up and stay in Tupelo the night before the game. On away games, Nutt and his players never stay in the same town as the town they are playing in the weekend. For example, when the Rebels took on Alabama on October 18, the team stayed in Birmingham instead of Tuscaloosa.
"This area and other areas on game weekends are unbelievable," Beaumont said. "The kids can get swept up in all that, so we try to get them somewhere where they can be focused."
At the hotels, Ole Miss players generally have the same roommate for the entire season. The staff tries to put players with teammates who play the same position so they are always talking football.
Many of the players would like to pick their roommates, but that generally doesn't happen.
"Some of them make suggestions, but I wouldn't say they have a whole lot of input," Beaumont said. "Sometimes we listen to those suggestions, and sometimes we go completely opposite of those suggestions. We try to make sure personalities mix and match."
On Fridays when the Rebels arrive at their hotel, they have a team meal together. Friday's meal typically consists of prime rib, roasted chicken, green beans and potato salad. Aside from the food, the staff makes sure the players stay hydrated.
"Tim (Mullins) is always making sure they're getting plenty of fluids and that there are no carbonated drinks on the table," Beaumont said. "He's handing out Gatorade all the time."
One main difference in the pregame routine that Nutt brought with him to Ole Miss is the team going to a movie on Friday after the team meal. If possible, the team likes to rent out an entire theater so they can be alone and relax as a team.
There are specific criteria that the staff looks for in the pregame movie. Beaumont sends out interns to see different movies during the week to find one that best fits Nutt's criteria lots of action and excitement but low on the cursing.
"He's in charge of a 100 kids whose mom's and dad's want their kids treated the same way we treat our kids," Beaumont said.
Some of the movies the Rebels have seen so far this season are Hancock, Appaloosa, Eagle Eye and Trader.
When the Rebels are on the road, they never have practice.
"Our pads are packed, and we won't put them back to practice until Sunday," Beaumont said.
However, the Rebels do often have a light walk through, usually behind the hotel. The players are just in sweats, and the walk through is just to make sure everyone knows the formations.
Bed check is around 10 p.m. When the players wake up, it's on to chapel, which is an optional part of the pregame process, but over time, Beaumont has seen a big increase in the amount of Rebels attending the service.
"It's not a mandatory thing, but I think the players have learned in our short time here that our faith and how we try to live is a big thing to us," Beaumont said. "I think they have become more comfortable with that. I've seen an unbelievable growth in the number of players going to chapel. You can now count the guys that don't go on one hand, if there are any at all that don't go."
As soon as chapel is over, it's straight to the pregame meal, and after that, the players and staff get on the buses and head to the stadium.
Beaumont said that traditionally, the first bus is offensive players, the second defensive and the third is special teams and reserve players.
Once the Rebels arrive at the stadium, they have a strict schedule they follow up until kickoff. There is no music allowed in the lockerroom, as it is quiet to enable everyone to focus on the task at hand.
"The lockerroom is where we want all the noise after the game," Beaumont said. "Houston always says there is nothing like a celebrated lockerroom after a game."
At the conclusion of the game, the Rebels return to the buses and head home or to the airport if the game is far away.
Beaumont, Mullins, Ealy, Hartwell and others in the support staff do the same thing week in and week out like clockwork. Their efforts may fly under the radar, but they are essential to the success of the football program.
As for why Nutt wants things to be done a certain way, Beaumont has a simple answer.
"He's been real successful, so we always try to follow his guidance," Beaumont said. "We try to stay the same way, and hopefully we will get the Rebels back to a bowl game this year."
That is part of Nutt's routine.
