How a humbled Dickey Nutt learned his lessons and became a key part of Mizzou's staff

Dickey Nutt is a believer.

The longtime basketball coach, follower of Dennis Gates and now-Missouri assistant head coach gleefully met with the media on May 10.

He was there to talk about why he chose Columbia. He was there to talk about why he decided to get back into a high-stakes position as an old-school coach in a game that’s growing faster and younger.

The simple answer was Dennis Gates. The longer answer was that Nutt’s experienced mind can offer a valuable perspective to Gates’ new-age staff.

Whereas Kyle Smithpeters brings active resourcefulness, Charlton Young brings a dynamic recruiting presence and Gates brings a newfound excitement, Nutt brings a leveled mind paced with loyalty.

More:Dennis Gates finishes building Missouri basketball staff with 'crazy' chemistry

Nutt was part of the first team Gates put together at Cleveland State, but that recent history doesn’t take into account the over 290 basketball games he won as a head coach. With Nutt, Gates rounds out his staff with the singular goal of returning Missouri men’s basketball to consistent success.

“I'm first to tell him I don't have all the answers,” Nutt said. “I was fired twice, you know. But I have been there and done that.”

Nutt’s “been there, done that” coaching career dates back to the 1980s.

He began his career in the college ranks at Oklahoma State in 1985 when then-Cowboys coach Leonard Hamilton hired Nutt from his job coaching Stillwater High School. That was just the beginning of a coaching career that runs in his family.

Nutt’s two brothers, Houston and Dennis, coached college football at Arkansas and Texas State, respectively. His dad, Houston Dale Nutt Sr., was inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame in 2001 after serving as the athletic director and basketball coach at the Arkansas School for the Deaf in Little Rock for over 35 years.

At OSU, Nutt coached alongside Hamilton and then-assistant Bill Self before moving on to Arkansas State. After assisting at Arkansas State from 1987 to 1995, Nutt was elevated to head coach in 1995.

Spending 1995 to 2015 as the head coach of ASU and Southeast Missouri State, Nutt coached in 583 games. He was the 1998 Sun Belt coach of the year. He brings more head coaching experience than any other member of Missouri’s coaching staff.

He was also fired from his jobs at Arkansas State and SEMO. Nutt isn’t ashamed to admit that. This happened at Arkansas State despite coaching the Red Wolves to three Sun Belt titles and an NCAA Tournament appearance.

“They say you lose about 10% of your popularity every year,” Nutt said. “I was there 13 years. Do the math on that one.”

Even as Nutt’s tenures as a head coach came to their ends, he quickly learned how to move on.

More:New Mizzou basketball staffers share why they followed Dennis Gates: 'A special guy'

Those lessons aren’t easy to learn, but with them came perspective.

“I tell our young coaches all the time that, ‘Hey, in this business, there's kind of two kinds of coaches: coaches that are hired and coaches that are fired,’” Nutt said.  “What helped me is I had a family, had children, had a wife, and I couldn't sit around and mope about it. I had to try to get the next one.”

His next step was reuniting with Hamilton. Nutt’s former boss at Oklahoma State called him the day after Nutt was fired at SEMO and gave him a job on his staff as a video coordinator.

It was a humbling experience. Not just because Hamilton was there to give a former assistant a chance to stay in the college basketball ranks, but because of where Nutt found himself.

Nutt went from being in charge of a program to doing the things that for years others had done for him. He called it the best thing that ever happened to him.

“I'm in there with about six grad assistants, trying to learn the computer where I never turned it on,” Nutt said. “But it was the best thing ever happened to me because I learned how to get with the computer. I learned to get out of the dinosaur era.”

Not only did he learn more about the modern age of basketball, but Nutt also got to meet Gates when he was an assistant under Hamilton.

After about the third week of working at FSU, Nutt said Hamilton put his arm around him and said Gates was the smartest coach he’s ever had. Nutt agreed and said Gates was always two plays ahead of the opposition.

Nutt had the utmost respect for Gates when he took the Cleveland State job. Gates could have stayed at FSU, been successful and made good money, but Nutt saw how Gates took a risk. When Gates recruited Nutt, the coach didn’t question it.

“He said, ‘You coming with me?’” Nutt said. “I said, ‘Yes sir.’”

Why did Nutt jump at the chance to follow Gates? Perhaps he sees something others don’t. Maybe Nutt sees a shadow of his former mentor in Gates. It was a small slip during his media session, but Nutt alluded to seeing shades of their former mentor, Hamilton, in Gates.

“I'm just so grateful that coach Hamilton has, I mean, excuse me, coach Gates has the confidence in me to bring me with him,” Nutt said.

More:Why Charlton Young couldn't turn down Dennis Gates' offer to join Mizzou basketball

Nutt isn’t the only one. In March, Ricardo Patton, Gates’ boss at Northern Illinois from 2007 to 2009, told the Tribune that Gates reminded him of a young Hamilton, too.

That combination of confidence and intelligence is what sold Nutt on Gates. What sold Gates on making sure he hired Nutt was how the humbled former head coach fit into Gates’ vision for Missouri.

“It was important to find the people that I think could allow us to be successful here,” Gates said. “Guys that would put, not their careers ahead of anything, but put players’ lives and careers ahead of us all. And we got the right guys.”

While being a humbled former head coach is what provides Nutt the perspective Gates wants on his staff, Nutt does also bring nearly three decades of coaching experience.

He said his experience brings the understanding of how to properly talk with a student-athlete in a particular position, or suggest a defensive scheme with three seconds remaining. There’s a reason Nutt has 279 wins on his resume.

More:Why the timing was right for Kyle Smithpeters to join Mizzou men's basketball in 2022

This year, Nutt will make $165,000 as one of Gates’ three assistants, according to his contract that was acquired by an open records request. His deal is a one-year contract that can only be renewed if mutually agreed upon.

Whether Nutt stays in Columbia for a long time or a short while, he’ll provide a perspective not many coaches in America can claim to have.

He’ll also bring the belief that Missouri can return to glory under its new head coach he believes in.

“I'm most thankful, I’m glad to be here,” Nutt said. “I think we have everything in place.”

Chris Kwiecinski is the sports editor for the Columbia Daily Tribune, overseeing University of Missouri and Boone County sports coverage. Follow him on Twitter @OchoK_ and contact him at CKwiecinsk@gannett.com or 573-815-1857.