Dec. 12, 2005

Associated Press

SPRINGDALE, Ark. -- Springdale quarterback Mitch Mustain, the Gatorade national player of the year who had previously committed to play at Arkansas, has reopened the recruiting process and may consider going somewhere else, a newspaper reported.

Mustain told The Morning News that he met with Arkansas coach Houston Nutt and offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn, Mustain's high school coach hired last week to call plays for the Razorbacks. To make room for Malzahn, the Razorbacks fired quarterbacks coach Roy Wittke.

"I knew that if coach Nutt was going to hire an offensive coordinator, regardless of who he chose, it would likely mean the firing of Coach Wittke," Mustain said. Wittke recruited Mustain to Arkansas.

Last week, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette newspaper of Little Rock reported that Mustain was "in limbo" about where he would go to college. She later distanced herself from the report.

She told the Democrat-Gazette that Mustain was influenced by the then-uncertainty regarding Wittke and the return of assistant David Cutcliffe to Tennessee. Cutcliffe coached both Peyton and Eli Manning.

In The Morning News report, Mustain wouldn't name the schools on his list or detail his reasons for backing out of his commitment to the Razorbacks.

"Out of respect for the people involved, I don't want to get into details about it," Mustain told the newspaper.

Mustain, who threw for 3,817 yards and 47 touchdowns this season, has several weeks to make a decision. National signing day is Feb. 1.

Mustain was named last week as the Gatorade national football player of the year.

Nutt and Malzhan can't comment on Mustain because it is against NCAA rules to discuss any recruit before they have signed with the school.