Mark Hutson (born August 29, 1966) is an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

coach and former player. Hutson played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

at the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

, where he was a consensus selection at

offensive guard Offensive may refer to: * Offensive (military), type of military operation * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative (Netherlands), Socialist Alternative * Fighting words, spoken words which would have a tende ...

to the

1987 College Football All-America Team The 1987 College Football All-America team is composed of college football players who were selected as All-Americans by various organizations and writers that chose College Football All-America Teams in 1987. The National Collegiate Athletic Ass ...

. He was selected by the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

in the third round of the 1988 NFL draft, but an injury ended his playing career before making any regular-season appearances in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). Hutson served as the interim head football coach at

Eastern Illinois University Eastern Illinois University (EIU) is a public university in Charleston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1895 as the Eastern Illinois State Normal School, a teacher's college offering a two-year degree, Eastern Illinois University gradual ...

for the 2006 season and at

Tulane University The Tulane University of Louisiana (commonly referred to as Tulane University) is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by a cohort of medical doctors, it b ...

for the final six games of the 2011 season.

Early life

Hutson attended Fort Smith Northside High School, where he was an All-state

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive (military), type of military operation * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Fighting words, spoken words which would have a tendency to cause acts of violence by the ...

. He accepted a football scholarship from the

. He was named the starter at

left tackle A tackle is a playing position in American football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a tackle played on both offense and Defensive tackle, defense. In the modern system of ...

as a true freshman, becoming only the seventh true rookie in school history to have earned a letter on the

offensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line ( ...

. In 1985, he was moved from tackle to

left guard In American football, a guard (G), otherwise known as an offensive guard (OG), is an offensive line player who lines up between the center and the tackles. Like other offensive line positions, guards are used primarily for blocking. Right ...

in the third game against the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

, where he would remain in the following years. The team would go on to win the national championship in the

1986 Orange Bowl The 1986 Orange Bowl was the 52nd edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, on Wednesday, January 1. Part of the 1985–86 bowl game season, it matched the independent and top-ranked Penn St ...

against

Penn State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

. In 1986, the

was so effective, that it earned a Player of the Week nomination as a unit, after the season opener 38–3 win against

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

. In 1987, he was part of an

that contributed to the Sooners leading the nation with a 499.7 rushing-yard average per game. On October 17, Oklahoma rushed for 518 yards against

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant coll ...

. On October 31, the team rushed for 565 yards and 8

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

s against the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

, averaging 8.3 yards per carry. In the

1988 Orange Bowl The 1988 Orange Bowl was the 54th Orange Bowl, edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Miami Orange Bowl, Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, on Friday, January 1. Part of the 1987–88 NCAA football bowl games, 1987–88 bowl gam ...

, he picked up an intentional fumble (a

fumblerooski In American football, the fumblerooski is a trick play in which the football is intentionally and stealthily placed on the ground (fumbled) by an offensive player, usually the quarterback. The offensive team then attempts to distract and confuse t ...

play) and ran 29 yards for a

, although the Sooners would lose the game (14-20) and the national championship to the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

. He played in the 1988

Hula Bowl The Hula Bowl is a post-season college football all-star game held annually, usually in January. From inception through the 2021 playing, it was held in Hawaii; since the 2022 edition, it has been played in Orlando, Florida. The game was first s ...

. He started 36 straight games (the most by a player under

Barry Switzer Barry Layne Switzer (born October 5, 1937) is an American former college and professional football coach. He served for 16 years as head football coach at the University of Oklahoma and four years as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys of the Natio ...

). He also contributed to a 42–5–1 overall record and the 1985 national championship. In 1999, he was selected to the OU second-team All-Century team as one of the Top 100 Players in school History, following a stellar college career, which saw him selected to

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

teams in 1986 and 1987. He was team captain for the 1987 Championship team and was selected All-Big Eight three times.

Professional career

Hutson was selected by the

in the third round (67th overall) of the 1988 NFL draft, after dropping because of his limitations in pass-blocking. Two weeks into training camp he suffered a herniated disc that required back surgery to remove it. He was placed on the

injured reserve list The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in t ...

on August 31. After trying to regain his playing form, he was eventually waived on June 1,

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

and forced into early retirement.

Coaching career

Hutson began his coaching career at his alma mater,

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

, in 1990 as a

graduate assistant A graduate assistant serves in a support role at a university, usually while completing post-graduate education. The assistant typically helps professors with instructional responsibilities as teaching assistants or with academic research resp ...

. He coached with

Houston Nutt Houston Dale Nutt Jr. (born October 14, 1957) is an American former college football coach and player. He formerly worked for CBS Sports as a college football studio analyst. Previously, he served as the head football coach at Murray State Univer ...

Murray State University Murray State University (MSU) is a public university in Murray, Kentucky, in the Southern United States. In addition to the main campus in Calloway County in southwestern Kentucky, Murray State operates extended campuses offering upper-level an ...

Boise State University Boise State University (BSU) is a Public university, public research university in Boise, Idaho, United States. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has b ...

and the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States. It is the Flagship campus, flagship campus of the University of Arkan ...

. While with the Razorbacks, Hutson was selected

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

Special Teams Coach of the Year. His coaching travels next took Hutson to the

University of Tulsa The University of Tulsa (TU) is a Private university, private research university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It has a historic affiliation with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Presbyterian Church, although it is now nondenominational, and the campus ...

as the offensive line coach from 2000 to 2002. Following Tulsa, Hutson came to

and spent four seasons as assistant head coach, offensive coordinator, and offensive line coach. In the 2006 season, he jumped in as acting head coach when Bob Spoo was sidelined after surgery. The team finished with an 8–5 season record, 7–1 in the

Ohio Valley Conference The Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. It participates in Division I of the NCAA; the conference's football programs compete in partnership with ...

, winning a co-championship with UT Martin. During Hutson's first tenure at Eastern Illinois, the team won two conference titles and went to the NCAA Division I playoff twice. The team he led as interim head coach lost in the first round of the 2006 playoffs, 24–13, to

Illinois State Illinois State University (ISU) is a public research university in Normal, Illinois, United States. It was founded in 1857 as Illinois State Normal University and is the oldest public university in Illinois. The university emphasizes teaching ...

. Hutson joined the

staff in 2007 as offensive line coach. He was named interim coach for Tulane's remaining six games following the resignation of

Bob Toledo Robert Anthony Toledo (born March 4, 1946) is an American former college football coach and player. Toledo served as the head coach at University of California, Riverside (1974–1975), the Pacific Tigers football, University of the Pacific (197 ...

. On February 11, 2012, Hutson was hired by the Oakland Raiders to be the tight ends coach under head coach Dennis Allen. Following Allen's 2014 dismissal, Hutson was not retained by new head coach

Jack Del Rio Jack Louis Del Rio Jr. (born April 4, 1963) is an American professional football coach and former linebacker who is the head coach of the Paris Musketeers of the European League of Football (ELF). He played college football for the USC Trojans ...

for the 2015 season. In 2015, Hutson returned to

Eastern Illinois Eastern Illinois University (EIU) is a public university in Charleston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1895 as the Eastern Illinois State Normal School, a teacher's college offering a two-year degree, Eastern Illinois University gradual ...

as the associate head coach and offensive line coach. He then returned to the NFL for the 2016 season as the assistant offensive line coach for the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

and remained in that position through 2018. For the 2019 and 2020 football seasons, Hutson served as an offensive analyst at

LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

under head coach

Ed Orgeron Edward James Orgeron Jr. (; born July 27, 1961), nicknamed "Coach O", is an American former American football, college football coach. He was most recently the head football coach at Louisiana State University (LSU), a position he held from midw ...

. In 2021, he returned to an on-field coaching position at Tennessee State as the offensive line coach. In 2022, Hutson was named head football coach at Sallisaw High School in

Sallisaw, Oklahoma Sallisaw is a city in and the county seat of Sequoyah County, Oklahoma, United States. As of the 2020 Census, it had a population of 8,510, a 4.2 percent decrease over the figure of 8,880 recorded in 2010. Sallisaw is part of the Fort Smith met ...

. In November 2022, Hutson resigned as the head coach at Sallisaw.

Head coaching record

College

High school

Notes

References

External links

Tennessee State profile

Eastern Illinois profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hutson, Mark 1966 births Living people American football offensive guards Arkansas Razorbacks football coaches Boise State Broncos football coaches Cleveland Browns coaches Dallas Cowboys players Eastern Illinois Panthers football coaches LSU Tigers football coaches Murray State Racers football coaches Oakland Raiders coaches Oklahoma Sooners football coaches Oklahoma Sooners football players Tennessee State Tigers football coaches Tulane Green Wave football coaches Tulsa Golden Hurricane football coaches All-American college football players Players of American football from Fort Smith, Arkansas Coaches of American football from Arkansas Chadron State Eagles football coaches