Houston Nutt sues Ole Miss, claims Hugh Freeze spread lies about him
Former head coach Houston Nutt filed a lawsuit against Ole Miss on Wednesday that accuses the university and the Ole Miss Athletic Foundation of orchestrating a misinformation campaign against him, according to Yahoo Sports' Pat Forde.
The dispute stems from the way Ole Miss handled its notice of allegations for supposed NCAA violations. Nutt contends the school tried to pin the violations on him as a way to keep its current power structure out of harm's way, and alleges that constitutes a breach of contract. He's suing for punitive damages.
Among those named in the suit are Hugh Freeze, who replaced Nutt as head coach in 2012; athletic director Ross Bjork; and sports information director Kyle Campbell.
Nutt alleges Freeze initiated off the record conversations with sports journalists to help put out incorrect info before 2016 signing day
— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) July 12, 2017
"Coach Freeze had knowingly lied to the journalists and recruiting prospects by saying that the NCAA's investigation had little, if anything, to do with him or his coaching staff and was instead focused on alleged rules violations by Coach Nutt's staff," the complaint says, according to Forde.
"Coach Freeze falsely stated that most, if not all, of the NCAA's allegations involved Houston Nutt and his staff. At the time Coach Freeze made these statements, he was fully aware that they were patently false, yet he continued to make such statements, severely damaging Coach Nutt's reputation."
The Rebels' football program was slapped with 13 Level I violations in January 2016, nine of which pertained to the Freeze era. The other four took place under Nutt's watch, though he wasn't directly involved in any of them. An updated notice of allegations was presented to Ole Miss earlier this year, with 17 of the alleged 21 violations tied to Freeze's tenure.
Before the first notice came out, Freeze consistently expressed confidence that any violations would have predated his tenure.
Ultimately, the lawsuit claims Ole Miss is in breach of contract for disseminating false statements that harm Nutt’s reputation
— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) July 12, 2017
Nutt was fired by Ole Miss after posting a 24-26 record across four seasons. Freeze has gone 69-32 in five seasons since taking over.
Nutt hasn't held a coaching job since his dismissal from Ole Miss.