As more and more news outlets pick up the story, it’s become evident that Houston Nutt does in fact want an official apology from Ole Miss Athletics regarding how they handled the Notice of Allegations from the NCAA. As a Yahoo Sports story fully outlines, Nutt’s Attorney, Thomas Mars, argues that Ole Miss leaked the former head-coach’s name to several publications.
“My name wasn’t mentioned in the report but my name’s on the ticker [on television],” Nutt said to Yahoo Sports. “My name is thrown out there a lot. It’s a frustrating thing. I’m 59 years old. It’s not like I’m going to get the next big job. But you miss ball so much. … It’s just bad when you get hit from all sides and blindsided by it.”
While Nutt is not pinned with any allegations directly, Mars asserts that Ole Miss had great interest in diverting attention from any charges related to Hugh Freeze and the current coaching staff.
As of now, no apology has been issued and Ole Miss Athletics spokesperson Kyle Campbell has stated that the university has acknowledged both current and the previous coaching staff are named in the NOA as well that they have received no formal request for an apology.
Mars shared email exchanges with Mississippi officials as proof that he has in fact made efforts to start a dialogue regarding the matter.
“I’ve been stonewalled every step of the way,” said Mars to Yahoo Sports. “It’s very disappointing that a university with the reputation Ole Miss has would react in this way.”