It appears that Ole Miss once could have solved their current problems with an apology... but that no longer appears to be the case.
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In an interview with Yahoo's Pat Forde, Houston Nutt's attorney Thomas Mars confirmed that Nutt no longer just wants an apology from Ole Miss, at least not without "reasonable compensation" after everything that has happened in the past few weeks.
More Mars: "If you're asking whether coach Nutt would dismiss his lawsuit if OleMiss would apologize w/o offering reasonable compensation...
— Pat Forde (@ByPatForde) July 31, 2017
Mars cont: "... for what coach Freeze did to him ... the answer would be NO."
— Pat Forde (@ByPatForde) July 31, 2017
Antonio Morales of the Clarion Ledger confirmed similar feelings from Nutt's representation.
So the question is what would Nutt's representation deem as suitable compensation? Well, it depends, Mars told The Clarion-Ledger.
"It's difficult to answer that question without knowing when that might happen, if ever, and what other significant evidence we'll develop in the meantime," Mars said. "Just in the past few weeks, for instance, we unexpectedly uncovered some very relevant and helpful evidence that we weren't even looking for at the time.
Nutt's lawsuit alleges that Freeze and Ole Miss colluded with the media to issue false or misleading information about Nutt's tenure with the school from 2008 to 2011. The lawsuit claims that information related those allegations will be found in Freeze's full phone records, and that Ole Miss has been uncooperative in handling the request in line with Mississippi's open records laws.
The scandal is the latest in what has been an on-going disaster for the Ole Miss football program and athletic department. The school is currently under NCAA investigation for allegations of improper benefits given to recruits and players, some of which relates to Nutt's lawsuit against the school. While Ole Miss has self-imposed a postseason ban for football in 2017, the NCAA has still yet to rule and hand down their own punishments on the case.
Former offensive coordinator Matt Luke is currently serving as the Ole Miss interim head coach following Freeze's resignation. As of now, he is expected to coach the entire 2017 season before Ole Miss searches for a permanent option.
