Former Ole Miss football coach Houston Nutt re-filed his defamation suit against the university in Lafayette County Circuit Court in Mississippi on Wednesday, according to The Clarion-Ledger (Jackson, Miss.).
Nutt originally filed the suit against Ole Miss in a federal court in July, though it was dismissed in early August when Judge Neal B. Biggers Jr. ruled the suit was a matter of state law.
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Nutt's suit claimed the school violated terms of a separation agreement he signed in November 2011. The suit also cited punitive damages for "lost wages," "emotional distress" and acts of "bad faith" from Ole Miss. The suit particularly focuses on Nutt's replacement in Hugh Freeze and athletic director Ross Bjork: Nutt claims they spread misinformation, claiming Ole Miss' NCAA violations occurred primarily during his tenure.
According to an NCAA notice of allegations against the program, however, nine of the 13 alleged violations occurred during Freeze's tenure. Freeze was later forced to resign from the position when it was found he made calls to escort services from a university-issued cell phone for several years.
Nutt offered a settlement to Ole Miss shortly before his suit was dismissed in federal court, asking for an official apology and for the university to donate $500,000 to a state commission on sports ethics. Ole Miss ignored the offer.
