Former Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt has sued the university, alleging defamation of character related to how the school handled an NCAA investigation.
The civil suit, filed Wednesday in federal court in Oxford, Mississippi, alleges that current Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze and other school officials created a "false narrative" in an effort to place primary blame on Nutt for the NCAA investigation.
Nutt seeks damages to cover "lost wages, emotional distress, embarrassment, attorney's fees and punitive damages."
The suit levels its harshest allegations at Freeze, alleging that he conducted off-the-record conversations with sports journalists as part of a "smear campaign.