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Former Ole Miss coach wants you to know he did not commit NCAA violations

This week the NCAA levied Ole Miss with 28 rules violations in a notice of allegations that it received back in January.

Thirteen of these are against the football program and nine of those have come since coach Hugh Freeze has been in charge for the past four seasons. But former coach Houston Nutt — Freeze’s predecessor — who is currently out of the business, wants you to know that this was not his doing.

In an interview with FOX Sports, Nutt felt somewhat “vindicated” since he was not to blame for breaking NCAA rules.

“It’s the most frustrating thing there is,” Nutt told FOX Sports, “to be on the sidelines and hear your name keep getting mentioned and mentioned. It’s hurtful. It makes you mad.

“I don’t have a major violation in 30 years of coaching.”

However, some of these violations did come from Nutt’s staff. Two former assistants — David Saunders and Chris Vaughn — were named in helping recruits receive fraudulent ACT scores, which is a Level I violation, and that is the most serious kind. The two coaches also allegedly lied to or provided false information in the NCAA’s investigation.

Of the 28 NCAA violations, 16 are Level I. In addition to the fraud standardized test scores, those include impermissible benefits to football recruits and players (Laremy Tunsil’s family) from boosters.

Nutt resigned from Ole Miss in November 2011 after compiling a 24-23 record in four seasons. Freeze was hired about a month later.

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