OXFORD, Miss. -- After more than a year without a Southeastern Conference victory, Mississippi coach Houston Nutt will resign.

The fourth-year Rebels coach will lead the team for the remainder of the season, athletic director Pete Boone said at a news conference Monday. Boone also announced that he will step down as athletic director by the end of 2012.

ESPN.com's Chris Low and Edward Aschoff reported on the departures of Nutt and Boone earlier Monday.

The Rebels have lost 12 consecutive Southeastern Conference games, including Saturday's 30-13 loss to Kentucky. Mississippi is 2-7 this year, including 0-6 in the SEC. Nutt is 24-23 in his four years in Oxford.

"The thing about the SEC that I know," Nutt said. "They pay you to win."

By that standard, he didn't earn his salary over the past two seasons. That's why Nutt said Monday he wasn't surprised he was asked to resign at the end of the season.

"I'm grateful to coach Nutt for his commitment to our university and his commitment to our football program," Ole Miss chancellor Dr. Dan Jones said. "I know we're all disappointed in the lack of success over the last two years."

Nutt, who is earning approximately $2.7 million this season, has a $6 million buyout clause in his contract, Boone said. If no one on Nutt's staff is retained by the next coach, the total buyout will be about $8 million.

Nutt, 54, did not attend the first hour of the press conference. He said during his weekly teleconference with reporters that he hadn't heard from the administration about his job status.

Boone said he didn't make an emotional decision about Nutt's future, but instead weighed the total decline of the program during the past two seasons, which have produced a combined 6-15 record.

"Our goal is to compete for championships," Boone said. "And we are not making progress in that regard."

Mississippi will play Louisiana Tech on Saturday at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium before ending the season with two conference games against LSU and Mississippi State.

Nutt said his immediate focus would be on beating Louisiana Tech, but after the season he wanted to continue his coaching career.

"I'll try to sit down with (my wife) and drink some iced tea," Nutt said. "And then we'll see what happens."

Nutt's stunning fall was hard to fathom just two years ago. The veteran coach came to Oxford after a 10-year tenure at Arkansas and immediately led Ole Miss to an 18-8 record over his first two seasons, including back-to-back Cotton Bowl victories over Texas Tech and Oklahoma State.