Former Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt found himself at the center of a huge scandal at his old university, playing a big role in forcing the resignation of then-coach Hugh Freeze.

However, him trying to clear his name of any NCAA allegations led directly to the exposure of Freeze’s calls to escort services.

Still, Nutt — who spoke to the Knoxville Quarterback Club on Monday — insisted he didn’t set out to get Freeze fired. Instead, he said, he just wanted to clear his name (via The Clarion-Ledger):

“So I called to the NCAA to make sure I didn’t have any violations, and I didn’t,” Nutt said. “And I got a lawyer. First time I ever got a lawyer in my life. Tom Mars. I got a lawyer. I said, ‘Look, I don’t have any intention of bringing Ole Miss down. I don’t have any intention. I just want to get my name cleared.’ And he said, ‘Give me five days and I’ll let you know if I want to do this for you.’ Three days he calls me back and says, ‘I want to do this.’ I got some real truth for you, and he’s a truth-finder and he found it. “I didn’t have one notice of allegations but there was a lot of blame, so my intention was not to bring Ole Miss down, my intention was not to bring Hugh Freeze down. That wasn’t my intention. My lawyer found things, but my intention was that I wanted my name clear. Because that’s all I have. I’m sitting on the sideline, working for CBS, I get to watch football the greatest game there is. “I just wanted to let people know even at Ole Miss, I don’t have a violation. So that was important to me. But it’s funny sometimes when you get a lawyer, man, things change, I haven’t heard my name in a while.”

Nutt’s name is now seemingly cleared, while Freeze’s reputation has been sullied.

It’ll be interesting to see what happens next in the saga at Ole Miss.