Former Ole Miss coach Nutt discusses Chris Vaughn
OXFORD - Former Ole Miss head coach Houston Nutt defended Chris Vaughn on Sirius XM, describing his former assistant coach as someone who wouldn’t break rules.
Nutt’s conversation on a radio show hosted by Rick Neuheisel and Chris Childers came shortly after Texas parted ways with Vaughn, a defensive backs coach, after two seasons.
The Austin American-Statesman’s Brian Davis previously reported, citing anonymous sources connected to Texas, that Vaughn’s departure Thursday evening came because of his being linked to the NCAA’s three-plus year investigation of three Ole Miss teams.
“Let me tell you something about Chris Vaughn: There’s not one crooked bone in his body,” Nutt said on the radio show. “High, high character. This guy, he’s never had a violation. In my time that I had him, he’s straight as an arrow, guys. Straight as an arrow.
“Now, if you don’t like his coaching, go ahead and fire him. OK, I get it, he doesn’t fit. But to use this (investigation of Ole Miss) — to me, it’s almost like a scapegoat to me.
“What’s a travesty, what is a travesty, you’re going to take away this young man from being around 18-, 19-, 20-year-olds. Come on.”
Nutt told the show that he had spoken with Vaughn, saying that Vaughn has been questioned by the NCAA and is in the process of hiring an attorney.
Vaughn worked as a defensive backs coach and recruiting coordinator at Ole Miss from 2008-11. He worked at Memphis before joining the Texas coaching staff in 2014.
Vaughn played three seasons under Nutt at Murray State and served on Nutt’s coaching staff at Arkansas for nine seasons in addition to their time together at Ole Miss.
Nutt also said he’s heard that the accusations involving Vaughn are linked to former Ole Miss assistant coach David Saunders, who worked as an administrative assistant under Nutt. Saunders also worked at Ole Miss from 1998-2002 and in 2006.
“I think the only thing that (Vaughn is accused of), to me, it’s surrounded with David Saunders, a couple of kids that he recruited from Florida as far as the ACT test,” Nutt said on the show. “That’s all that I know, and that’s all he would elaborate on.”
Saunders received an eight-year show-cause order last month from the Committee on Infractions after it found that he, while at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette, helped five recruits receive fraudulent ACT scores, lied to the NCAA about his involvement, failed to cooperate with an investigation and gave $6,500 to a football player.
The punishment for ULL included the following: two years of probation, a $5,000 fine, a reduction of 11 scholarships over three seasons, recruiting restrictions and a vacation of certain games from 2012-14. Saunders worked at ULL from January 2011 to October 2014.
Contact Daniel Paulling at dpaulling@jackson.gannett.com. Follow @DanielPaulling on Twitter.