Ending the Houston Nutt lawsuit so the Ole Miss football program can move forward was a good move by the university.

Former head football coach Hugh Freeze left quite a big mess to be cleaned up, including NCAA probation, his abrupt resignation just before the season due to personal behavior, and a lawsuit from the coach that preceded him accusing Freeze and others of orchestrating a false public relations campaign with the media.

The lawsuit filed by Nutt attorney Thomas Mars resulted in Freeze’s resignation and has been another black eye for the Rebel football program. The accusations were troubling because it was clear that misleading statements had been made to the media in 2016 by employees of Ole Miss, attempting in the midst of recruiting season to paint the NCAA investigation as mostly related to Nutt’s regime at Ole Miss.

That’s why part of the university’s settlement in this case included a public apology to Nutt.

We also hope that any who may have been involved in a deliberate misleading information campaign with the media learn a valuable lesson from this. Recruiting is important for any viable football program. But the integrity of the university trumps all, and must never be compromised under any circumstances.