When the Hugh Freeze story first broke last week Thursday, it was reported that Houston Nutt’s attorney had alerted Ole Miss about the call when reviewing phone records related to the coach’s lawsuit. A new report by ESPN’s Mark Schlabach reveals that Nutt’s attorney was pointed to the call by a Mississippi State writer.

In Schlabach’s fascinating article, Steve Robertson of Scout forum Gene’s Page and author of the upcoming book “Flim Flam” (about Ole Miss’ NCAA investigation) says he first discovered that the number for the escort agency had been dialed from Freeze’s school phone. Robertson was going over Freeze’s phone records, which were obtained through a public records request, trying to locate a call between Freeze and a sportswriter. He was looking for a call which he believed occurred on Jan. 20, 2016, but requested records for the day before and the day after. The number for the escort agency was found on the phone records for Jan. 19, 2016.

After Robertson made the discovery, instead of breaking the news, he got in touch with Nutt’s attorney, Thomas Mars. The initial story that was reported Thursday led many to speculate that Nutt was using the press to help bring down Freeze to get revenge. According to Mars, Nutt never wanted to embarrass Freeze.

“Houston had no interest in this information being used to embarrass Hugh Freeze, and he made that very clear to me,” Mars told Schlabach. “He wasn’t interested in taking a pound of flesh from Hugh Freeze. He only wanted to clear his name.”

Nutt’s defamation lawsuit against Ole Miss alleges that the school has hurt his chances of getting another coaching job by falsely portraying the NCAA violations as occurring mostly during his time as head coach. Various sportswriters reported as such after off-the-record conversations with Freeze.

Schlabach’s article also reveals that, Ole Miss did not find any more calls to the 313 number when it reviewed Freeze’s phone calls. Athletic director Ross Bjork, however, wanted to conduct a more thorough review, which led to the discovery of the “concerning pattern” of behavior cited at last week’s press conference.

Robertson’s role in the story will only add to the intensity of the Egg Bowl rivalry.