In 2007, 20 Ole Miss football players were placed on indefinite probation by the University for having stolen pillows and clock radios from hotels in which the team had stayed in. All 20 players paid for the stolen items and therefore no NCAA rules were broken, according to the NCAA. Coach Orgeron stated that the incident would be dealt with internally and that no one would miss the season finale against arch-rival Mississippi State, because none of the 20 players had been a discipline problem before. For the same reason, that being no previous discipline issues, the school refused to release the names of the players.
The 2007 season was a historic one for Ole Miss. The Rebels went winless in the SEC for the first time since 1982 – 25 years. The Rebels, under Orgeron, ended the season at 3–9 (0–8 in SEC play).
The 2007 season culminated with the firing of Orgeron on November 24, 2007. Three days later, Houston Nutt was hired as the next head football coach.
The Ole Miss Rebels finished 4-8 overall in the 2010 season, including 1-7 in the Southeastern Conference. Among the worst of these losses was to FCS-member Jacksonville State, which was Ole Miss' first loss to a lower division team since 1945. In an ironic twist, the HC of Jacksonville State at this time was Jack Crowe, who had resigned under pressure one game into the 1992 season as HC at Arkansas after a season opening loss to FCS-member The Citadel. Houston Nutt was an assistant on Crowe's staff at this time.
Nutt set an Ole Miss coaching record with his 12th straight Southeastern Conference loss. On November 7, 2011, Nutt was fired by the University of Mississippi, but was allowed to coach through the end of the season. His final game was a 31-3 loss to Mississippi State.