Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt returns most of his staff intact but not without some drama.

Defensive coordinator Tyrone Nix was pursued by Florida for the same position but remained in Oxford and was rewarded with a salary increase to $500,000.

Nutt did lose offensive coordinator Kent Austin, who became head coach at Cornell. That led to some shuffling of the staff.

Veteran SEC offensive coordinator Dave Rader left private business in his native Tulsa to join the staff. He has the title of co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, sharing the coordinator duties with Nutt’s long-time offensive line coach, Mike Markuson. Last year Markuson held the title of run-game coordinator.

“I’ve been calling the plays since I got to Ole Miss, but that doesn’t mean it’s just me,” Nutt said. “We’re all involved, and really, anybody could call the game.”

The rest of Nutt’s offensive staff – running backs coach Derrick Nix, tight ends coach James Shibest and wide receivers coach Ron Dickerson Jr. – have been with Nutt for all of his Ole Miss tenure and in the case of Shibest for seven seasons at Arkansas.

Defensively, Terry Price returns for his second season as the line coach. Nutt likes two sets of eyes in the secondary, where Kim Dameron coaches the safeties, and Chris Vaughn coaches cornerbacks.

Nix is responsible for the linebackers.

Shibest also serves as special teams coordinator, and Vaughn is the staff’s recruiting coordinator.