Hugh Freeze Resigns

[lionheartkc 6,150]

1 minute ago, keesler said:

The REC are relentless savages.  Maybe they'll hack Matt Luke's company phone and start calling hookers like they did to Freeze.  Perhaps they can put another plant inside the AD similar to Barney Farrar so he can continue hooking up Boosters with recruits & active players.  They may get another Academic Fraud scheme started up to really seal the coffin on OM.  They've certainly been on a mission for over 5 yrs to destroy the only team in the conference that beat them twice in a row, so there's no telling what's next on the REC agenda.

I don't get your current need to mock anyone who brings up the REC. No one believes they setup any of the things you mentioned (incidentally, I find it far more ridiculous that people are running with the "hooker" angle when the report said that number was called 1 time for 1 minute... but I guess people love to run with whatever is salacious, evidence or not). Everyone knows that Ole Miss made their own bed in an attempt to compete. That being said, maybe instead of mocking you could trust some of the people who have had first hand interaction with the REC and have shared their stories here. Yes, they have been on a warpath against Ole Miss and their stink is all over the initial leak that got the NCAA ball rolling. Trust me, you would not want to try to rebuild a program with them working against you. They have far too many connections in important places.

[keesler 5,924]

29 minutes ago, lionheartkc said:

I don't get your current need to mock anyone who brings up the REC. No one believes they setup any of the things you mentioned (incidentally, I find it far more ridiculous that people are running with the "hooker" angle when the report said that number was called 1 time for 1 minute... but I guess people love to run with whatever is salacious, evidence or not). Everyone knows that Ole Miss made their own bed in an attempt to compete. That being said, maybe instead of mocking you could trust some of the people who have had first hand interaction with the REC and have shared their stories here. Yes, they have been on a warpath against Ole Miss and their stink is all over the initial leak that got the NCAA ball rolling. Trust me, you would not want to try to rebuild a program with them working against you. They have far too many connections in important places.

Mock?  Sarcasm, nothing more.  I even used the yellow sarcasm font.

OleMiss found a pattern of moral misconduct when they researched Freeze's company phone records.  How could folks not run with the hooker angle when the AD stated that they would have fired Hugh for moral turpitude if he had not resigned of his own accord and without a settlement or buyout?  Freeze's personal actions were salacious enough that he was forced to forgo a +/-$15 million buyout!

The NCAA/OM ball started rolling when 2 (TWO) separate athletic programs (T&F/WBB) were investigated and found cheating, then Football came under investigation when OleMiss was cited in the David Saunders Academic Fraud investigation.  Once the NCAA was firmly planted on campus, OleMiss admittedly continued to cheat and break the rules and their Asst Athletic Director systematically put a system in place to strategically place OleMiss Boosters in contact with recruits. 

The REC are savages, no one argues that.  I'd just like to know how their "stink" spewed all over half of Hugh Freeze's coaching staff, their Asst Athletic Director, 14 Boosters and how it seeped into Hugh Freeze's company issued cell phone?

 

 

 

 

[lionheartkc 6,150]

10 minutes ago, keesler said:

OleMiss found a pattern of moral misconduct when they researched Freeze's company phone records.  How could folks not run with the hooker angle when the AD stated that they would have fired Hugh for moral turpitude if he had not resigned of his own accord and without a settlement or buyout?  Freeze's personal actions were salacious enough that he was forced to forgo a +/-$15 million buyout!

It just bugs me when people run with something like that without any evidence. All moral turpitude means is that it goes against the moral or legal standards. That could mean he did literally anything that was against the school's expectations of the behavior of a coach. The fact that a 1 minute phone call has suddenly become the head coach personally hiring hookers for his recruits is astounding to me. I'm actually waiting for some legal action against some guys like Clay Travis, who have a national platform and have already printed rumor as truth. Heck, for all we know, this could be a Sunny Galloway situation.

16 minutes ago, keesler said:

The REC are savages, no one argues that.  I'd just like to know how their "stink" spewed all over half of Hugh Freeze's coaching staff, their Asst Athletic Director, 14 Boosters and how it seeped into Hugh Freeze's company issued cell phone?

I've never heard anyone say that it did. What has been inferred is that some of the public airings of recruiting misconduct were likely leaked by them (the Laremy Tunsil draft incident screams REC) and the NCAA was likely put on several trails by contact from them (which everyone knows is SOP for them). The truth is that Ole Miss WAY overstepped in an attempt to play bama's game and was going to go down one way or another, but you can bet the REC did their part to open some eyes and spur it along... and will continue to serve as a stumbling block until Ole Miss is "back where they belong".

[aufan57 922]

7 minutes ago, lionheartkc said:

It just bugs me when people run with something like that without any evidence. All moral turpitude means is that it goes against the moral or legal standards. That could mean he did literally anything that was against the school's expectations of the behavior of a coach. The fact that a 1 minute phone call has suddenly become the head coach personally hiring hookers for his recruits is astounding to me. I'm actually waiting for some legal action against some guys like Clay Travis, who have a national platform and have already printed rumor as truth. Heck, for all we know, this could be a Sunny Galloway situation.

Was more than one phone call

Quote

Ole Miss chancellor Jeffrey Vitter, in a Thursday night news conference announcing the move, said Freeze, 47, resigned after confirming to him and athletic director Ross Bjork "a pattern of personal misconduct inconsistent with the standards we expect from the leader of our football team."

"While Coach Freeze served our university well in many regards during his tenure, we simply cannot accept the conduct in his personal life that we have discovered," Vitter said.

Bjork and Vitter met with Freeze on Wednesday night and again on Thursday, when Freeze offered his resignation.

Freeze, who had about $2 million left on his contract for this year, $5 million next year and $5.15 million for the 2019 season, will not be paid going forward. Bjork said Freeze would have been fired had he not resigned.

Bjork separately told ESPN that once university officials dived deeper into Freeze's phone records on a university-provided cellphone, going back as far as shortly after he was hired in 2012, they started finding more of a pattern with phone calls of the nature USA Today earlier reported after an open-records request.

"Once we looked at the rest of the phone records we found a pattern," Bjork told ESPN. "It was troubling."

http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/20117453/hugh-freeze-ole-miss-rebels-resigns-escort-service-calls-cited

[lionheartkc 6,150]

4 minutes ago, aufan57 said:

Was more than one phone call

http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/20117453/hugh-freeze-ole-miss-rebels-resigns-escort-service-calls-cited

"Bjork told Yahoo on Friday that after receiving the information" from Thomas Mars, a lawyer involved in a case against Ole Miss, "the school had pulled records of Freeze's cell calls and plowed through 39,000 calls without finding another instance of a call to the 313 number. However, the school kept digging through the records and found additional troubling information."

That's something people need to start doing better, reading what's there, not what's not. They found a pattern... no one said what the pattern was of. Maybe he has a sex addiction... maybe he has a drug addiction... maybe he has a gambling addiction... maybe he doesn't have any addictions and they found something else that allowed them to sacrifice him in hopes of protecting some of those above him who are playing far outside the lines. Assuming it has to do with the one unusual call that Nutt's people called out as part of a character smearing campaign to bolster his lawsuit is sloppy reporting on the media's part and laziness/wishful thinking on the fan's part. 

Incidentally, a university like Ole Miss would be hard pressed to make using an escort service a fire-able offense. You can bet that the school wanted him out and this was their opportunity... and he jumped ship to prevent the details of whatever they found from becoming public record.

[Brad_ATX 13,654]

On ‎7‎/‎23‎/‎2017 at 10:06 AM, AU-HANDLEY-TIGER said:

Of course but when you were 16 or 17 did you make the best choices? And to have a grown man offer your child inappropriate temptations , am I the only one who thinks that is lower than ?.

This kind of thing happens in recruiting way more than you realize.  Maybe not escorts, but there are absolutely girls on campus who use their "assets" at the behest of the athletic department to gain a signature.

[keesler 5,924]

1 hour ago, lionheartkc said:

It just bugs me when people run with something like that without any evidence. All moral turpitude means is that it goes against the moral or legal standards. That could mean he did literally anything that was against the school's expectations of the behavior of a coach. The fact that a 1 minute phone call has suddenly become the head coach personally hiring hookers for his recruits is astounding to me. I'm actually waiting for some legal action against some guys like Clay Travis, who have a national platform and have already printed rumor as truth. Heck, for all we know, this could be a Sunny Galloway situation.

I've never heard anyone say that it did. What has been inferred is that some of the public airings of recruiting misconduct were likely leaked by them (the Laremy Tunsil draft incident screams REC) and the NCAA was likely put on several trails by contact from them (which everyone knows is SOP for them). The truth is that Ole Miss WAY overstepped in an attempt to play bama's game and was going to go down one way or another, but you can bet the REC did their part to open some eyes and spur it along... and will continue to serve as a stumbling block until Ole Miss is "back where they belong".

Ole Miss found a troubling pattern of Hugh Freeze's actions when they searched his phone records.  So troubling that they chose to fire him after doing EVERYTHING in their power to publicly support him and defend him throughout one of the longest NCAA investigations while they are facing some of the most severe allegations since SMU.  

The Ole Miss Administration vehemently defended Freeze through a +5 yr investigation and in the wake of 21 Level 1 violations listed in 2 NOA's, yet forced his resignation with less than 6 weeks until the season starts due to 1 butt dial to a hooker?

Maybe some of the public airings of recruiting misconduct wouldn't have seen the light of day if Laremy Tunsil's step father hadn't started telling from the Grove about loaner cars, paying Momma's rent and light bills, and screaming about Laremy's agent involvement?  Perhaps if Harbaugh hadn't put a bird in the ears of some folks about a recruit he was battling Freeze for, then all would be well with the world in Oxford today.  Maybe if the NCAA hadn't decided to cherry pick a player or two from MSU, Auburn, UAT, etc and offered those players immunity then OM wouldn't have racked up so many Level 1 allegations?

 

 

 

[keesler 5,924]

29 minutes ago, lionheartkc said:

"Bjork told Yahoo on Friday that after receiving the information" from Thomas Mars, a lawyer involved in a case against Ole Miss, "the school had pulled records of Freeze's cell calls and plowed through 39,000 calls without finding another instance of a call to the 313 number. However, the school kept digging through the records and found additional troubling information."

That's something people need to start doing better, reading what's there, not what's not. They found a pattern... no one said what the pattern was of. Maybe he has a sex addiction... maybe he has a drug addiction... maybe he has a gambling addiction... maybe he doesn't have any addictions and they found something else that allowed them to sacrifice him in hopes of protecting some of those above him who are playing far outside the lines. Assuming it has to do with the one unusual call that Nutt's people called out as part of a character smearing campaign to bolster his lawsuit is sloppy reporting on the media's part and laziness/wishful thinking on the fan's part. 

Incidentally, a university like Ole Miss would be hard pressed to make using an escort service a fire-able offense. You can bet that the school wanted him out and this was their opportunity... and he jumped ship to prevent the details of whatever they found from becoming public record.

You touched on some very intriguing areas in this post - there will be more to come that may reach some of those areas.

I don't think we've heard the last of those phone records, or the activities of Hugh Freeze during the time when he wasn't busy tweeting Bible verses.

Also, I wonder why Ole Miss doesn't have a system in place to regularly monitor the phone records of company issued cell phones?  Especially the phone records of their top recruiters?  They would've picked up on Barney Farrar's text messages and phone calls between recruits/players & Boosters and they could've caught Freeze's activities before a "pattern" was established.  

 

 

[McLoofus 35,182]

42 minutes ago, lionheartkc said:

"Bjork told Yahoo on Friday that after receiving the information" from Thomas Mars, a lawyer involved in a case against Ole Miss, "the school had pulled records of Freeze's cell calls and plowed through 39,000 calls without finding another instance of a call to the 313 number. However, the school kept digging through the records and found additional troubling information."

That's something people need to start doing better, reading what's there, not what's not. They found a pattern... no one said what the pattern was of. Maybe he has a sex addiction... maybe he has a drug addiction... maybe he has a gambling addiction... maybe he doesn't have any addictions and they found something else that allowed them to sacrifice him in hopes of protecting some of those above him who are playing far outside the lines. Assuming it has to do with the one unusual call that Nutt's people called out as part of a character smearing campaign to bolster his lawsuit is sloppy reporting on the media's part and laziness/wishful thinking on the fan's part. 

Incidentally, a university like Ole Miss would be hard pressed to make using an escort service a fire-able offense. You can bet that the school wanted him out and this was their opportunity... and he jumped ship to prevent the details of whatever they found from becoming public record.

Why do schools like Ole Miss and Baylor keep wanting to fire these coaches who come in, turn around their programs and start generating crazy revenue, you think? Is there actually some rule that firing a coach absolves a school of any misconduct? 

[lionheartkc 6,150]

2 minutes ago, keesler said:

You touched on some very intriguing areas in this post - there will be more to come that may reach some of those areas.

See... that's the point I've been trying to make. I'm not defending Freeze or saying he's innocent, I'm just saying people need to stop defining the crime without any real evidence that what is being said is more than innuendo. That being said, I would be willing to bet that there won't be more to come, because he resigned to keep it quiet.

16 minutes ago, keesler said:

The Ole Miss Administration vehemently defended Freeze through a +5 yr investigation and in the wake of 21 Level 1 violations listed in 2 NOA's, yet forced his resignation with less than 6 weeks until the season starts due to 1 butt dial to a hooker?

I get the strong feeling that they got to the point where they knew they weren't going to get out easy, so it was time to start sacrificing lambs... and the head coach is always the first lamb to slaughter.  The fact that Nutt is on a personal quest to slime Freeze's character probably helped them to that decision.
 

4 minutes ago, keesler said:

Also, I wonder why Ole Miss doesn't have a system in place to regularly monitor the phone records of company issued cell phones?  Especially the phone records of their top recruiters?  They would've picked up on Barney Farrar's text messages and phone calls between recruits/players & Boosters and they could've caught Freeze's activities before a "pattern" was established.  

That's a tough area. I've worked for companies who had that kind of thing and it was an issue for them because no one liked to be big brothered. I also wouldn't be surprised if the truth was that the pattern was found by pulling the phone records from various hotels and not his cell... just based on the comment about 39000 clean records.

 

[lionheartkc 6,150]

2 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

Is there actually some rule that firing a coach absolves a school of any misconduct? 

No... but it tends to take the heat off of the administration. More often than not, when a school voluntarily sacrifices the coaching staff, the administration survives, no matter how complicit they may have been.

As I said to Keesler. I'm in no way implying that Freeze is innocent or doesn't deserve to be fired for everything that happened, but this does smell of the administration seeing that they need to throw up their last hail mary in order to try to survive.

[McLoofus 35,182]

Just now, lionheartkc said:

No... but it tends to take the heat off of the administration. More often than not, when a school voluntarily sacrifices the coaching staff, the administration survives, no matter how complicit they may have been.

As I said to Keesler. I'm in no way implying that Freeze is innocent or doesn't deserve to be fired for everything that happened, but this does smell of the administration seeing that they need to throw up their last hail mary in order to try to survive.

Gotcha. 

One small note, unrelated to this but related to other comments: Nutt is only retaliating. His reputation was the one that got slimed. It appears that Freeze got good and slimy all on his own and Nutt's legal team only pointed it out as a means of last resort. 

[lionheartkc 6,150]

Just now, McLoofus said:

Gotcha. 

One small note, unrelated to this but related to other comments: Nutt is only retaliating. His reputation was the one that got slimed. It appears that Freeze got good and slimy all on his own and Nutt's legal team only pointed it out as a means of last resort. 

Good to know.  The article I read about it said that the university tried to push most of their football issues on Nutt and hold Freeze up as a paragon of virtue, so Nutt made it his personal mission to smear Freeze's character. Just more proof that you can't trust what the media says.

[McLoofus 35,182]

4 minutes ago, lionheartkc said:

Good to know.  The article I read about it said that the university tried to push most of their football issues on Nutt and hold Freeze up as a paragon of virtue, so Nutt made it his personal mission to smear Freeze's character. Just more proof that you can't trust what the media says.

No doubt.

My interpretation is that, as part of doing their due diligence in Nutt's anti-defamation lawsuit- as in, his name getting smeared by Ole Miss- Nutt's legal team unearthed the unrelated improprieties on Freeze's part. I mean, that's not really a personal vendetta IMO if true. That's just lawyers doing their jobs. 

One thing I keep hearing is that if Ole Miss had just apologized to Nutt a few months ago, it would have all gone away. Interesting to ponder. 

[lionheartkc 6,150]

1 minute ago, McLoofus said:

One thing I keep hearing is that if Ole Miss had just apologized to Nutt a few months ago, it would have all gone away. Interesting to ponder.

Egos are a dangerous thing.......

[keesler 5,924]

1 hour ago, lionheartkc said:

No... but it tends to take the heat off of the administration. More often than not, when a school voluntarily sacrifices the coaching staff, the administration survives, no matter how complicit they may have been.

As I said to Keesler. I'm in no way implying that Freeze is innocent or doesn't deserve to be fired for everything that happened, but this does smell of the administration seeing that they need to throw up their last hail mary in order to try to survive.

The Ole Miss Administration will not survive though.  After it's all said and done, they'll have 3 (THREE) sports programs on probation with Academic Fraud tied to their school.  They are going to suffer crippling sanctions.  In light of those facts, no one will ever make me believe that Institution had Control of a damn thing. 

Some OM fans believe they did it to compete with Bama.  If that's the case, then why did they cheat in Women's Basketball?  Some believe MSU did it and formed a conspiracy to strategically take them down.  If that's the case, then why did they cheat in Track & Field?  Some of them say the NCAA had a vendetta and used unethical means to hammer them.  If that's the case, then why did they commit Academic Fraud and why was the Assistant Athletic Director personally organizing a network of Boosters?

 

[lionheartkc 6,150]

18 minutes ago, keesler said:

The Ole Miss Administration will not survive though.  After it's all said and done, they'll have 3 (THREE) sports programs on probation with Academic Fraud tied to their school.  They are going to suffer crippling sanctions.  In light of those facts, no one will ever make me believe that Institution had Control of a damn thing. 

I hope you are right, my friend. I've seen it far too many times. I wish someone could logically explain to me how some of Baylor's administration is still making a salary, among other schools.

18 minutes ago, keesler said:

Some OM fans believe they did it to compete with Bama.  If that's the case, then why did they cheat in Women's Basketball?  Some believe MSU did it and formed a conspiracy to strategically take them down.  If that's the case, then why did they cheat in Track & Field?  Some of them say the NCAA had a vendetta and used unethical means to hammer them.  If that's the case, then why did they commit Academic Fraud and why was the Assistant Athletic Director personally organizing a network of Boosters?

I do believe that Freeze did what he did to compete... not just with bama, but with the SEC in general. Heck, he even hinted at it in interviews... leveling the playing field and such. I don't have any problem believing he watched bama, among others, and thought he could get away with it, not realizing the machine some schools have developed to cover themselves. 

The MSU stuff is a load of crap, of course. The only time you see something like that is when it's an isolated incident, which as you know this is far from. 

As for academic fraud and the boosters... that's all about money, plain and simple. Incidentally, the boosters are where we have to stay vigilant. I know our coaching staff has nothing to do with them, but I know we have our share and they think they are above the law.

Track and Field has no logical explanation.

[Barnacle 9,064]

2 hours ago, McLoofus said:

Why do schools like Ole Miss and Baylor keep wanting to fire these coaches who come in, turn around their programs and start generating crazy revenue, you think? Is there actually some rule that firing a coach absolves a school of any misconduct? 

Loof, is this a rhetorical question? 

[AUcivE09 582]

Just saw it pop up on AL.com, but I have been thinking for a while that Mr. Freeze would make a GREAT off the field coach. As long as there is no show cause - what do you guys think?

[McLoofus 35,182]

Just now, Barnacle said:

Loof, is this a rhetorical question? 

Yup.

[Barnacle 9,064]

3 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

Yup.

 

 

[keesler 5,924]

6 minutes ago, AUcivE09 said:

Just saw it pop up on AL.com, but I have been thinking for a while that Mr. Freeze would make a GREAT off the field coach. As long as there is no show cause - what do you guys think?

Sure, for another program.  I don't think Hugh's ole buddy Gus will touch him with a 10' pole.

[Timeslider 6 269]

9 minutes ago, AUcivE09 said:

Just saw it pop up on AL.com, but I have been thinking for a while that Mr. Freeze would make a GREAT off the field coach. As long as there is no show cause - what do you guys think?

Yes, that's my idea as well, as this guy be comes less-radioactive he will become more and more attractive.

[Barnacle 9,064]

7 minutes ago, AUcivE09 said:

Just saw it pop up on AL.com, but I have been thinking for a while that Mr. Freeze would make a GREAT off the field coach. As long as there is no show cause - what do you guys think?

Probably needs some time to cool off, a la Steve Sarkisian to Alabama. 

[AU64 10,122]

5 minutes ago, keesler said:

Sure, for another program.  I don't think Hugh's ole buddy Gus will touch him with a 10' pole.

I sure hope not....and amazing that schools go out and hire folks like this without a thorough background check (apparently) and then are surprised when the stuff hits  the fan on their campus.   The "win at all cost" philosophy sometimes has an even higher cost than folks can imagine.   I know a few OM folks of my generation and they are NOT happy about what is happening to their schools reputation.  

From the Chancellor on down for about 3 levels, there needs to be a housecleaning...JMO    It should have never gotten this far before Freeze and his minions were found out and dismissed.