A shockwave went through the streets of Oxford, Mississippi yesterday as Hugh Freeze, head football coach for the Ole Miss Rebels, resigned after allegations of calling an escort- service from a university phone. Jeffery Vitter, Ole Miss Chancellor was quoted on Freeze and this situation saying “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.” The athletic director of the school, Ross Bjork along with internal help, noticed unusual phone behavior and a pattern with coach freeze’s phone calls. The phone calls apparently started after in early 2012 but the one that stuck out was a phone call made in January of 2016. The phone call was to a Detroit, MI area code and it lasted one minute. The phone number was associated with a website that advertised a female escort business. Naturally, Freeze is denying any such phone call as saying “We call the wrong numbers all the time.”
Now, I’m no rocket scientist but if you’re being accused of such behavior, couldn’t you find another excuse to come up with than saying “We call the wrong numbers all the time”? Look, none of us where there when this went down. I’m not calling Freeze a liar and I’m not saying this wasn’t a legit number. It’s possible this was a mistake and that Freeze had no clue who this number belonged to. All I know is that he had to resign over it and it could cost him more than his job. I know a lot of people out in the media and social media are having fun with this situation and especially rival schools. However, Hugh Freeze is a married man. He is going to have to explain this to his wife and family. We all need to pray for this man. None of us should be throwing stones at him. We all need to lift him up and give him our support instead making a mockery of him and this situation.
Where does Ole Miss go from here? Matt Luke is now the interim head coach. He was the co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach for the rebels recently, but now he is the head man. I believe the team will rally to him and make the most of the season, even if they aren’t playing for a bowl. Ole Miss will survive this minor setback and become a contender in the SEC again, it’s just going to be a process and their fans better develop some patience because to be frank, they don’t have a choice.
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