HOOVER, Ala. – Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze tried to make light of the controversy around the program with an in-game strategy for a 2017 season in which the Rebels won't be eligible for the postseason.
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"I'll probably go for it on fourth down a lot more," Freeze said at SEC Media Days Thursday. "I won't need to be nudged to do that."
Of course, nobody wanted to hear about in-game strategy. Freeze said after that a 2,773-word filibuster of an opening statement that became social media cannon fodder one day after former Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt filed a civil lawsuit against the University of Mississippi and the Ole Miss Athletic Foundation on Wednesday (via Yahoo Sports' Pat Forde). Nutt alleged a breach of contract via defamation of character in relation to the school's handling of a NCAA investigation. The initial notice of allegations were filed in January 2016. Freeze, predictably, dodged the question when a few questions were finally asked.
"I would absolutely love to share my opinion on it," Freeze said. "Unfortunately, it's a legal case, so I can't comment on it."
Same goes for the ongoing NCAA investigation. Ole Miss' filed its response to the notice of allegations, which were issued on Feb. 22. Freeze, once again, spent most of his time on the podium talking around those allegations and defending his personal integrity.
"Integrity is not always doing the right thing," Freeze said. "But when you do something wrong, you own it."
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That's the kind of philosophical statement that could be perceived as an apology, denial or justification. It seems like an eye-rolling mix of all three. At this point, enough is enough. Freeze tried to show contrition through reiterating the "double-digit scholarship reductions, meaningful recruiting reductions, one-year bowl ban, and a large financial penalty" Freeze even mentioned Navy SEALs were brought in to help teach accountability.
It's clear a firm resolution is needed. The last thing all parties involved need is another round of Freeze – or a Freeze-out – at SEC Media Days in 2018. We can't do another 2,773-word filibuster again and questions about who is at fault here.
"We obviously have created it in and around our program," Freeze said. "The length of it, we can set here and debate all of that. But you can't, we've got to be responsible for the areas in which we were deficient in, that we didn't, that we didn't either react or act properly, or whether it was staff or whether it was boosters. So we have to own that."
It's easy to see why Ole Miss is rallying around Freeze. From 2013-15, the Rebels produced a 27-12 record and a Sugar Bowl victory. Shea Patterson is another star quarterback in the making. Ole Miss also picked off Alabama in back-to-back seasons. This is the one team in the conference that makes the Crimson Tide a little uncomfortable on the field.
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They make everybody else uncomfortable off it. Freeze's legacy on the field will constantly tied to what's gone off the field and with names such as Laremy Tunsil, Tunsil's stepfather and now Nutt. It makes you wonder what the topic of conversation will be next year, or if Freeze will be back in Hoover leading that conversation.
The biggest risk for Ole Miss is to rally around Freeze and have it backfire, because the consequences won't be unlimited snark on social media. It could render the program irrelevant in a division where all it takes or one or two missteps on the field to lose a game. After all, that was Freeze's goal when he came to Ole Miss in the first place.
"The first four years, I really thought we were relevant in the Southeastern Conference, and that is what I said from day one," Freeze said. "That the expectation from me would be that we would be relevant in this conference. Relevant to me is that you have a chance to win on any given Saturday against the greatest teams in college football.
Going for it more on fourth down might help Ole Miss stay there in 2017. But if Freeze is still talking about the allegations and integrity of the program a year from now, the Rebels might not be relevant for much longer.
