The school has already self-imposed several penalties, including a one-year postseason ban for the upcoming season.įreeze - who was making more than $5 million per year - had a 39-25 record over five seasons, including a 19-21 mark in the Southeastern Conference.
The Rebels had a quick rise under Freeze, recruiting at a high level and reaching an apex with a Sugar Bowl victory over Oklahoma State following the 2015 season.īut an NCAA investigation - alleging 21 charges of academic, booster, and recruiting misconduct - has overshadowed much of that success, especially over the past year. Vitter and Bjork both said Freeze’s resignation is strictly because of his personal conduct and not because of the ongoing NCAA investigation. When pressed to explain Freeze’s conduct, Bjork said the school needed to “protect that information.” The school then looked into the rest of his phone records and found more problems.ījork said Freeze “admitted the conduct” and that the coach offered his resignation Thursday afternoon. USA Today reported the call was to a number tied to a female escort service. “As of yesterday, there appeared to be a concerning pattern.”ījork said the school’s investigation started last week after a Freedom of Information request revealed a concerning phone call that lasted less than a minute. “In our analysis, we discovered a pattern of conduct that is not consistent with our expectations as the leader of our football program,” athletic director Ross Bjork said. His ultimate downfall came after school officials investigated Freeze’s phone records and found misconduct. “Billy Napier, I’ve known him for years.Mississippi football coach Hugh Freeze resigned Thursday after university officials found a “pattern of personal misconduct” that they found unacceptable.įreeze’s resignation brings a stunning end to a five-year tenure that saw a Sugar Bowl victory, but also a wide-ranging NCAA investigation into rules violations. “We’ve got a difficult task down at the University of Louisiana,” Freeze said. If Freeze does make the trip, he will visit a venue with which he is familiar and coach against someone - Napier - he knows as well. “So I think the next few days are going to be critical for deciding that.” “Going to an away game, I’m going to have to be able to sit up, at least, and that’s the best case, for four-plus hours, probably, to call a game,” Freeze said Monday. That’s if he’s even able to travel again.ĮSPN.com reported Tuesday that Liberty has a private plan ready to transport Freeze, his wife and a nurse to Lafayette if needed, but also that he may not able to go if an additional procedure if needed to drain fluid from his back later this week. More: Cajuns confident after close game, will use 'damage' to get betterīut it remains to be seen if he’ll be able to work the sideline at Cajun Field, or - a perhaps more likely scenario - watch from a press box that is not exactly ideally suited to hold a hospital bed. “Walking with the walker this morning was a lot better than it was last week.” “Sitting does not feel great today, on Monday,” he added. “For some reason, I had extreme amount of fluid that had gathered on the nerves where they did the operation and it was just causing me a lot of discomfort. I had a setback last week where they had to take me back in and do some more MRIs. “I will say this, there’s no question in my mind that my back is better. “I don’t know what the doctor is gonna say,” Freeze said. More: Levi Lewis overcame early mistakes in first game as starter It remains to be seen for how long that must continue. “I’ve got a great staff,” Freeze said. “They obviously have handled it very well.” Now, as the first season on new job was just about to get underway, the back situation has proven to be a setback.