Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze resigned last night, right after the Ole Miss administration stood behind him (note the embed video below) - note that quote “having the culture that’s right for our university”.

Freeze was forced out because of a call to an escort service.

You have a university that is under a serious NCAA investigation, being accused of allegedly paying players, the dreaded “lack of institutional control”, while the university itself is trying to push the blame on Houston Nutt, the coach previous to Freeze. Nutt basically says screw you, files a defamation lawsuit, in the course of which he finds a phone number tied to said escort service, and gets his successor fired (force resignation, same thing) 10 years after the fact.

This is roughly the equivalent of you being a high-ranked executive in an organization where you commit fraud, embezzle, engage in insider trading, and the organization fires you for cheating on your wife...

Because, basically, nobody at Ole Miss obviously gave a shit that Hugh Freeze was allegedly breaking rules as long as they could pin it on Houston Nutt, that is, UNTIL they figured out they could fire Freeze for cause and not have to buy him out, which is the biggest reason I can think of right now as to why Freeze is out of a job (although one could argue they could have fired him for cause for NCAA violations, although that might have it more difficult for them to defend themselves against said NCAA violations).

Ole Miss and Freeze tried to pin it on Nutt, but if it’s becoming more obvious that isn’t going to work, Ole Miss gets to pin their problems on Freeze and save themselves a few million in the process. You have to wonder why they stood by Freeze through this process when it’s rather clear that infractions were occurring under his watch and then conclude that they did so because they thought they could get away with it.

You could chalk this up to “SEC” and have fun with it, and you’d be somewhat right. This is one of the most juicy scandals I can think of - Bible spewin’ coach gets crushed by open records request call to escort service - and there’s nothing like a juicy scandal to allow everyone else a chance to get on their pedestals, point their fingers, and say, “That isn’t us”, as if we’ve defined the source of a great evil, crushed it, and can now make believe that everything will be fine, just fine now.

This isn’t true. The Freeze situation is just another case of our most beloved sport - college football - being the most hypocritical of all popular sports.

We are constantly propping it up with bullshit.

Power Five schools are increasingly making more and more millions with their TV contracts. At the same time we’re told they can’t afford to pay players, but can afford to throw money at coaches, recruiting coordinators, social media managers, and consultants and more consultants. As revenue goes up, schools spend more, but not typically on their “student athletes”, a phrase that should make you laugh because of its sheer hypocrisy.

That the NCAA bothers with trying to enforce regulations is in itself folly. Case in point, in 2016 North Carolina and Syracuse, both schools dealing with academic fraud scandals met in the Final Four. (You could bring up Penn State and Jerry Sandusky here just as easily.)

Every year it seems coaches are hell bent on finding star players to the point that they’d offer them scholarships while still in the womb if the medical industry could come up with way to measure athletic prowess that early. There’s the sadness and downright deception that is Baylor, and the excuses coaches make when they bring in talented players dropped by a previous program because of domestic violence issues.

This entire sport is plagued with ridiculosity. It survives because of our ability to blame other programs for problems, while constantly making excuses for our own. Were we rational beings, we would demand that this entire system be blown up and start over from scratch.

Unfortunately, that’s just too much work. Plus, Nebraska’s season is only 43 days away. That’s not enough time to do anything meaningful. Plus, I can’t wait for another season to start.

For More Information:

How Houston Nutt brought down Hugh Freeze is unbelievably poetic - SBNation.com
Houston Nutt and his camp got his successor at Ole Miss ousted in a fashion similar to what Nutt himself faced 10 years ago at Arkansas.

Hugh Freeze Resigns as head coach: report links him to escort service - Red Cup Rebellion
In a stunning turns of events, Hugh Freeze has resigned, effective immediately. Matt Luke will serve as interim head coach (almost certainly for the entire season). Just like you, our heads are...

Ole Miss chancellor and AD address media following Hugh Freeze resignation - Red Cup Rebellion
“We had an obligation to do the right thing, so we proactively looked into his phone records. In our analysis, we discovered a pattern of misconduct that was not consistent with the expectations of the leaders of our football program.

No, Ole Miss shouldn’t fire Hugh Freeze. Here’s why - Red Cup Rebellion

A lot of folks seem to think the Ole Miss head football coach should be fired. That’s not a good play for Ole Miss, right now.

Unfortunate timing on the part of our SBNation Ole Miss site, but that’s the way this goes some times.

A complete timeline of the NCAA’s case against Ole Miss athletics - Red Cup Rebellion
This is exhausting to follow.

Houston Nutt wants you to believe Hugh Freeze cost him a coaching job - Red Cup Rebellion
Let’s look at the legal document that could lead to Nutt receiving more money for being terrible at his job.

And Finally.....

How Hugh Freeze's dirty little lies finally caught up with him
Freeze haughtily refused to say he was sorry and admit his many mistakes for years. He had to pay the piper Thursday.