Front Porch FootballSo What Now, Ole Miss?
by Chris Paschal
Image from Sports Illustrated
It wasn’t that long ago – 568 days to be exact. 568 days ago, Ole Miss had played in its first Sugar Bowl since 1970. And they killed Oklahoma State. To Ole Miss fans, the pain of the 1970s and 1980s and the ups and downs of the 1990s and 2000s had washed away. They were back. They were relevent again. The Alabama’s, Auburn’s and LSU’s of the SEC could no longer treat Ole Miss like a second rate member. Not after they had just stomped LSU at home. Or after they had just gone into Jordan-Hare Stadium and beaten Auburn. And certainly not after they had beaten Alabama two years in a row.
How We Got Here
Image from NBC Sports
But that was then. 568 days ago. This is now, and the now looks a heck of a lot different. Ever since that magical night in New Orleans where the Rebels reached the pinnacle of Ole Miss football, the University has taken a turn for the worst. Since January 1, 2016, Ole Miss has been levied 22 NCAA Sanctions, some of which are down right damning: lack of institutional control, paying recruits and players, violating NCAA rules and then lying about it, fixing ACT scores, and so many more.
Following January 1, 2016, former head coach Houston Nutt has brought a lawsuit against Hugh Freeze. Since January 1, 2016, the Rebels have gone from perennial power, a SEC West contender, to a 5-7, uninspired football team. They lost to Vanderbilt – by a lot. They lost to their in-state rival, Mississippi State, by 35 points.
Image from USA Today
Hugh Freeze
And since January 1, 2016, you lost your head football coach. Hugh Freeze resigned this past Thursday, July 20, when it was discovered that he had been cheating on his wife. Not only was he cheating on his wife, but he was cheating on his wife via an escort service. The terms the media keeps using is escort and escort service, but let’s not try and put lipstick on a pig. He was calling a pimp and meeting up with a prostitute.
Hugh Freeze had to go, but he had to go long before this happened. Because whether you think he was a good guy who made horrible mistakes, or a sleazy dude who got what he had coming, we can all agree that he not only has to answer for his moral shortcomings, but also has to answer for his NCAA shortcomings, as well. Whether Hugh Freeze had been cheating on his wife or not, he still was facing a tough situation that I don’t think he could get out of, or deserved to get out of.
A Storm is Brewing
Image from Gridiron NoW
This brings us to the question, “what now happens now, Ole Miss?” Your approach this whole time has been to stick with Hugh Freeze. That the University of Mississippi was going to fix what was going wrong, and punish itself for past transgressions. So what did the University decide? A self-imposed bowl ban for the 2017 season. Nobody was buying that. But Ole Miss stuck to its message. Hugh Freeze is our guy and we will clean up the program. Then the news hits that Freeze was out.
I really hope Ole Miss tries to spin this as if they have gotten rid of the problem. Because without the infidelity, Ole Miss would have never canned him. The University couldn’t get rid of him without forking over millions of dollars, so instead they decided to push this narrative that they were taking the issue seriously and that Hugh Freeze was the man to help clean it up. He’s gone now and that narrative is destroyed. They can’t use that message anymore. But they can’t can’t go back on what they said just weeks before, and claim Hugh Freeze was the issue.
What Next?
Ole Miss is screwed. The NCAA is going to come down hard on Ole Miss. They’re going to get everything but the death penalty. Scholarship reductions, bowl bans, TV contracts all are not out of the question when it comes to sanctions levied against the Rebels. They may not look like much of a football team after the dust settles, but they will still be a football team. And this team is going to need a head coach.
If I were in charge of the situation at Ole Miss (Chairman of the Board of Trustees), here is what I would do:
Clean House
Everybody above the head coach needs to go too. This has been an embarrassment for the University. Athletic Director, gone. Chancellor, gone. I know that is extreme. I know they said all the right things, and they are not the ones who cheated on their wives – I get that. But the way this has been handled has been a dumpster fire. The new Chancellor and the AD both need to be an Ole Miss guy. There can not be a national search, either. Do not find someone who views this as a stepping stone towards another job. Find someone who understands the state of Mississippi, its people, and what it will take to restore not only it’s football prowess, but its reputation.
Image from Scout.com
If Matt Luke (interim head coach) doesn’t pan out, which I don’t think he will, then start the search. Ole Miss will know pretty early on if Luke is the right man for the job. And I am not talking about wins and losses. I’m talking about if he wins over the locker room, if he does things the right way, if he has support from the fanbase and alumni. If he doesn’t, wipe clean the coaching staff like you did the administration. The search has to be very, very specific and disciplined.
Enough with this “let’s go out and get Chip Kelly” crap. Even if he did accept, he is not the right man for the job. When rebuilding this program you have to remember a few things. First, you’re in the SEC West. Second, not only are you in the SEC West, but you are also one of the least successful programs in the West. Third, Ole Miss is located in one of the least populated states in the country. Finally, this is not going to be an instant success. So stop thinking “win right now.” It’s not going to happen.
Image from CBS Sports
Larry Fedora
My first call is to Larry Fedora. Why Fedora? Two reasons. First, he knows what it is like to take over a program in the middle of a scandal. When he took the job at North Carolina, the Tarheel football program was in a really bad place. Not as bad as Ole Miss, but a bad place nonetheless . Fedora has built a respectable program. He has done it his way, and he has done it, from what looks like, the right way. Second, he knows the state of Mississippi. He coached for years at Southern Miss, and he was very successful. He knows all the local high schools, and if I am rebuilding Ole Miss, I am starting with the state of Mississippi. Mississippi State has been able to recruit the state, and has been pretty successful doing it.
Image from KCTV5
Les Miles
If Fedora says no, which I would if I were him, I would reach out to Les Miles. Rumor has it, he is itching to get back into coaching, and Ole Miss is an SEC job. Not only that, but it is in the same division as LSU. Miles is a driven, uber-competitve guy. I feel like nothing would give him greater satisfaction than to build a program from the ashes, and beat LSU. He may take it, and I think he has the temperament and experience to do a good job with it.
Mike Bobo
If Miles says no, I would call Mike Bobo. Bobo is an SEC guy. Not a Mississippi guy (spent almost his entire career and playing days at Georgia), but he gets the SEC. He has a few years of coaching experience under his belt at Colorado State, and an excellent recruiter. You need players to win, but you need the right players to build a program. I think Bobo would do that.
Nice one Chris
One funny thing that people don’t realize about this entire scandal was the way that the calls to the escort service were discovered on Hugh Freeze’s phone.
It all starts with Houston “Smoke-Draw” Nutt’s tenure at the University of Arkansas, and more importantly, how it was cut short.
In the midst of a struggling season for the hogs, one which was in no small part due to Nutt not yet realizing the forward pass had been deemed legal in the sport of football, our ball coach was shown on T.V texting from the sidelines during a game.
This was the subject of many a joke among parts of the Arkansas fan base, but for many, it was also a slap in the face.
Now if this happens somewhere else, it probably genrates a few memes and blows over. But in Razorback country, with more passion than things to do, a group of disgruntled fans (on the notorious hogville.net) analyzed the film and realized it was a university-issued phone he was texting from.
Now the University of Arkansas is a state school, which means that phone was state, and therefore public, property. Thanks to the Freedom of Information Act, and because their hard-earned tax dollars were footing the phone bill, these same fans were then able to request Houston Nutt’s phone records.
It turned out Houston Nutt was not, in fact, texting the offensive coordinator to demand another HB dive on 3rd and long. He was texting his mistress.
Similar to what Ole Miss has recently done, the (real) U of A fired the struggling coach under the guise of moral duty. But all was not lost for Houston Dale Nutt, as he learned a very valuable lesson that day.
Facing slander from Hugh Freeze and the Ole Miss athletic department Nutt decided to file a law suit, and he knew exactly what to do. Harkening back to his crash course on the finer details of the Freedom of Information Act, he had his lawyers request Hugh Freeze’s university-issued phone record.
Guess what? He’s been calling an escort service.
Now Houston Nutt has gotten a bit of revenge here, but neither man’s career has panned out the way it was planned. These men were getting paid millions to coach the sport they love, and they threw it all away for the sake of their vices.
If this can teach us all one thing, to paraphrase the illustrious Kevin Gates…..
Always have two phones. One for the b*tches, and one for the dough.
-Woo Pig Sooie