Oher backs Freeze after Ole Miss scandal
“Without Coach Freeze, there is no Michael Oher and no “The Blind Side.” Michael Oher on coach Hugh Freeze, who coached Oher at Briarcrest Christian School in Memphis
NFL offensive lineman Michael Oher, whose relationship with Hugh Freeze was depicted in the Academy Award-nominated film The Blind Side, offered support Thursday for his former high school football coach who abruptly resigned last week as head coach at Mississippi.
“Without Coach Freeze, there is no Michael Oher and no The
Blind Side,” Oher told USA TODAY Sports in a text message.
Ole Miss officials said July 20 that they found a “pattern of personal misconduct” by Freeze, which prompted his resignation.
Records and correspondence obtained by USA TODAY Sports show a one-minute call was made Jan. 19, 2016, from Freeze’s university-issued phone to a number associated with a female escort service.
Oher had a troubled childhood and was admitted to Briarcrest Christian School in Memphis with the help of Freeze, who was head coach of the football team.
The two won a championship at Briarcrest, and Oher went on to play at Mississippi and in the NFL, where he was a member of the Baltimore Ravens’ Super Bowl-winning team in 2013.
“He is a man of God, and a man full of integrity,” Oher said of Freeze. “I don’t know the full story, but I’m willing to bet that everyone in the world had made a mistake that they have wanted someone to forgive them for.”
Oher, who is in the NFL’s concussion protocol, was released by the Carolina Panthers the same day Freeze resigned.
Sean Tuohy, who along with his wife, Leigh Anne, adopted Oher while he was attending Briarcrest, also backed Freeze this week.
“I’m never going to stop being his friend,” Tuohy told The (Memphis) Commercial Appeal. “I’m never going to stop loving him. When he needs me, I’ll be there.”