NCAA investigation weighs on Freeze
As they passed in the hall, one entourage sliding by another en route to more of the same questions, Hugh Freeze called out to Evan Engram. The Mississippi tight end stopped.
“Hey Ev, just so you know,” the coach said, “they asked me who on the team is most likely to become president. I said it was you.”
Engram smiled. Both laughed. And for Freeze it was a rare light moment — the kind of thing we routinely see at the Southeastern Conference’s media days.
Freeze’s appearance Thursday was anything but routine. Not that anyone expected it to be, with Mississippi in the middle of a wide-ranging NCAA investigation. Thirteen of the 28 alleged rules violations involve the football program, nine of those 13 since Freeze became head coach.
That is why Freeze was the coach most likely to become discombobulated, or at least exasperated, during the SEC’s media days. And why he used a portion of his opening statement — traditionally the spot where coaches provide a bland rundown of how the offseason has gone and what they expect from key positions in the upcoming season — to address the obvious.
“I remain very confident in who we are and our core values and how we do things,” he said. “We fully have cooperated with the NCAA throughout the entire process, which has been a long process.”
He went on, saying, “As a head coach, I understand that I’m held accountable for the things that happened within our building and even outside the walls of our building.”
Don’t misunderstand. Freeze insists the violations on his watch were mistakes rather than intentional. And what has hurt him most, he admitted, was the implication that he personally cheated or simply condoned it.
“The idea that I’d be tempted to cut corners at the expense of my family and my name — it sickens me,” he told USA TODAY Sports.
There’s no conclusion coming in this column. By definition, NCAA investigations — and the swirling rumors that accompany them — result in tarnished reputations long before the truth, or at least whatever the NCAA determines it to be, is finally known. Although there’s no timetable for a resolution, that day is coming soon enough for Freeze and Mississippi.
Thursday, with the investigation continuing, there wasn’t much Freeze could say. Which is why over and over, from room to room on the second floor of the Hyatt Regency Hotel, he mostly repeated a few simple lines to variations of the same questions.
But even as he stayed on message, he attempted to thread a very fine needle.
Here’s Freeze’s narrative: Mistakes were made. Mississippi will be held accountable — he’ll be held accountable, even as he points out that some of the violations were made by boosters, people “outside the building.”
But he also says Mississippi has been targeted because of a dramatic leap, both in recruiting classes and subsequently on the field. He thinks there’s backlash from rivals over the idea that a traditionally mediocre program has moved up in the hierarchy (“People don’t like Ole Miss winning,” he said). He bristles when people tell him they’re hearing from other coaches that Mississippi has been cheating. He wants to defend himself and the program, which is why he said:
“The day that really matters is the day we get to share our side with the Committee on Infractions.”
Whichever narrative you buy, it was easy to feel for Freeze on Thursday. Clearly the last few months have taken a toll. When he said, several times, that he had many faults but “zero interest in cutting corners,” he said it with increasing edge. So there’s Freeze’s personal position, staked out for all to see. And he’s raised the stakes even higher.
“A good name is to be desired more than great riches,” he said several times, saying he was taught the Bible verse from Proverbs 22:1 by his parents.
“I wish that’s what my name was — it has been for all of my career, for the most part,” he said. “And maybe will ( be) again.”
Freeze, who is outspoken about his Christian faith, says he is hurt most because of the damage potentially done to his witness. “I serve a God that I want to make his name great,” he said. “So it does bother me with that.”
If the end of an investigation that started four years ago was drawing near, it was extended in April, when former Mississippi star offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil’s social media accounts were hacked the night of the NFL draft’s first round. Screen shots appeared to show Tunsil texting with a Mississippi staffer about payments. That night the player admitted he’d been given money by coaches while at the school.
In perception, at least, that’s when the Mississippi situation mushroomed into something much bigger than it had been. Whether it actually turned into something more damaging remains to be seen. It’s very possible what’s already in evidence will be damaging enough.
Even if he’s really looking forward to the opportunity, it seemed clear Freeze had not been looking forward to Thursday, that he did not enjoy his appearance at the media days much at all. But in a private moment, he said otherwise.
“I couldn’t wait to get here,” Freeze told USA TODAY Sports. “But it’s been a transformation.”
He said he had come to peace with his tarnished reputation. But it’s also clear that he hopes Mississippi will be at least partially exonerated when it’s all over. And that his name will be cleared.
“We look forward to the conclusion of this entire process,” he said. “No one looks forward to that more than I do.”
Shortly before noon, with the final interviews finished, Freeze made his way down to the hotel lobby, where one of the signature scenes of the SEC’s media days unfolded. Dozens of fans stood in a roped-off area, as they had all week, waiting for coaches and players.
For almost 10 minutes, watched over by staff members and a state trooper, Freeze smiled, signed autographs and posed for selfies — the very picture of normalcy.