Quote Originally Posted by Johnson85 View Post
The real timeline:
  • Ole Miss had a coach in Cutcliffe who could coach but was not on board with SEC style recruiting, much less Ole Miss style recruiting.
  • Ole Miss first thought they were going to put Cutcliffe on notice and force him to hire some recruiters more comfortable with SEC/Ole Miss recruiting.
  • When Cutcliffe called their bluff, they actually thought they coudl go out and get a big name.
  • Ole Miss gets spurned by candidates 1-98, and end up deciding on a DL coach with no coordinator experience who has a reputation as a lights out recruiter.
  • Orgeron basically adds energy and a process to UM's willingness to bend rules and has some recruiting success. The success is not as impressive as the star count, as Orgeron goes out and gets some character and grade risks that blue blood programs were a little cooler on. UM boosters/fans don't realize this; they think they are recruiting toe to toe with the blue bloods.
  • Orgeron flames out because of his lack of coaching ability combined with lack of experience and lack of a good staff to make up for it.
  • Nutt falls into UM's lap. Nutt is not as energetic as Orgeron on recruiting, but is actually more willing to push the envelope, even making Boone uncomfortable and starting teh saga with Saunders.
  • UM fans are completely fed up with Boone and view him as having been incompetent for a while and now actively holding them back by his concerns with rules. They want to dump him but Kayak has his back.
  • Things look good notwithstanding Boone, but then UM finds out Arkansas fans were telling the truth and that is combined with Mullen coming on the scene and antagonizing UM fans.
  • At the same time that UM fans are wanting to dump Boone (whom Kayak either can no longer protect or who no longer wants protection from kayak) and want to dump Nutt, the Cam Newton affair happens.
  • Ole Miss fans wrongly think that the SEC can shield its members from anything, and that they are on the same level as Auburn and would get what protection Auburn gets, so they decide it's open season.
  • The boosters wanting to get more aggressive in recruiting identify Freeze as somebody who already knows the system from Orgeron, is on board with it, and will further institutionalize it.
  • At around the same time, the same boosters identify Bjork as an AD candidate who will let Freeze operate.
  • Freeze and boosters gets too aggressive in essentially his first full recruiting class, either thinking the Newton precedent applies to them and/or not realizing that what they are doing is an order of magnitude beyond Orgeron's best results. They aren't picking off grade and character risks; they are coming in at the last second and picking off top tier recruits from blue bloods.
  • Freeze issues his challenge regarding information.
  • Freeze antagonizes NCAA staff
  • Freeze, Bjork, and boosters continue to operate as if Newton precedent means they don't have to worry about repercussions, even as NCAA has put them on notice that they are watching.

And that's how UM got to where they are.

One item is missing Slime left the SEC as commish in 2015, he was providing some cover and the rest of the NCAA was ready to pounce when he left. Sankey was not willing to cover up illegal doings and the NCAA came in to investigate.