Breaking down the Ole Miss PR playbook

[PassInterference]

The primary objective of the Ole Miss PR playbook is to control public opinion. No surprise there - that's what PR is. The best way to do this is to plant a plausible idea into the mind of the public and allow that idea to lead the public to the conclusion that Ole Miss wants them to make.


Exhibit A: "The Network"
There was an elaborate thread here some time back about how Ole Miss runs their crootin network. The info there wasn't really accusatory. It was really complimentary about how a well-oiled crootin machine works. As I recall, no threats were made or NCAA damnation was speculated. But the thread must have hit close to home because it really rubbed some feathers all the way up to the Ole Miss AD.

Ole Miss's response was to laugh at it and own the term, "The Network". Guilty people get mad and run away. Innocent people chuckle and take it in stride. Smart guilty people go over the top chuckling and taking it in stride - and that's what Ole Miss did. You saw the AD tweeting "The Network". You saw "The Network" mentioned in capital fund-raising pitches.

And that was the PR move - own the term and make enough comedy about it that the public wouldn't take it seriously. They didn't make any arguments that "The Network" wasn't true. They simply did what they had to do to lead the public to blow off the subject.


Exhibit B: "Picture of Bobby Nkemdiche smoking drugs"
Here, we saw a similar strategy to "The Network" except the evidence was heavy enough that it couldn't be laughed away. The similarity in PR strategy was to own the situation. Hugh Freeze owned it. He projected himself as knowing more about it than anyone in the media who was asking questions about it. He said: (http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2230213-hugh-freeze-addresses-photo-of-robert-nkemdiche-holding-bong)


I'm very aware of the picture and also when it was taken and where it was taken. We test our entire team on our drug-testing policy at the beginning of the season and then we have our follow-up tests throughout the course of the year. I'm super confident we handled each one the same and we enforce our policy very consistently.

Freeze owned it. He also put himself in position to own more of it than the media could, basically claiming he knew more about it than anybody. And he throws out how confident he is in the Ole Miss drug testing program.

The important takeaway here is that instead of denying things or selling a conclusion, Freeze presented information that he wanted the public to accept as a basis for a conclusion that he wanted to public to make for themselves.

Books and conferences on leadership are strong on the idea that leaders don't argue conclusions. Instead, leaders persuade others to reach the leader's conclusion all while believing that conclusion was their own. Freeze is a master at this. He and Ole Miss did it with "The Network" and they did it with the picture of Nkemdiche smoking from a bong.


Exhibit C: "Tunsil defending his mother"
Same thing here. Instead of allowing media to break the Tunsil story, Freeze jumped out in front with the same playbook described above. He indirectly claimed more knowledge than anyone else had and he presented a narrative that would lead the public to believe there's nothing to the story.

Because 1) everyone hates domestic violence, and 2) everyone relates to maternal love, Freeze got in front of the story and claimed Tunsil was just defending his mama against violence from stepdad. Who wouldn't side with Tunsil on that? Once again, Freeze claimed to know the "real story" and presented information to lead the public to the desired conclusion.

That Blevins kid would keep talking, but they would handle him. Blevins mysteriously left the Clarion Ledger. Control the message. Put the story you want out there (defense-of-mama), and take out local media who isn't playing by your rules.


Exhibit D: "Calling an audible on Tunsil talk"
This is where it gets interesting. Because the NCAA doesn't buy into coachspeak PR, Exhibit C didn't stop the NCAA. With the Cannon Motors story brewing (unbeknownst to the public) in the background all summer and to the start of the season, Tunsil would have to sit out some games. Tunsil being benched wasn't going to go unnoticed.

With Tunsil on the bench, Exhibit C was failing. The public was no longer going to buy the defense-of-mama story. Ole Miss had to take a sack here.

Ole Miss came out and said (http://www.foxsports.com/college-football/story/ole-miss-laremy-tunsil-held-out-ncaa-090515):


As a precautionary measure, we are withholding Laremy Tunsil from today's game until the pending process can be completed. We are cooperating fully with the NCAA and feel this is the best way to protect Laremy, our football program and the university.

They aren't claiming intellectual superiority because here they can't. But they're still going with subtle statements that hope to lead the public to a gentle conclusion. They didn't call it a suspension and they stuck with the "what's-best-for-the-Tunsils" narrative.

How does suspending Tunsil protect Tunsil? What damage would be done to Tunsil by letting him play? I'm open to ideas here. I can't think of positive that Tunsil has in being suspended (other than not getting injured but come on that's not the reference here is it).


Onward from Exhibit D...

Finally, the media smelled blood. By the 3rd week of the season the story has gotten out of hand. Ole Miss is punting.

Freeze who claimed intellectual superiority nearly every step of the way now claims ignorance. Freeze is now repeatedly quoted saying he doesn't know (http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2565506-laremy-tunsil-latest-on-ole-miss-lts-investigation-by-ncaa-potential-return) the status or the forecast of Tunsil with the NCAA.


Whew, I don't know. That probably...That would have to come from our administration above me."

OK, this coach that heretofore has known more about everything than anybody now knows nothing. Riigghhttt..

With Ole Miss punting, Bjork is taking the field to play defense (http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2565506-laremy-tunsil-latest-on-ole-miss-lts-investigation-by-ncaa-potential-return).

[quote]The matters involving Laremy Tunsil aren't related to anybody on our football staff, Coach Freeze or any of the assistants

Ole Miss playing defense instead of offense on PR? Now that IS a shocker.

Every time Ole Miss got out in front of a story, there proved to be more fire where there was smoke. Now that they've punted and moved to defense....get your popcorn ready.

[PassInterference]

BREAKING...

This morning, Bo Bounds criticized The Clarion Ledger for sleeping on the Tunsil story after getting rid of Blevins. Guess what...Ole Miss denied Bo Bounds football media credentials request.

Y'all will recall, what, a year or so ago (?) that Ole Miss put a ban on being interviewed by Bo Bounds. Seems there were posts here shining light on that and that same day Ole Miss had somebody appear on Bo's show. Ha.

Control the message, squash local media who doesn't follow The Playbook.

Maybe with enough attention, Ole Miss will change their mind on football credentials for Bo.

[Coach34]

Outstanding post

[spiritual_machine2005]

This should be pinned to the top of the page. Very educational post.

[BeastMan]

Ole Miss did not make a coach available through the SID the same day M&WN made that blog post (which made its way here). What happened was Bo was doing a remote from a golf course for some benefit tourney that Freeze was playing in. It was a chance, unplanned deal where Freeze saw his setup and decided to jump on real quick.

There isn't any official word (and you likely wouldn't get that anyway) but I'm pretty certain Bo is black balled by the OM athletic department in regards to access to their coaches.

[DancingRabbit]

Bo should get Riley Blevins on his show.

[Pollodawg]

Every bit of Ole Miss's current situation can be traced back to Mullen's 2009-2011 run verses them. Ole Miss will lose to anyone in the country, but they absolutely cannot stand to lose to MSU. That "lSU is our real rival" trash is nothing more than an attempt to irritate State fans. When the sun set on HDN and rose on Mullen, it nearly drove them insane. They vowed then and there that they would do whatever it took to beat State again. Then Dan poked them in the eye with the Our State and TSUN stuff. It proved too much for the fragile sense of self.

Ole Miss sold their soul to beat Mullen and MSU, and now the note is due.....

[MSUDawg99]

What I find interesting after reading Pollodawg's post above about who the real rival is, is that in the locker room there used to be a countdown clock to the days to beat UNM. This year when I went to the ladies FB clinic it wasn't there & I asked Coach Townsend what happened to it. He said the team & coaching staff have changed their focus. They've got bigger fish to fry. When he first got there CDM used to harp on winning that game. Now they're not dwelling on just winning that one damn game at end of season. They're more focused on getting to ATL. So who's the obsessed fanbase/team? Of course, we'll see how the season plays out tho.

[PassInterference]

Oh the ESPN article-

Could call it Exhibit E. The narrative there is that Tunsil's car is as innocent as an overdue library book. Oops, did he do that?

This smells exactly like me The Playbook releasing a harmless-sounding version of the facts which the public should immediately blow off.

And that's why I say "sources" are Ole Miss, not an NCAA leak.

As I said before, grab your popcorn. The truth is going to be more entertaining than The Playbook narrative. It always is.

[maroonmania]

Every bit of Ole Miss's current situation can be traced back to Mullen's 2009-2011 run verses them. Ole Miss will lose to anyone in the country, but they absolutely cannot stand to lose to MSU. That "lSU is our real rival" trash is nothing more than an attempt to irritate State fans. When the sun set on HDN and rose on Mullen, it nearly drove them insane. They vowed then and there that they would do whatever it took to beat State again. Then Dan poked them in the eye with the Our State and TSUN stuff. It proved too much for the fragile sense of self.

Ole Miss sold their soul to beat Mullen and MSU, and now the note is due.....

Should be pretty obvious that the OM powerbrokers will go to ANY lengths when they start losing to MSU regularly in football. This crap has played out over and over again. Last time this hit fever pitch of course was with Sherrill where they went the other direction and hired private investigators to dig up dirt on our recruits, used Khayat's influence with the NCAA and even slept with the NCAA investigator to trash the MSU program. BUT that was in a different day with Roy Kramer allowing the NCAA to rip up SEC programs like MSU and Bama at the time. In this day and age with a rather weakened NCAA and the SEC handling all grievances in house OM went the other direction and threw caution to the wind to buy up whatever recruits they thought they had a legitimate chance at to get ahead of lil ol' MSU. Guess we will see what happens with the fall out here but one thing is for sure, the OM movers and shakers behind their program can live with losing to a lot of folks but they will absolutely GO NUTS when they start regularly losing to MSU. Ain't no doubt about that as the same story pretty much plays out every time it happens in one form or another.

[Martianlander]

Excellent recap.

[BeastMan]

Oh the ESPN article-

Could call it Exhibit E. The narrative there is that Tunsil's car is as innocent as an overdue library book. Oops, did he do that?

This smells exactly like me The Playbook releasing a harmless-sounding version of the facts which the public should immediately blow off.

And that's why I say "sources" are Ole Miss, not an NCAA leak.

As I said before, grab your popcorn. The truth is going to be more entertaining than The Playbook narrative. It always is.

McCready has been calling for OM to release the details and win the PR battle. That's said, I don't think this was an OM leak.

Listen to this from 3 days ago on RSR: Real Shot for Ole Miss vs. Alabama, Tunsil or Not
http://rebelsportsradio.com/episode/6279/rebel-yell-hotline-real-shot-for-ole-miss-vs-alabama-tunsil-or-not/

At the 9:15 mark Chucks Rounsville has no other than Michael Jo Cannon call in and they have a chummy convo. If this was an OM leak I would think they would be limiting Cannon's public profile and relationship w/the program leading up to the leak. Remember, Chuck is right hand w/the OM staff and administration. Plus, when Low called Canno he was given no comment. If this was some organized OM leak wouldn't Cannon motors have a prepared statement of some sort?

The way the Bama suit deal went was they disassociated with the booster. If OM was following that lead I don't think they would leak this in that way leaving Cannon hanging. I'm just speculating here with no inside info.

[BrunswickDawg]

Should be pretty obvious that the OM powerbrokers will go to ANY lengths when they start losing to MSU regularly in football. This crap has played out over and over again. Last time this hit fever pitch of course was with Sherrill where they went the other direction and hired private investigators to dig up dirt on our recruits, used Khayat's influence with the NCAA and even slept with the NCAA investigator to trash the MSU program. BUT that was in a different day with Roy Kramer allowing the NCAA to rip up SEC programs like MSU and Bama at the time. In this day and age with a rather weakened NCAA and the SEC handling all grievances in house OM went the other direction and threw caution to the wind to buy up whatever recruits they thought they had a legitimate chance at to get ahead of lil ol' MSU. Guess we will see what happens with the fall out here but one thing is for sure, the OM movers and shakers behind their program can live with losing to a lot of folks but they will absolutely GO NUTS when they start regularly losing to MSU. Ain't no doubt about that as the same story pretty much plays out every time it happens in one form or another.
And remember, when we went under the NCAA gun - OM was just coming off a MAJOR probation (4 years, 1 year TV ban, 2 or 3 year bowl game ban, major scholarship reductions) that hit at the end of 1994. We won 3 out of the next 5 EB's, go to Atlanta, and they HAD to reel us in by any means to reestablish their program's "superiority" in state. At least then, they seemed to be on the more cautious side of recruiting - I don't think Cutt would have had it any other way. But of course, they couldn't be content with Cutt building a sustainable, competitive program - they needed STARS!!!

[Op4isabitch]

1521

[Swagger Vance]

"The matters involving Laremy Tunsil aren't related to anybody on our football staff, Coach Freeze or any of the assistants"

When I saw this statement the AD released, I could smell the fear. This statement in my opinion, shows you they're in full damage control mode. They're going to be working overtime this week.

[Behrdawg]

This. Is. Dead. On.

[SDDawg]

Excellent analysis. OMers are trembling, scared those 3 points from the Peach Bowl will not be repeated this season!

[BulldogBacker]

BREAKING...

This morning, Bo Bounds criticized The Clarion Ledger for sleeping on the Tunsil story after getting rid of Blevins. Guess what...Ole Miss denied Bo Bounds football media credentials request.

Y'all will recall, what, a year or so ago (?) that Ole Miss put a ban on being interviewed by Bo Bounds. Seems there were posts here shining light on that and that same day Ole Miss had somebody appear on Bo's show. Ha.

Control the message, squash local media who doesn't follow The Playbook.

Maybe with enough attention, Ole Miss will change their mind on football credentials for Bo.

You left out that their network is institutionalized. It is known and consented to operate by their Athletic Director. I pointed out a case on another board when Pete Boone was still technically athletic director and he committed an NCAA violation himself. This goes to the beyond of lack of institutional control, it goes to the core of intuitional control of a corrupt and dishonest sports program.

[Todd4State]

And remember, when we went under the NCAA gun - OM was just coming off a MAJOR probation (4 years, 1 year TV ban, 2 or 3 year bowl game ban, major scholarship reductions) that hit at the end of 1994. We won 3 out of the next 5 EB's, go to Atlanta, and they HAD to reel us in by any means to reestablish their program's "superiority" in state. At least then, they seemed to be on the more cautious side of recruiting - I don't think Cutt would have had it any other way. But of course, they couldn't be content with Cutt building a sustainable, competitive program - they needed STARS!!!

1994 was a totally different recruiting era. The Internet was just starting to become more and more common and football Internet recruiting was basically rivals and guys like Gene with a scuttlebutt. The only way to contact the top players were either by mail or telephone. Now there is twitter, facebook, etc. It's much easier for a school like Ole Miss to contact a top recruit somewhere like Chicago.

You also didn't have things like the Opening, Elite 11, highly publicized national All-Star Games, etc.

They were still dirty- but they were more local with Deuce, Romaro, and Terrance Metcalf among others. Probably because they just couldn't contact as many of the top prospects as easily and get "an in" with them.

[Todd4State]

What I find interesting after reading Pollodawg's post above about who the real rival is, is that in the locker room there used to be a countdown clock to the days to beat UNM. This year when I went to the ladies FB clinic it wasn't there & I asked Coach Townsend what happened to it. He said the team & coaching staff have changed their focus. They've got bigger fish to fry. When he first got there CDM used to harp on winning that game. Now they're not dwelling on just winning that one damn game at end of season. They're more focused on getting to ATL. So who's the obsessed fanbase/team? Of course, we'll see how the season plays out tho.

I'm sorry- but we better be making the Egg Bowl a huge priority. We can focus on both the Egg Bowl and winning championships- it doesn't have to be mutually exclusive.

[Todd4State]

Every bit of Ole Miss's current situation can be traced back to Mullen's 2009-2011 run verses them. Ole Miss will lose to anyone in the country, but they absolutely cannot stand to lose to MSU. That "lSU is our real rival" trash is nothing more than an attempt to irritate State fans. When the sun set on HDN and rose on Mullen, it nearly drove them insane. They vowed then and there that they would do whatever it took to beat State again. Then Dan poked them in the eye with the Our State and TSUN stuff. It proved too much for the fragile sense of self.

Ole Miss sold their soul to beat Mullen and MSU, and now the note is due.....

Pretty much. MSU beating them goes against everything that they were taught growing up. And they can't spin the scoreboard after we kick their ass.

[Boya]

Another good example of how the spin works:

This morning on the first team(sat radio morning show) Taylor Zarser, who has said he has connections to ole miss, said: That the shame here was that it was taking the NCAA so long to make a decision on something so seemingly small and that was brought to light so many months ago.

So there you go...nothing but a silly misunderstanding that no one at Ole Miss knew about and now it's just a shame that Tunil can't play

[PassInterference]

Exactly, Boya. Ole Miss leaked to ESPN a confession to violation so petty that the public should just blow it off and forget about it. Ole Miss wants everyone to assume what they've leaked is the whole truth and that there is nothing more to the story than that.

Smells just like the defense-of-mama narrative. Kid was just defending mama - nothing else to it I swear!

BTW, a sixpacker makes a great point on the new narrative that the current staff knows of no violations. Ole Miss says their staff is unaware of any violations. They seem to have forgotten that Freeze asked the public to email their compliance department any known violations. They seem to have forgotten that they were inundated with emails. They seem to have forgotten that 30+ of those emails were so specific that they had to be hidden from the Clarion Ledger.

Ole Miss asked for, and received, information on violations. And now they want to claim they know of no violations. HA! That's rich.

[coastdoglover]

amen and their sheep are so stupid they are buying into the loaner car story. Everybody knows that all the top players are driving cars and many were paid just to take the visit to then seal the deal of flipping or committing. It is the Ole Miss way.



Exactly, Boya. Ole Miss leaked to ESPN a confession to violation so petty that the public should just blow it off and forget about it. Ole Miss wants everyone to assume what they've leaked is the whole truth and that there is nothing more to the story than that.

Smells just like the defense-of-mama narrative. Kid was just defending mama - nothing else to it I swear!

BTW, a sixpacker makes a great point on the new narrative that the current staff knows of no violations. Ole Miss says their staff is unaware of any violations. They seem to have forgotten that Freeze asked the public to email their compliance department any known violations. They seem to have forgotten that they were inundated with emails. They seem to have forgotten that 30+ of those emails were so specific that they had to be hidden from the Clarion Ledger.

Ole Miss asked for, and received, information on violations. And now they want to claim they know of no violations. HA! That's rich.

[Drugs Delaney]

This thread has the 'Foomers all tore up. The people who dissect MSU games frame by frame to come up with a second and a half clip (that you can tell nothing about) then write articles about dirty play just can't understand how someone would even have enough time to compose a thread such as this.

[TrapGame]

I think the NCAA had half a story here and three quarters a story there with nothing concrete but when Miller got pissed and started ratting on boosters shit got real PDQ. Miller provided the missing pieces to put the other stories together.

Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of a-holes.

[Liverpooldawg]

I think the NCAA had half a story here and three quarters a story there with nothing concrete but when Miller got pissed and started ratting on boosters shit got real PDQ. Miller provided the missing pieces to put the other stories together.

Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of a-holes.
If that is the case I REALLY love it. The blame for Miller getting pissed is all on Hugh Freeze and his off the cuff statement immediately after the altercation.

[maroonmania]

1994 was a totally different recruiting era. The Internet was just starting to become more and more common and football Internet recruiting was basically rivals and guys like Gene with a scuttlebutt. The only way to contact the top players were either by mail or telephone. Now there is twitter, facebook, etc. It's much easier for a school like Ole Miss to contact a top recruit somewhere like Chicago.

You also didn't have things like the Opening, Elite 11, highly publicized national All-Star Games, etc.

They were still dirty- but they were more local with Deuce, Romaro, and Terrance Metcalf among others. Probably because they just couldn't contact as many of the top prospects as easily and get "an in" with them.

Yep, and most of the stuff I was originally referring to with PIs and XenaReb and Robert Khayat's new "innovative" way to deal with the NCAA all happened right after the '98 and '99 seasons where we had an SEC championship appearance and a 10 win season.

[Political Hack]

McCready has been calling for OM to release the details and win the PR battle. That's said, I don't think this was an OM leak.

Listen to this from 3 days ago on RSR: Real Shot for Ole Miss vs. Alabama, Tunsil or Not
http://rebelsportsradio.com/episode/6279/rebel-yell-hotline-real-shot-for-ole-miss-vs-alabama-tunsil-or-not/

At the 9:15 mark Chucks Rounsville has no other than Michael Jo Cannon call in and they have a chummy convo. If this was an OM leak I would think they would be limiting Cannon's public profile and relationship w/the program leading up to the leak. Remember, Chuck is right hand w/the OM staff and administration. Plus, when Low called Canno he was given no comment. If this was some organized OM leak wouldn't Cannon motors have a prepared statement of some sort?

The way the Bama suit deal went was they disassociated with the booster. If OM was following that lead I don't think they would leak this in that way leaving Cannon hanging. I'm just speculating here with no inside info.

Very perceptive and likely true. This came from the NCAA, SEC, or a disgruntled person who is involved.

[BeastMan]

Very perceptive and likely true. This came from the NCAA, SEC, or a disgruntled person who is involved.

You have to look at who has something to gain by leaking this. OM had zero to gain by leaking the story. I've very closely followed the story, and more importantly OM's message. It's changed through this process and that gives you a better eye into things than anyone else. That, and McCready's RG podcast has had some very candid conversations over the last few weeks. You have to be able to infer what a certain message is being pushed more than the message itself.

[PassInterference]

Bump.

Stay tuned for the Nkemdiche free fall chapter.

The poor man deserves our sympathy and Freeze is still super confident in the way they handle drugs.

"Pay no attention to that man behind the green curtain" - The Wizard

[lastmajordog]

Outstanding post

This post is equal to "The Network" post......outstanding information and maybe some MSU can incorporate.

[coastdoglover]

This post is equal to "The Network" post......outstanding information and maybe some MSU can incorporate.

Anybody that believes he fell out of a window is smoking weed too. He busted window out, probably when the cops beat on the door yelling" open up, it is the police," and tried to escape. They can spin it all they want but even an imbocile can see the cover up. This has been going on for a while but the Right Reverand turned his back to salvage some wins. It is the Ole Miss way. The Ole Miss PR machine was quick to get the AP story out like they always do.

[maroonmania]

Anybody that believes he fell out of a window is smoking weed too. He busted window out, probably when the cops beat on the door yelling" open up, it is the police," and tried to escape. They can spin it all they want but even an imbocile can see the cover up. This has been going on for a while but the Right Reverand turned his back to salvage some wins. It is the Ole Miss way. The Ole Miss PR machine was quick to get the AP story out like they always do.

Yep, they seem to control the media and the spin to their stories while we appear to be controlled by the media with every possible negative slant being put on even the most trivial of issues that come up MSU related.