The case against Hugh Freeze:
According the NCAA bylaw 11.1.1.1, after a head coach is charged with being responsible for violations that occurred within his program, he/she may rebut the presumption by showing that he or she:
1. Promotes an atmosphere of compliance within the program.
AND
2. Monitors the activities of staff members who report, directly or indirectly, to the coach.
-Freeze was first hired by Ole Miss in 2005 as the Associate AD for External Affairs. Months after being hired, he was involved in secondary violations where he had impermissible contact with 4 separate recruits when he was not allowed to, due to his off field position. Lesson learned right? no. After becoming head coach in 2011, Freeze has had atleast 2 assistant coaches charged with the same violation that he was charged with in 2005. Actually, allegation #6 of the addendum states: "a current football coach had impermissible, in-person, off-campus contact" with a prospective recruit. Seems odd that OM would be contesting such a minor Level III violation. Surely, Freeze himself was not stupid enough to partake in a violation that he was charged with over a decade ago.
-In 2006, Freeze was promoted to Recruiting Coordinator, and Barney Farrar was hired to fill Freeze's vacant position as Assistant AD for External Affairs. From 2005-2007, Freeze worked along side of 9 other assistant coaches that he would eventually go on to hire to work under him after being hired as head coach in 2011. One could assume that he knew what he was getting with these 9 coaches that he previously worked with at Ole Miss. If he was aiming to promote an atmosphere of compliance within the program, one would assume that these 9 coaches understood the NCAA's rules upon being hired by Freeze.
-of the 9 coaches referenced from above, atleast 4 (Chris Kiffin, Matt Luke, Maurice Harris, and Barney Farrar) have been named in Level I violations since being hired by freeze in 2011. Only one of the four has been fired, but it was far from willingly.
-Barney Farrar who, once again, replaced Freeze as the Assistant AD for External Affairs in 2006, was hired in 2011 as the Assistant AD for High School and Junior College Relations. In April 2016, text messages were made public between assistant AD for Football Operations John Miller and Laremy Tunsil in which Miller told Tunsil to talk to Barney Farrar about cell phone payments for Tunsil's mother. Not only were Miller and Farrar kept on staff, but Farrar was also promoted to a recruiting position through a special request. Farrar was not placed on administrative leave until the NCAA pushed the issue and granted immunity to former recruits who then implicated Farrar in a pay for play scandal directly involving said recruit and boosters.
-Not only have Freeze's assistants been charged with violating NCAA rules, Freeze himself has also been directly mentioned in 3 violations
1. Freeze and Maurice Harris accompanied a booster to an in home visit of a prospective student athlete.
2. A booster provided illegal transportation to a recruit, while notifying Freeze of said transportation.
3. A booster provided transportation for a recruit and his family to Freeze's residence for a breakfast, where the booster also attended the breakfast at Freeze's residence, without immediate repercussions.
-The booster in all 3 incidents, was the same man. Freeze not only allowed the booster's actions, but clearly encouraged them.
With all of the above considered, there is absolutely NO WAY that Freeze can honestly convince the COI that he has promoted an atmosphere of compliance within the program AND monitored the activities of staff members who report, directly or indirectly, to the coach. Freeze will face a multi-year show cause, there is absolutely no way around it. Surely, such a godly man would not lie about such clearly obvious truths.
Hey Hugh!
