Hugh Freeze Resigns From Ole Miss Due To 'Explosive New Information'

Ole Miss head football coach Hugh Freeze has resigned, effective immediately. The 47-year-old head coach and his program have been mired in an NCAA scandal for the past year and was hit with the dreaded “lack of institutional” control charge in June. Apparently, “explosive new information” has surfaced that forced Freeze to step down.

Matt Luke will take over as interim head coach.

Ole Miss has already self-imposed a one-year postseason ban for the upcoming season and will forfeit its annual SEC postseason payout, which would be almost $8 million. In February the NCAA alleged Ole Miss boosters had funneled money to a recruit who wound up signing with another school. And that seemed to just be the tip of the iceberg.

We’ll update you as we find out more.

[UPDATE: Hugh Freeze’s phone records showed a one-minute phone call to a number that turned out to be an escort service. That concern was initially raised by Houston Nutt’s attorney, and Ole Miss initially thought it was a misdial.

Athletic Director Ross Bjork said that in further analysis of his phone records, they discovered a pattern, “what appeared to be a concerning pattern” and that Freeze, when confronted, “admitted the conduct.”

Bjork also said that had Freeze not resigned, Ole Miss would have exercised the moral turpitude clause in the contract and fired him.]