OXFORD, Miss. — Shock and disappointment rippled through the Oxford community after news head football coach Hugh Freeze is out.
His abrupt resignation clouded in scandal after calls to an escort service were traced back to his university-issued cell phone.
The embarrassing discovery comes as Ole Miss has been under a microscope of NCAA scrutiny for the last year.
Many thought this could be a year to bounce back there is now another major setback.
“A lot of people been talking about it and I mean everybody is just really surprised,” student Patrick Frank said on Friday.
The university announced Freeze’s resignation Thursday evening.
Ole Miss fans seemed to have their pick of adjectives to describe their emotions on Friday.
“My reaction is disappointment, sadness, you know it’s just a tough time,” said Chuck Rounsaville.
Rounsaville is the publisher for the “Ole Miss Spirit.”
He’s an Ole Miss insider through and through, covering Rebel sports for more than 30 years.
WREG asked him how the team and the usually loud and proud fan base is reacting.
“If you’ve been coaching long enough you’ve been through firings, resignations before and they’re big boys they know how to deal with it. You know the biggest thing is winning back some of the fans that are so disappointed and frustrated,” he explained.
Fans like boosters who shell out big bucks for the football program and put a lot of hope into Freeze.
By phone, Ole Miss Alumni Association President Dr. Hal Moore expressed his disappointment as well.
However he said, “Ole Miss is so much more than football or athletics of course that’s the front door and a much loved part of the University but there’s so much more.”
Rounsaville said he could see this hindering recruitment, with some players expressing disappointment.
“They’ll probably have to start all over with those guys because they were very close to coach Freeze.”
However he said there’s still time to build relationships and get back in the game.
He also expects the upcoming season for fans on the grove to still be filled with spirit as well.
“I’ve been here since 1982 and certainly not diminishing the importance of a head coach but coaches come and coaches go but Ole Miss will remain Ole Miss and Ole Miss football is forever.”
“Hopefully the atmosphere will still be the same here this upcoming season. I mean I guess we’ll see but if I were in the position of a prospective student I certainly wouldn’t let that change like whether I decide to go to school here or not,” said Frank.
WREG also reached out to the communications office multiple times but did not hear back.