Ole Miss Fires Hugh Freeze For Hiring Prostitutes

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Last week I wrote the Houston Nutt lawsuit would end Hugh Freeze’s tenure at Ole Miss.

This week it did. Significantly, Ole Miss has fired Hugh Freeze for cause, which means they aren’t obligated to pay him his nearly $5 million a year salary. All because Freeze had the audacity to USE HIS SCHOOL ISSUED CELL PHONE TO HIRE PROSTITUTES. If he’d just used a burner phone he’s still employed. (By the way, the fact that prostitution is illegal among consenting adults is insane. But that’s another column.)

Now there are several big questions left hanging out there. Among them: who is next for Ole Miss, will Freeze ever coach again, and what NCAA penalties await the Rebels? I think Ole Miss will stick with an interim this year and then go aggressively after big names after this season ends. The only coach I could potentially see them hiring is Les Miles, but I can’t imagine Les will take the job for just one year. I think you’ll see a situation similar to what happened at Arkansas when John L. Smith took the job for one year. Remember, Ole Miss will have $4-$5 million to pay to the right coach — I’d expect Larry Fedora at North Carolina, Justin Fuente at Virginia Tech, Jeff Brohm at Purdue and Bobby Petrino from Louisville to all be at the top of the list. And, of course, Ole Miss will desperately pursue Chip Kelly, like every school that fires its current head coach this coming fall. Here’s a wild card for you, if Lane Kiffin wins eight games or so could he also be in the mix? Or will his NCAA issues and off field shenanigans be too much of a risk post-Freeze.

I believe Hugh Freeze will definitely coach again, just look at the redemption of Bobby Petrino and Steve Sarkisian, both of whom had worse situations befall them than Freeze. As for the NCAA penalties, it will take Ole Miss several years to recover from the carpet bombing of this disastrous situation.

You can hear me discuss all of these issues here:

Written by Clay Travis

Clay Travis is the founder of the fastest growing national multimedia platform, OutKick, that produces and distributes engaging content across sports and pop culture to millions of fans across the country. OutKick was created by Travis in 2011 and sold to the Fox Corporation in 2021.

One of the most electrifying and outspoken personalities in the industry, Travis hosts OutKick The Show where he provides his unfiltered opinion on the most compelling headlines throughout sports, culture, and politics. He also makes regular appearances on FOX News Media as a contributor providing analysis on a variety of subjects ranging from sports news to the cultural landscape.

Additionally, Travis serves as a co-host of The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show, a three-hour conservative radio talk program syndicated across Premiere Networks radio stations nationwide.

Previously, he launched OutKick The Coverage on Fox Sports Radio that included interviews and listener interactions, and started an iHeartRadio Original Podcast called Wins & Losses that featured in-depth conversations with the biggest names in sports.

Travis is a graduate of George Washington University as well as Vanderbilt Law School. Based in Nashville, he is the author of Dixieland Delight, On Rocky Top, and Republicans Buy Sneakers.