Former Ole Miss assistant Barney Farrar continues to support Freeze: He never asked me to break any rules
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If you’ve read Ole Miss’ official response to its second Notice of Allegations, released earlier this week, two points are driven home by the school in its 125-page response: head coach Hugh Freeze did not knowingly participate in any rules violations, while former assistant Barney Farrar acted alone when rules were broken.
That is, of course, the school’s version of events, which differs from the NCAA’s.
Those points are nothing new but one interesting note was revealed Friday in Farrar’s individual response to the NCAA’s allegations against him. While Ole Miss is prepared to blame Farrar for all the alleged rule violations that may have occurred during his tenure in Oxford, the former Rebel assistant is firmly standing behind his actions as well as the actions of his former boss, even after being fired from the staff late last season.
Near the end of his 29-page response to the NCAA, here’s what Farrar’s statement had to say in regards to Freeze’s adherence to NCAA rules:
“Farrar has been charged with four Level I violations of NCAA Legislation, any one of which can end a career. If Farrar violated NCAA rules, it was a grievous fault and grievously hath he answered it: a job lost, a career ended, a reputation destroyed, all before these briefs are submitted. Regardless, he will fight on and he just may very well prevail. However, before he turns to the task before him, he wants to give a message and request to the panel on behalf of Coach Freeze and Ole Miss: In his time on Coach Freeze’s staff, Coach Freeze never asked Farrar to break any NCAA rules but always reinforced how important it was that he follow the rules and maintain the highest standards of conduct. Farrar expresses his hope that this panel will give Ole Miss and Hugh Freeze every opportunity and consideration in these proceedings. It is deserved.”
So if Freeze and Farrar are both innocent, who is to blame? Similar to Ole Miss, Farrar is accusing the testimony collected by the NCAA from rival players to be inaccurate and unreliable — calling into question both their motives and their accounts. Until the Committee on Infractions makes a ruling in the case, likely in September, we’ll all be left wondering which narrative the committee will find more credible.
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Michael Wayne Bratton oversees the news coverage for Saturday Down South. Michael previously worked for FOX Sports and NFL.com
