Houston Nutt’s attorney describes ‘stonewall tactics’ by Ole Miss to conceal Hugh Freeze’s phone records
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Last week it was announced Houston Nutt and his attorney Thomas Mars would continue to seek out additional phone records from former Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze. This type of inquiry originally led to the discovery that Freeze had called an escort service on a university-issued phone.
Following that shocking revelation, Ole Miss did research of its own and, according to AD Ross Bjork, found a “concerning pattern” when reviewing Freeze’s call logs. Freeze resigned soon after being confronted by his employer.
Now Nutt and Mars are attempting to acquire addition call logs from the school but are apparently finding them harder to come by. According to Mars, the school is using “stonewall tactics” to keep those records at bay.
We now have a more clear understanding of what exactly Mars was suggesting when he made those comments last week.
According to Pat Forde of Yahoo Sports, Mars alleges the school is refusing to hand over the call logs due to the school’s Athletic Foundation paying for Freeze’s phone during his Ole Miss tenure and not the school itself.
Houston Nutt atty Tom Mars says Ole Miss tells him phones Hugh Freeze used were paid for by school's Athletic Foundation, not school itself.
— Pat Forde (@ByPatForde) July 31, 2017
Mars: Phone arrangement through Foundation was a departure from Nutt's tenure. Why would school would create/allow that arrangement?
— Pat Forde (@ByPatForde) July 31, 2017
Mars requested phone records from entire Freeze OM tenure. School says it will cost 25 grand to produce records, citing time for redactions.
— Pat Forde (@ByPatForde) July 31, 2017
According to the Ole Miss website, the Athletic Foundation is described as the following:
The Ole Miss Athletics Foundation is the fundraising arm of Ole Miss Athletics, currently comprised of over 16,000 members.
The mission of the Ole Miss Athletics Foundation is to aid the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics at The University of Mississippi and nearly 400 student-athletes that compete for the Rebels.
While it has been a popular narrative that all Nutt has been seeking from Freeze and Ole Miss was an apology, Mars reportedly shot that theory down as well.
More Mars: "If you're asking whether coach Nutt would dismiss his lawsuit if OleMiss would apologize w/o offering reasonable compensation…
— Pat Forde (@ByPatForde) July 31, 2017
Mars cont: "… for what coach Freeze did to him … the answer would be NO."
— Pat Forde (@ByPatForde) July 31, 2017
It will be interesting to see if this maneuver works for Ole Miss. Either way, you have to wonder what is in those call logs that could make the school go to these lengths to keep them hidden from Nutt and his attorney. After all, after closer review, Ole Miss saw enough in the logs to force Freeze into resigning without receiving any buyout compensation.
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
