If you didn’t already know it was a non-SEC week for Ole Miss, Hugh Freeze’s 10-minute SEC conference call would have tipped you off.
There was no intended disrespect for Saturday’s opponent, Memphis, but there were also no questions about Memphis or from Memphis media.
Even when Freeze’s opening statements were about Memphis, the phone went silent for a few seconds and switched back on only to hear the tail end.
“…a lot of work ahead of us this week to get ready for a very talented Memphis team that’s playing with a lot of confidence,” Freeze said.
After that, it was all about three of Freeze’s friends, one of them fired.
Along with Les Miles, Freeze was also asked about Ed Orgeron, who he said he was grateful to for a college coaching opportunity.
He was also asked about friend and Auburn coach Gus Malzahn giving up play-calling duties. Surprisingly, Malzahn has handed those duties to offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee. Freeze said the other duties of a head coach, including knowing what’s going on in players’ lives outside the game, in the classroom, etc. takes up a lot of time.
“I know when I was an offensive coordinator, that’s all I did,” Freeze said. “I didn’t worry about interviews. I worried about my room and getting plays that were sound.”
That said, Freeze has a big hand in what Ole Miss does. He focuses on tempo plays, red zone and shots.
“I make my call sheet out as I’m (riding) on the bus to the stadium,” Freeze said. “And it’s based upon what my gut is of how somebody’s going to play us. I kind of reside more in our tempo world.”
Tempo is what the Rebels have done to get up early on Florida State, Alabama and Georgia, finally staying on top with Saturday’s win against Georgia.
Freeze said he used to call it all, but the disadvantage there is not being involved in adjustments being made on the sidelines.
Not in the tempo world, co-offensive coordinators Dan Werner and Matt Luke make the calls. Freeze said he has spent the last two weeks in practice working with the defense more but still knows what the Rebels will do in tempo on Saturday.
“Our staff’s been together so long, there’s going to be a five-second delay on the headset to see if I’m calling it,” Freeze said. “If it’s in the tempo world, I’m calling it anyway. If it’s not, we’re not in a huge hurry. We’ve got a good system going there. It keeps me pretty locked in.”
