It's fair to wonder where Ole Miss is headed
There was no doubt. Now there are questions.
There was no reason to look in the shadows. Now there’s an excuse to do so.
Ole Miss should be one of the SEC West’s best once more, possibly strong enough to topple mighty Alabama from the division’s catbird seat, possibly good enough to finish in the top 10. Under Hugh Freeze, the Rebels have risen again.
But after a whirlwind offseason that included the Laremy Tunsil saga, revelations of NCAA rules violations and a self-imposed scholarship reduction, how can we look at Ole Miss the same way? How can we not cringe?
The Rebels have lost the benefit of the doubt. Even if they improve upon their 10-3 record from last year, win the SEC and make the College Football Playoff, recent events have allowed fog to settle. Some will wonder if there’s another cockroach hiding under a stone left unturned, if there’s more dirty laundry to be aired, if there’s more bad news waiting to reach light.
It’s ridiculous.
It was avoidable.
This is a shame, really. Ole Miss had made the SEC West more interesting. The Rebels provided needed variety outside the Alabama/Auburn/LSU power triangle. Chad Kelly became a firecracker in the pocket. Laquon Treadwell became a dynamic target downfield. Robert Nkemdiche, Marquis Haynes, Mike Hilton and Trae Elston became tormentors for offenses.
Before this offseason, Freeze was viewed as a Pied Piper on the recruiting trail who had the sideline moxie to make a sleepy program relevant. Last year, Ole Miss won 10 games for only the second time since 1971. The Rebels were victorious in the Sugar Bowl for the first time since the 1969 season.
Hotty Toddy became a hot brand ready to catch fire.
But the most recent offseason has taken the shine off those achievements and halted momentum. Say whatever you want about the NCAA’s rules, but perceptions about programs change when those rules are run through a paper shredder in a major way. Ask USC, Miami and other violators about turning Papa NCAA’s rulebook into confetti.
“As a team, we’ve been talking to prepare inside out,” tight end Evan Engram said at SEC Media Days. “We don’t worry about outsiders. It doesn’t matter. … So all the outside stuff, we’re not paying attention to it, and we’re definitely not letting it distract us.”
Still, the outside stuff can’t be ignored. The fact that a number of the violations happened on Freeze’s watch makes the situation more damning. What does the Rebels’ 34-18 run under him mean? What about the two victories over Alabama the past two years? What about the memories last season of coming within a razor-thin margin of claiming the SEC West?
All those questions and more are fair game now. Time will reveal how the NCAA judges Ole Miss. A postseason ban is possible.
But in the court of public opinion outside Oxford, some of the verdicts aren’t kind.
There’s not much the Rebels can do to chase those critics. The best they can do is win, even with recent trouble part of their reputation, even with that dark cloud parked over them like a slow-moving thunderstorm. Saturdays should serve as a release.
The good news is Kelly returns after leading the SEC with 4,042 yards passing and 31 touchdowns last year. Many programs throughout the conference must manage unknowns at quarterback, but Ole Miss enters with an exclamation mark at the position. That’s a fine asset to enjoy.
Still, the rebel yells in Mississippi will grow in strength throughout the fall, but there will be reason to wonder about Ole Miss’ tomorrow. The wins will come, but there will be room to imagine how much longer the good times will last.
Not long ago, the biggest question involving the Rebels was, “How far can they go?”
Now it seems more appropriate to ask, “What direction are they heading?”
Freeze is a victim of his own hype. He had a good recruiting class purchased under the guise of family and living at the foot of the cross. He won some games but was nowhere near a Championship. Was it because he was a great coach, or because of the great purchase of those recruits. The NCAA has to make that decision. My problem with the whole situation was the inclusion of God. Do good Christians break the rules? Sometimes, but the ones I know confess the wrong, accept the punishment and move on. The appearance of hiding behind his faith to get a more merciful judgement from the public and NCAA is the hardest thing to watch.
I think if you would look at Hugh Freeze’s story, you would find that he didn’t just start speaking about his faith when the NCAA showed up. It has been who he is his entire life. Also, I may be wrong, but no where in the NOA, is Ole Miss accused of purchasing recruits. I doubt that the Nkemdiche brothers, Tunsil or Treadwell went to Ole Miss because of Hugh Freeze’s Christian testimony.
it’s not looking good, still no attempt to shortcut the NCAA by self-imposing, I don’t see how this becomes a slap on the wrist, but then again Florida snuck away with nothing after drug enhanced victories last year, so why would anybody self-impose.
Don’t think they’re going to hit Ole Miss for buying players. There was no finding of that. It now looks as if the Tunsil stuff is headed to a conclusion and it’s not that bad. Ole Miss will go on probation for academic fraud. You’ll probably see some vacated wins, some scholarship reductions, monetary fines, and some reduced visits. Overall, Ole Miss will be able to deal with this without too much dropoff. The competition in the West is going to be fun.
I’m thinking you must be an ole miss fan. What is coming down the pipe for them will far more damaging than you think.
be far more damaging that is.
Rriffe- Nope, it’s just MSU and Bama fans that are praying for OM to get the death penalty. It ain’t going to happen.
What’s funny is watching MSU and Bama talk about OM cheating when everyone knows that both Moo U and Bama cheat. Moo U was just on probation for buying used mustang for players, plus it doesn’t
Tissue? There is a lot of crying and hurt feelings in your post……Must be hurting from never witnessing Ole Miss win a Conference Championship in your lifetime….
Who said anything about the death penalty? First all you rebel fans could say was that it was only nutt who had the problem. Proven wrong. Then it was only the tunsil father in law and there was nothing to it. Proven wrong. I guess om just offered up 11 scholarships over 4 years just because they are honest? You keep believing that. Eventually we will be here listening to you rebel fans singing the blues about how unfair the NCAA was to you guys.
Also, if you think that MSU and Bama fans are the only ones wanting to see om get hammered then you are more delusional than I thought. Ticktock, ticktock, the clock is running and it’s running out. Whats funny is the games that will have to be vacated because they were playing totally unqualified players. Bwah ha ha ha ha.
Academic fraud is serious, hearing 11 over 4 as far as scholarship reductions. No show causes or bowl bans. Some vacated wins and some coaching suspensions.
and you hear that from who? No one I mean no one knows whats coming down. Even the haters, of which I am one, don’t know what the final outcome will be. However, when you consider every aspect of this it is leaning towards harsher punishment than most om fans are willing to fathom.