The question added a sense of disgust to an otherwise upbeat press conference.

Rolling right along with quotes about how much he loves the 2016 Ole Miss recruiting class and how motivated he is to prove the Rebels relevancy to the rest of the college football world, Rebels coach Hugh Freeze was hit with this question concerning the NCAA investigation into his program.

“With the NCAA now holding head coaches accountable for their staffs in terms of rules violations, are you worried about any possible suspension or any other personal penalty from yourself from all this?”

All eyes up from the keyboards and phone screens.

“I’m worried about our football team,” Freeze said.

He had already answered the first NCAA question with: “It hasn’t stole our joy at all.”

That’s all he had to say about that. It wasn’t rude or with ill intention. It was a raw and true answer. It was emphatic. Freeze mixing his season-opening press conference with controlled optimism about his team and a brief hint of his repugnance of the questions that continue to come and that he continues to defend his team against while vowing to correct any mistakes made.

Not worried in the sense that Freeze isn’t sure how good his guys are, he instead focused only on that and not on the NCAA’s investigation.

Ole Miss has become one of the most talked about teams in college football since Freeze took over. The Rebels have won the Compass Bowl and Music City Bowl, lost in the Peach Bowl and won the Sugar Bowl.

The rise has earned headlines, but the headlines got darker with the Larmey Tunsil controversy at the NFL Draft and allegations of payment to Tunsil.

“We don’t even pay attention to that,” Chad Kelly said. “You’re better off not reading anything on Twitter, newspaper or TV because it seems like they always want to talk about it. For us, we’ve just got to focus on football and keep doing what we’re doing and stay focused.”

The headlines made for interesting undertones of a politely shrewd Freeze in his first media appearance of fall camp, making his first official remarks to media after the second practice of fall camp.

The 2016 class ranked sixth nationally and third in the SEC, and it includes elite talent in offensive lineman Greg Little, quarterback Shea Patterson, wide receiver A.J. Brown and defensive tackle Benito Jones.

“I think this could be our best class, from this two days of being out there,” Freeze said. “We’ve had some good classes, but I really think from top to bottom this ’16 class looks after two days, whatever that’s worth, I haven’t been disappointed.”

There are questions to be answered before a brutal September kicks off on Labor Day in Orlando against Florida State. The secondary ranked next to last in the SEC in pass defense last season. The Rebels sent Tunsil, defensive lineman Robert Nkemdiche and receiver Laquon Treadwell to the NFL via the first round of the draft.

But after two straight years knocking off Alabama but falling short in the West due to conference losses to Auburn, Arkansas, LSU and Florida, Freeze is further along in building the depth necessary to win the SEC, like a two-deep depth chart along a talented defensive line and a stack of receivers adding to the early Heisman buzz for Kelly.

Ole Miss has branded itself nationally. Vaught-Hemingway Stadium is now bowled in, gone back to natural grass and new video boards are going up in the corners.

Freeze talked about the necessary chemistry he sees.

“I really believe that one of the differences in this conference in winning close games and losing them, besides breaks that sometimes happen, is the chemistry that’s formed in that locker room,” Freeze said.

It is an exciting time in Oxford, but a trying one also.

Freeze explained the year’s theme of “Rise Up” comes from Ezra 10:5, an Old Testament verse that saw Ezra rise up and take responsibility of what he could control.

Freeze controlled his official opening remarks of the 2016 season, walking with class a fine line of championship optimism while at the same time revealing a touch of disdain for the accusations that surround the potential.

“I assure you there’s motivation,” Freeze said. “I’m more motivated than I’ve ever been to prove that the young men that choose to come to this wonderful university sacrifice to try to change the narrative around this program.

“We believe in our staff. We believe in our core values. We believe in these young men. So there’s a tremendous amount of motivation to remain consistent.”