Hugh Freeze is still climbing an uphill battle to get back into the coaching picture.

The former Ole Miss coach resigned before the start of the 2017 because of a pattern of “concerning behavior.” He was also the subject of 15 Level-1 violations at Ole Miss, which resulted in a postseason ban and a loss of scholarships for the program.

After the 2017 season, Freeze was rumored to be a possible offensive coordinator candidate, but no program hired him.

Why might that have been the case? USA Today college football writer shared some knowledge on that subject on “The Opening Drive.”

“It’s a very complicated dynamic with Hugh Freeze. There were other SEC programs this year who wanted to hire him. I know there was one who wanted to hire Hugh Freeze as offensive coordinator,” Wolken said. “I’m not saying the SEC told them ‘no,’ or necessarily discouraged them, but I think there was a fairly clear message from the SEC office or at least it was perceived that way that maybe wait a year.”

As Wolken went on to mention, it’s written in the bylaws that the hiring of any coach involved a major infractions case had to be cleared by the SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey first.

Freeze helped get Ole Miss to 2 New Year’s 6 Bowls, and he also beat Alabama in consecutive years. The latter was why some assumed that Nick Saban would bring Freeze on board as an offensive analyst with the potential to promote him to an on-field role in his second year. That, however, hasn’t happened yet.

How long will it take for Freeze to rid of his Ole Miss stench and get a job as an on-field assistant? As Wolken suggested, it might still be a bit too soon.