What we know: Hugh Freeze resigns from Ole Miss Rebels Football
Hugh Freeze resigned as the head coach from the University of Mississippi Rebels football program July 20 amid an ongoing NCAA investigation and allegations that he called an escort service using a university-provided cell phone.
Here's what the USA TODAY NETWORK—Tennessee knows about Hugh Freeze's departure. This story will be updated with more information and story links.
The Rebels football program tweeted "Hugh Freeze has resigned effective immediately. Matt Luke interim head coach."
DETAILS: Ole Miss football coach Hugh Freeze resigns
Freeze's tenure clouded by controversy
Freeze coached the Rebels for five seasons and led Ole Miss to a Sugar Bowl victory after the 2015 season but operated under the cloud of a years-long NCAA investigation into the program.
The NCAA alleged 21 charges of academic, booster and recruiting misconduct. To get ahead of possible sanctions, the school self-imposed several penalties, including a one-year postseason ban.
Ole Miss takes bowl ban, charged with serious violations
The University also grappled with a lawsuit filed by former coach Houston Nutt, who alleged the University engaged in a smear campaign against him.
Officials went to great lengths to save Freeze
In responding to accusations of persistent and significant cheating in its football program under Freeze, Ole Miss officials released a 125-page defense all but accusing former Ole Miss recruit Leo Lewis of lying to NCAA investigators in a possible effort to deflect from other improprieties surrounding his recruitment at Mississippi State.
It was the kind of defense a school might mount for a much more high profile -- or successful -- coach. Freeze was 19-21 in the SEC at the time.
The defense: Why is Ole Miss going to such great, and risky, lengths for Freeze?
His downfall: Hubris, vengeance and sex
Ole Miss athletics director Ross Bjork announced in a news conference Thursday evening that the resignation did not involve NCAA allegations but was based on a pattern of inappropriate conduct.
The Downfall: Hugh Freeze brought down by hubris, vengeance and sex
Freeze had been caught calling an escort service. That had triggered an investigation into other phone calls, which turned up a pattern of conduct not up to the standard of the football program.
"Once we looked at the rest of the phone records we found a pattern," Bjork said. "It was troubling."
While neither Ole Miss chancellor Jeffrey Vitter or Bjork would reveal precisely what that investigation turned up, when a reporter asked if it involved additional phone calls to escorts, Bjork said simply, “I think we need to protect that information.”
The impact on the program will be immediate
With the departure of Freeze, which follows the firing of offensive coordinator Dan Werner in December, Matt Luke is at the helm.
But the face of the program is perhaps sophomore quarterback Shea Patterson, who seems to be sticking with the program. Asked if he's thought about transferring at SEC Media Days last week, but said: "Not at all. This type of stuff doesn't really faze me."
The Fallout: What does Hugh Freeze's departure mean for Shea Patterson?
Patterson's father confirmed that sentiment Firday, in an interview with USA TODAY network paper The Clarion-Ledger.
"It's his opportunity to lead. ... He's a competitor and it will probably drive him more to lead things. I think these things rock you for a little bit, but you've got a job to do."
Legacy remains at Briarcrest Christian
The high school campus: Reporter Mark Giannotto writes that there is plenty of mementos at Briarcrest Christian honoring Hugh Freeze and his high school team's accomplishments.
There are gold trophies for the school’s state championships in football in 2002 and 2004. A couple rows below that sits a picture of former Briarcrest star Michael Oher, the prized football recruit who inspired the book and movie, “The Blind Side.” To the left is Freeze hunched over beside the members of the 1998 Briarcrest girls’ basketball team that went 33-0. On the wall, as part of the school’s Hall of Fame, is an enlarged head shot of him.
Geoff Calkins: Sean Tuohy remains behind his friend
Booster is still a supporter and a friend: They met at Briarcrest High School, back before either one of them had become a household name, back before "The Blind Side" and before the wins over Alabama and before the fame and the riches and before the fall.
Hugh Freeze said a bunch of things about 'sin nature' the week before he resigned
Podcast in the spotlight: Freeze, who stepped down Thursday, said his battle against sin was “a huge struggle" when he was 18 to 20 and it caused him to question his Christian faith.
“It took me talking a lot with my mentors to really understand the battle with the sin nature will never go away.” Freeze told Jason Romano Sports Spectrum Podcast in an interview published online July 14. “And it’s only by God’s grace that we can overcome that and with daily surrender to that.’’