The Wall Street Journal dug up more dirt in the Hugh Freeze scandal:
On the morning of Jan. 19, 2016, University of Mississippi football coach Hugh Freeze tweeted a quote: “Look not back on yesterday—so full of failure & regret; Look ahead and seek God’s way—all sin confessed u must forget.”
Later that day, the coach flew to Tampa, Fla., as part of a recruiting trip using the school plane, according to documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. A few hours after the plane touched down at 5:30 p.m. in Tampa, his school phone registered a call to a number linked to a female escort service in that city, according to phone records reviewed by the Journal.
Although school officials had previously declined to characterize the alleged misconduct, Ole Miss athletic director Ross Bjork said in response to questions from the Journal about Freeze’s travel that the university’s investigation uncovered “calls of a similar nature” over the course of several years, often matching up with travel logs showing the coach’s use of the school plane. The school said it examined his travel logs from peak recruiting times—often November, December and January—when Freeze would travel out of state, using the school plane and other public resources.
“When we say pattern, we are describing other phone numbers that when you Google them pull up similar type websites, services, however you would describe them,” Bjork said. “We took action swiftly.”...
The flight records reviewed by the Journal show Freeze crisscrossing the country on recruiting trips and other business on the school plane, at a rate of $1,375 per hour. The records show Freeze took at least 103 trips on the plane over about five and a half years.
On the night of the Jan. 19 call to the number linked to the escort service, Freeze was in Tampa on a five-day, 13-stop recruiting trip, according to the flight records. The flights for the trip cost more than $26,000, which was paid by the state university. Six members of the Ole Miss football staff accompanied Freeze on the plane at points in the trip.
Experts say if there was misconduct on trips paid for by the university, Freeze could be subject to questions about whether public funds were used inappropriately. B. David Ridpath, an associate professor of sports management at Ohio University, says that is “absolutely” a concern based on the flight and phone records reviewed by the Journal. Bjork said the school’s investigation did not go into the potential misuse of funds because it had already concluded Freeze would be dismissed.
The Tampa trip came just two weeks before National Signing Day, when Freeze inked one of the country’s most heralded recruiting classes. Two weeks earlier, on Jan. 1, 2016, the Rebels walloped Oklahoma State in the Sugar Bowl to cap off their best season in more than a decade....
When Mars confronted Ole Miss about the call after reviewing Freeze’s phone records, school officials said, they initially attributed it to a misdial because it was the only call to that specific number on his university-issued phone among the batch Mars requested. The school said its investigation-—which included the assistance of outside counsel and members in the athletic department—uncovered the similar calls on other trips.
In those instances, the records inspected by the school showed multiple calls to and from Freeze’s phone from each of the “services” that raised red flags, Bjork said.
The alleged behavior “did not meet our expectations,” Bjork said. “He could not be our coach.”..... Rest of article.
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51 comments:
The state should file suit to recover the money spent on these hooker road trips.
There will be lots of video taped depositions!
Am I allowed to say "OH SHIT!"?
"When it comes to 1 year old Germarvelous, Hugh, you ARE the father!"
Bjork is done.
Those damn liberals are witch huntin' again.
How is this anything new? Every bit of this info was known 3 weeks ago.
6:04 that was my laugh for the day! Thank you!
Freeze never promised a rose garden.
6:25 pm
What is your point?
I didn't know the plane logs matched the hooker hook up.....
People have been speculating that freeze was buying player poontang.....looks like he was a greedy pussy hound!
I am surprised none of the "escorts" have come forward, but then again, I guess in the world of high dollar hooking discretion is essential to staying in business.
Makes you wonder if some of the "John Does" were on those recruiting trips.....makes you wonder
Such great sums of money lost & a good name destroyed for some tuna smellin strange nookie.
His poor family it just breaks my heart. Tiger Woods had the same problem.
Great reporting KF! You are a true investigative journalist! I don't know how you are able to find this stuff reported by others. Thanks to you, Mississippi will never be last again in investigative reporting.
But Tiger Woods was not utilizing tax dollars from one of the poorest states in the country to fund his habit. Big difference. When the State budget keeps being slashed, teachers are underpaid, and the Department of Mental Health does not have the funds to meets the needs of those with mental illness, the overpaid football coach was buying booty calls with funds while our kids are taking on student loan debt that will burden them for the years to come. But according to the commentators in this website, all the problems in this state are contributed to the voters in Jackson.
Let's not even talk about the hypocritical nature of tweeting about God before calling your high paid hooker to meet you while your wife is at home raising the kids. I wonder if he was a conservative Republican. I bet so, his actions certainly are in line with their commander in chief...Donald Trump is on wife # what again. But Obama is the devil, yet he had one wife and none of this drama.
Lemme get this straight - the governor had to sell his jet and was demoted to a turboprop, but Ole Miss coaches and hookers get to tool around in a Cessna Citation????
"Six members of the Ole Miss football staff accompanied Freeze on the plane at points in the trip."
That would be a pair of Nkemdiches, Lerquon Paidwell, Laremy Tunsil, Chad Kelly, and John Doe. They've succeeded in genetically engineering the recruiting class of 2035 with all the 5 star players they'll ever need. Doe just watched.
Here comes the NCAA again. They just will not stay away.
I hope no underage recruits were involved in these shenanigans.
7:38 that brings back memories for an old man. Thanks for using just the right words. Good night
I don't know that Tiger Woods solicited prostitutes via interstate phone calls while on state property.
So this how Freeze did his so called Chrisitian based recruiting. He quoted Bible verses in the morning and called hookers at night. What a pathetic hypocrite.
Freeze's arrogance and ignorance has put back Ole Miss football at least a decade maybe longer. People will never quit referencing the lying and cheating that went on there all to win championships never happened.
There's so much I'm wondering about this. Were all these hoes for Freeze, himself? Or were they for players, for donors, or for various men who needed to be bribed/persuaded?
Were those REALLY "High-priced hookers", or were they pimped-out women, possibly trafficked against their will, and possibly under-age?
And where was the money coming from? Presumably, he didn't use his Ole-Miss-issued credit cards for this. I mean, somebody surely would have noticed a charge from 'Chicken Ranch Anna's Floozie Flophouse'. Did he have a cash 'kitty' from the University, that he used for buying 'cat'? Do wealthy "boosters" secretly contribute to a big secret wad of cash, that's normally used for illicit recruiting practices? Did Freeze secretly divert this secret money for an illicit purpose the boosters were not anticipating?
Or, did he use his own money? Was it from his salary? Was it an inheritance? Was it 'diverted' from his mom's retirement accounts? Was it BRIBE MONEY from bookies, or steroids suppliers, or other sorts of suppliers? Was it bribe money from rich Gay "boosters", for letting them "mentor" certain players?
I'm sure that the details of how all this happened, are even more interesting than what we've already been told. I want to know those details.
What is also interesting is how Ole Miss is able to allow open unregulated containers and hard liquor consumption on state-owned property. I would think this would be a huge liability for the state - especially is there is consumption by under-aged individuals. I think I will send an e-mail to the AG and College Board and find out.
To 8:47...Yes the Gov chose to sell the jet. He would only be using it to go kiss the failing clown president's ass anyway. The sale probably saved the state a lot of money (that we don't have due to stupid tax cuts). Tater and Deputy Pheel have 'Jackson logic' when it comes to $. Sad.
In a normal state none of these people would be employed right now--- I'm looking at you Bjork and Vitter.
Get this shit---this situation got bad bc of lawyers and will get worse because of lawyers in as much as these drunk on delusion(s) of granduer
fools plan to sue their way out of it. LOL. Only in Mississippi. They aren't Trump, but they think they are. They think they're smart and everyone else thinks they have the dumb.
Another national embarrassment for our state in like the only thing that matters down here; football.. In the Wall Street journal--probably with more to come.
We could take the progressive angle and legalize pot and prostitution OR we can prosecute those who are trying to paint Hugh Freeze as just an "aww shucks" sex addict.
Hugh Freeze should be arrested and charged with a crime just like Chris Epps. He is a thief and a liar. He should have to repay the State for every penny that he spent while on recruiting trips. This would include air travel expenses. Bjork and Vitter should be fired and they should have to repay the State for monies earned while falsely impersonating a Chancellor and an Athletic Director. Then we start all over and keep their replacements on a very short leash! Let's pay attention to what happens off the field just like we do to what happens on the field. I am saddened that I have to bathe with lye soap when I read this kind of filth about my beloved Alma Mater.
Someone please correct me in case I missed it, but apparently this isn't worthy enough for the Clarion-Ledger to print...
@7:31 The Clarion Ledger prints what Ole Miss tells them to print. They have basically chosen to stand on the sidelines during a 2-year major story. That is why newspapers everywhere are struggling. Print the dang news and people will buy your product.
Major Ole Miss boosters who advertise have been threatening to pull it from media outlets in this state who cover this subject too much or at all.
Including one cited by the NCAA.
Bjork and Vitter are probably fine tuning their "need to spend more time with the family" farewell speeches, right now.
Look for the NCAA investigators to get more Hilton Honor points at Oxford area hotels in the coming months.
This is bad and about to get worse.
5:21 - nice try...the state's jet was sold in 2012 and has nothing to do with Trump (not everything has to do with Trump)
But this begs the question, what's worse - state executives flying on contributors' aircraft or the state operating its own? Is the appearance of collusion or ancillary benefit more damaging than maintaining state aircraft? I understand that state execs sometimes need to get places quickly, but isn't that what MHP is for, aren't they just high-speed chauffers for drunk legislators?
Vitter is safe. Bjork is history.
@8:46 After all that has and hasn't transpired, I'll believe it when I see it.
I hear there is a movement underway for alumni to request the return of contributions if the misspent money is not recovered. Plane trips and plane rides (free) for friends and "others" are in essence theft. Why did we not deal with this like Ms. State did when they confessed and hired Sylvester Croom? Are ticket sales falling, or is this too being kept secret? There comes a time when "esteemed lawyers" can not get us out of every illegal stunt that is pulled.
We are supposed to believe schools need more money when they have enough to let a coach use their private jet to pick up hos.
Can anyone understand why people hate paying taxes?
@ 8:26
So when something negative happens at Ole Miss the boosters threatened to boycott mainstream media if they cover it. But if something goes wrong at JSU its everyone's front page for a month straight. Interesting.
Wonder if the same thing goes on in the coverage of Madison v Jackson???
KF: @8:26 - Maybe Nutt/Mars & real fans of Mississippi football should by all the ads up for the remained of the year and push 'One Call' out. I see ads getting way cheaper when this is over anyway.
The Clarion Ledger refuses to talk much about it because their heads are all Ole Miss people. Flounder Kellenburger can be seen on the Ole Miss sidelines and he routundly sports the powder blue. Just about every one at the states leading newspaper is an Ole Miss fan and, like many other fans, they think this is a big to do about nothing and its all MS States fault and it'll blow over soon and they can get back to eating Abners with fake silver forks while the bank calls on their house and vehicles. #jonesing
8:46 - So is Archie? I recall he highly recommended Freeze in the P. Boone, D. Jones , A. Manning search hiring committee. Its certainly been crickets from the Manning camp on all this.
You commenters need to stop referring to these women as ho's and whores unless you are going to point out that men who pay for sex are whores too. Also, let's not outlaw having sex just for the pleasure of having sex. I'm sure he's not the only man or woman who praises God and then have sex out of wedlock. Now, if he spent state money having his fun, that is outlawed. You can give back the money, but there is no way to give back the sex.
Freeze, you are a very stupid man and Coach Kennedy is just about as stupid. When will you guys learn that money, if not spent right, is the root of all evil next to a pussy. Both got Freeze in trouble !
Coach Kennedy is a sad drunk and everyone in Oxford knows it. His day of reckoning is coming and it's not to far away.
Good old fashion fraud, at every level.
7:38 you are beyond DISGUSTING. You would only know such if you are guilty yourself.
11:08 you can't even spell Christian, so...
AS I SAID A FEW WEEKS AGO---JOHN VAUGHT DID THE SAME THING---I SAW HIM WITH MY OWN EYES ESCORTING A WELL KNOWN SLUT TO AN APARTMENT HOUSE IN GULFPORT---SAW HIM SEVERAL TIMES. She was provided to "Johnny Boy" by a well know Alumni (Stock Broker) on the coast. The Stock Broker was a real POS. I know a lot of Business men and politicians that do the same thing and never get caught.
Freeze just got caught and Vaught didn't.
Comical are the calls still coming in to Finebaum and other programs admonishing us all to cut Freeze some slack, as Christians, as he simply slipped from Grace while doing his best to please God. I'm not buying that bullshit.
A caller today asked us all to, first, forgive. I will consider that once the perp comes out on live television and fesses up and apologizes and levels and lays all his sins on the table and how it has and will affect this institution and, indeed, this state for years to come. Until then, don't look for me in the apology line.
I'm still seeing posts on social media from his close family members, forwarded by Freeze himself, claiming he's misunderstood and that he awaits an opportunity to clear his good name.
"People have been speculating that freeze was buying player poontang.....looks like he was a greedy pussy hound!"
Nobody provides deserts without occasionally sampling them to be sure they're fit. It's the duty of any kitchen manager.
Supporting and excusing Hugh Freeze's behavior in light of the recent revelations is quite simply sick and misguided. It is time for accountability and integrity.
I'm reading, here and elsewhere, that Bjork says things like, "We had already looked into that and decided that he could not be out coach", and, "We were aware of those call records but didn't look into the misuse of other things since we had already decided he had to go".
So....if Bjork is not lying (go figure) why the hell did he and Vitter do nothing until Nutt's lawyer threw the glove down on the mysterious phone number? Bjork continued his almost daily protestations that Freeze was being mischaracterized and that the university and Athletics Department are standing firmly behind Freeze. None of that changed until Nutt's attorney pissed in the whiskey.
I've never suspected Bjork of being closely aligned with the truth.
Now who is in charge of sending the plane after prostitutes?
If Freeze bought prostitutes for players, the NCAA may give Ole Miss the Death Penalty, i.e. SMU. IF....he bought for an underage player...we are talking prison time for Coach Cheeze. They will interview all prospective players and find out one way or the other. Ole Miss ONLY hope is that this was all for himself.
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