Apparently SEC commissioner Greg Sankey has enough stroke to keep Nick Saban from doing what he wanted to do at Alabama.
According to a story in AL.com Monday, Saban was ready to hire former Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze as co-offensive coordinator and position coach:
“However, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey encouraged Alabama not to hire a man as well known for the personal shortcomings that led to his Ole Miss resignation as he is for his success as a coach.”
Sankey decided to impose his own punishment on Freeze, who was the head coach when the Rebels were slapped on the wrist by the NCAA for recruiting violations.
If you read it closely, the Kangaroo Court in Indianapolis that oversees the world of college athletics accepted Ole Miss’ self-imposed penalties from 2016 and added an extra year of a bowl ban that is still being appealed … and told them not to do it again.
Sankey was the chairman of the NCAA Infractions Committee until September of last year when his three-year term ended. He spent a few days in Oxford during his tenure and the rather lengthy investigation.
After Sankey stepped down, the committee reported it’s final verdict on the Rebels’ program and put the blame on the institution and not Freeze, who stepped down last July because he was calling escort services on a school phone (although they knew of it before everything broke in the media … or at least had to because everybody else in Oxford did).
AL.com reported all of this in their story:
“While multiple Ole Miss assistants and staffers received multi-year show-cause penalties, Freeze was hit with only a two-game conference suspension should any school hire him as a head coach before Nov. 30.”
Freeze met with Saban in January and the most powerful man in college football (at least according to several polls) was blocked from making the hire he really wanted to make, according to multiple sources.
According to AL.com:
“Sankey informed both Freeze and Alabama that it would look bad for the SEC for Freeze to be back coaching in the league while Ole Miss suffered from NCAA penalties incurred under his watch. The SEC preferred that Freeze, who resigned in July following a “pattern of personal misconduct,” go off the radar for at least a little while before trying to return to work at one of its schools.”
It also was reported widely and confirmed by the AL.com story that LSU and Missouri both showed interest in Freeze, who worked for LSU coach Ed Orgeron at Ole Miss from 2005-07. The two have remained close.
“Sankey’s stance left Saban disappointed. Saban has a strong respect for Freeze, who bested him twice as Ole Miss’ head coach — one of only three SEC coaches to beat Saban multiple times during his time in Tuscaloosa.”
So, after an investigation conducted under Sankey’s chairmanship of the committee investigating Ole Miss for years basically cleared Freeze of everything except paying enough attention, the commissioner imposes his own penalty.
While technically following the league’s rules, “a school must consult directly with Sankey before offering a job to a coach “who has engaged in unethical conduct as defined under NCAA Bylaws or who has participated in activity that resulted, or may result, in a Level I, Level II or major infraction.”
And apparently Sankey can hand out his own judgement … for whatever reason he chooses.
Freeze can’t do anything about it legally. Saban can’t do anything about it, either. He hired someone else.
This might be one to put in the file to remember.
Exactly why is something I have no idea about right now, but I do think we’ll hear about this again.
