By John Sarianides 

Ole Miss officials announced a self imposed, one year bowl ban on Wednesday. The administration imposed the ban after the school was informed of new allegations against Hugh Freeze and his staff by the NCAA.

The NCAA informed the school of eight new violations and a general lack of institutional control by Freeze and his staff. The school responded by banning the football team from playing in a bowl game in 2017. 

The ban follows a tough National Signing Day for the Rebels. Ole Miss had the 12th ranked recruiting class one in the SEC. That is shocking considering the fact that Freeze is one of the best recruiters in the country. 

Between the ban and a bad recruiting class, things are about to get ugly in Oxford. Freeze’s lack of leadership and accountability is finally starting to catch up with the program. 

The administration isn’t exactly coming down hard on Freeze and his staff. The punishment is a slap on the wrist. The penalty imposed should have been stiffer. 

A one year bowl ban is nothing. At the very least, administrators at Ole Miss should impose a stiffer punishment. If not, they need to fire Freeze.

 Freeze needs to take responsibility for his lack of leadership. Simply apologizing isn’t enough. Freeze sold his soul to bring elite recruiting classes to Oxford and now it is time to pay up. He may pay with his job.

Based on the allegations, Freeze should be teriminated. He knew what was going on and he swept it under the rug. He was doing the same thing as Art Briles but to a lesser extent. 

There should be no gray area for coaches when it comes to running a program and following the rules. If you can’t run a clean program and play by the rules, you shouldn’t be employed. 

That is why I think Ole Miss should do the right thing and terminate Freeze. It is the only logical punishment given the circumstances. Freeze has been running a rogue program and he needs to be punished, not the kids.