So obviously the catch with Freeze is his past and getting "approval" from Sankey to hire him.
I've been asking what type of power Sankey has over the situation so I started researching it to answer my own questions.
This article from April 2018 explains fairly well what happened last year when Saban tried to hire him.
https://www.al.com/alabamafootball/index.ssf/2018/04/what_really_happened_between_h.html
Cliffs:
- At least 5 SEC schools, including Bama, were interested in hiring Freeze last year.
- Sankey told Bama and Freeze that it would look bad for Freeze to be back coaching in the SEC while Ole Miss was suffering from penalties levied against them for violations that occurred under his watch.
- Sankey preferred that Freeze go "off the radar for a little while" before trying to return to an SEC school
- SEC Bylaw 19.8.1.2 gives Sankey oversight into a school's hiring practices. It states that "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.'"
- The NCAA deemed Ole Miss to have "fostered an unconstrained culture of booster involvement in football recruiting." However, they viewed it as more of an institutional infraction than a Freeze infraction.
- The NCAA gave multiple Ole Miss assistant coaches 1-year show cause penalties for their involvement however, they only gave Freeze a two-game suspension should any school hire him as a HEAD COACH before Nov. 30. (The article does not specify if that is Nov. '17 or '18)
- A Northeastern University Law Professor says the SEC Bylaw does not legally prevent a school from hiring a coach in Freeze's situation.
My opinion:
It seems to me that Pruitt and Fulmer have every right to hire the man if that's who they want. They may need the UT President (do we even have one of those righ now?) to make our case to Sankey but that also might only be necessary if we were trying to hire him as the HC. The only thing the article does not touch on is what recourse, if any, could Sankey pass if someone hires him against Sankey's wishes.
Does anyone know what Sankey could do to us if Pruitt hired him against his advisement? It doesn't seem that Pruitt would be breaking any rules so I don't see what he could possibly do other than maybe tell the officials next year to sabotage our games... oh wait...
I've been asking what type of power Sankey has over the situation so I started researching it to answer my own questions.
This article from April 2018 explains fairly well what happened last year when Saban tried to hire him.
https://www.al.com/alabamafootball/index.ssf/2018/04/what_really_happened_between_h.html
Cliffs:
- At least 5 SEC schools, including Bama, were interested in hiring Freeze last year.
- Sankey told Bama and Freeze that it would look bad for Freeze to be back coaching in the SEC while Ole Miss was suffering from penalties levied against them for violations that occurred under his watch.
- Sankey preferred that Freeze go "off the radar for a little while" before trying to return to an SEC school
- SEC Bylaw 19.8.1.2 gives Sankey oversight into a school's hiring practices. It states that "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.'"
- The NCAA deemed Ole Miss to have "fostered an unconstrained culture of booster involvement in football recruiting." However, they viewed it as more of an institutional infraction than a Freeze infraction.
- The NCAA gave multiple Ole Miss assistant coaches 1-year show cause penalties for their involvement however, they only gave Freeze a two-game suspension should any school hire him as a HEAD COACH before Nov. 30. (The article does not specify if that is Nov. '17 or '18)
- A Northeastern University Law Professor says the SEC Bylaw does not legally prevent a school from hiring a coach in Freeze's situation.
My opinion:
It seems to me that Pruitt and Fulmer have every right to hire the man if that's who they want. They may need the UT President (do we even have one of those righ now?) to make our case to Sankey but that also might only be necessary if we were trying to hire him as the HC. The only thing the article does not touch on is what recourse, if any, could Sankey pass if someone hires him against Sankey's wishes.
Does anyone know what Sankey could do to us if Pruitt hired him against his advisement? It doesn't seem that Pruitt would be breaking any rules so I don't see what he could possibly do other than maybe tell the officials next year to sabotage our games... oh wait...
Last edited:
