A Mississippi native, inspirational leader and one of the nation’s top coaches, Hugh Freeze was the first choice to return championships to Ole Miss Football and was introduced as the Rebels’ 37th head coach on December 5, 2011.
The results on the field in Freeze’s five years have been remarkable.
Inheriting a team that won just two games in 2011 and had lost 14 straight Southeastern Conference games, Freeze directed Ole Miss to four bowl appearances in his first four years – the first coach in school history to do that – including wins in the BBVA Compass, Music City and Sugar.
Ole Miss was one of five programs in the country (along with Alabama, Florida State, Michigan State and Ohio State) to make consecutive New Year’s Six bowl appearances in the first two years of the College Football Playoff system.
The Rebels increased their win total in each of Freeze’s first four years, including their first 10-win season since 2003. Ole Miss rose as high as No. 3 in the national polls in both 2014 and 2015 and finished top 10 in the country for the first time since 1969 after the 2016 Sugar Bowl win over Oklahoma State.
The Rebels have been a fixture in the national rankings under Freeze, having been included in the top 25 for a total of 45 weeks over the last five years, including a string of 27 straight weeks in the polls for the first time since 1957-62.
Freeze’s teams have shattered most of the offensive school records and had the nation’s No. 1 scoring defense in 2014. His high-flying tempo offense has helped shine the college football spotlight brightly on quarterbacks Bo Wallace and Chad Kelly and receivers Donte Moncrief, Laquon Treadwell, Evan Engram and others.
The Rebels have saved some of their best work for the biggest games, upending No. 1 Alabama in 2014 and claiming their second-ever road win over the Crimson Tide in 2015. The Rebels are 3-2 in the “Egg Bowl” rivalry against Mississippi State under Freeze. Their 48-20 Sugar Bowl triumph over Oklahoma State to capture their 10th win two seasons ago featured the third-most points ever scored by a team in the Sugar Bowl’s 82-year history.
In all, Freeze has a 69-32 career college coaching record and 39-25 mark at Ole Miss. He guided Ole Miss to back-to-back nine-win regular seasons for the first time since 1962 and four consecutive bowl games for the first time since 1971.
Freeze and his staff have developed 20 players to All-SEC honors, including All-Americans Cody Prewitt, Senquez Golson, Robert Nkemdiche, Laremy Tunsil, Engram, Treadwell and Trae Elston. Treadwell was named Ole Miss’ first ever SEC Freshman of the Year in 2013 and became the school’s first Biletnikoff Award finalist in 2015. Nkemdiche was the first defensive lineman to be named a Hornung Award finalist. Engram won the Ozzie Newsome Award and Pop Warner College Football Award following the 2016 season.
Eleven Ole Miss players have been selected in the NFL Draft since Freeze arrived as head coach, including first-rounder Engram as well as D.J. Jones, Derrick Jones and Chad Kelly hearing their names called in the latest draft. In 2016, the Rebels had three first-round draft picks in Tunsil, Treadwell and Nkemdiche. Moncrief, Golson, Fahn Cooper and Cody Core were also drafted over the last four years.
Success on the field has been a direct result of the way Freeze runs his program – recruit elite football talent and treat the team like a family.
Freeze and his staff have collected four recruiting classes ranked among the top 15 in the nation. The 2013 and 2016 classes were both among the top five in the country, which makes them the best two classes in recorded program history.
A total of 121 players have earned their University of Mississippi degrees since Freeze’s arrival, while the 2016 spring semester saw the team earn its highest cumulative grade point average in recorded history. A program-best APR score of 991 in 2015-16 ranked second in the SEC.
Freeze’s staff has brought stability to the program’s academic standing and has emphasized the value of good character and brotherly love throughout all aspects of the team. Many players volunteer their time to community service projects in the Oxford area, and 19 players have participated in mission trips to Panama and Haiti.
2016: Offense Continues to Thrive
Ole Miss remained one of the best offensive teams in the country in 2016, while ranking top three in the SEC in passing offense, first down offense and total offense. Averaging 314.9 passing yards per game, the Rebels paced the conference for the second consecutive season.
The 2016 season was marred by injuries, beginning with season-ending injuries to starting cornerback Ken Webster and running back Eric Swinney. Later in the year, Ole Miss lost record-setting quarterback Chad Kelly to an ACL injury that brought an early end to the career of one of the best passers in program history. Defensive end John Youngblood, the 2016 Chucky Mullins Award recipient, also suffered a career-ending injury in the same game.
The Rebels continued to beat some of the nation’s best teams, knocking off No. 11 Georgia 45-14 at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium before a memorable comeback victory at Kyle Field against No. 8 Texas A&M. Behind true freshman quarterback Shea Patterson, who was making his Rebel debut, Ole Miss rallied from a 15-point deficit in the fourth quarter to stun the Aggies 29-28. In the comeback win, Patterson set Ole Miss records for passing yards (338) and total yards (402) in a single game by a freshman.
At the end of the season, kicker Gary Wunderlich became the 21st NCAA individual statistical champion in Ole Miss history. Wunderlich made 22 of 23 field goals for a school-record 95.7 percent success rate that finished atop the country in field goal percentage.
2015: Magnolia Bowl, Egg Bowl, Sugar Bowl Champs
The Rebels earned their 10th win of the 2015 season by crushing Oklahoma State in the Allstate Sugar Bowl, 48-20, highlighted by three Chad Kelly-to-Laquon Treadwell touchdowns and another score by junior offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil on his final play as a Rebel. The Sugar Bowl appearance was the Rebels’ first since the 1969 season, and Freeze guided the team to its first 10-win campaign (10-3) since 2003.
At No. 9 in the final coaches poll and No. 10 in the final Associated Press poll, Ole Miss finished with its highest national ranking since 1969.
Freeze led the Rebels to back-to-back seasons with at least nine victories for the first time since 1961-62. Ole Miss finished the regular season 6-2 in conference play to place second in the SEC West. The six SEC wins were the most by a Rebel football team since 2003.
A whopping 64 Ole Miss team and individual records were broken or tied in 2015, including most total yards (6,731), points (531), touchdowns (68) and passing yards (4,351) in a season. Kelly and Treadwell made resounding cases for their status as Ole Miss icons with the number of records they set on the field -- 17 and 15, respectively -- surpassing such names as Eli Manning, Bo Wallace, Donte Moncrief and Chris Collins. Ole Miss also became the first team in SEC history to score 73 or more points in back-to-back games.
Kelly’s 4,542 total yards and 4,042 passing yards were both the third-most by a player in Southeastern Conference history, as he became the league’s third QB to ever throw for more than 4,000 yards in a season. He tied the Sugar Bowl record with four touchdown tosses in the Superdome.
Ole Miss finished the campaign eighth nationally with 40.8 points per game, 10th with 517.8 total yards per outing and 10th with 334.7 passing yards per game.
Freeze and the Rebels won multiple memorable games throughout the 2015 campaign, including a road win over No. 2 Alabama, capping off consecutive victories over the Crimson Tide for the first time in program history. Along with the Alabama victory, Freeze led Ole Miss to wins over Auburn and rival LSU, marking the first time the Rebels took down all three teams in one season. The 2015 team also kept a stranglehold on the Golden Egg, winning back-to-back Egg Bowls over Mississippi State for the first time in more than a decade.
Alabama went on to claim the national title, making it the third time in program history that the Rebels were the national champion’s only loss. The Rebels also upended Notre Dame in 1977 and Florida in 2008.
2014: Rebels Take Down No. 1, Make Inaugural New Year’s Six Bowl
The foundation that was laid in 2012 and 2013 led the way for a memorable campaign in 2014. Ole Miss played in the very first of the inaugural New Year’s Six bowl games - the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl vs. TCU. The Rebels got there on the strength of the nation’s No. 1 scoring defense (16.0 ppg allowed) and triumphs over four 10-win teams (Alabama, Boise State, Memphis, Mississippi State) and three conference champions (Alabama, Boise State, Memphis).
Freeze, a finalist for both the 2014 Bear Bryant Award and Dodd Trophy, led Ole Miss to its most regular-season wins over ranked teams since 1969 and its highest national ranking (No. 3) since 1964.
October 4, 2014 will forever be remembered by Rebel Nation as the day ESPN’s College GameDay and pop singer Katy Perry put Oxford in the national spotlight, and the Rebels knocked off the No. 1 Crimson Tide 23-17 for the program’s first ever victory over the nation’s top-ranked team.
On top of pacing the nation in scoring defense, the 2014 Landsharks also paced the SEC in interceptions (22), turnovers forced (32), tackles for loss (7.6/game) and opponent third-down conversion (33.0 percent).
Give the man and his staff unfettered jet access, the new FOF, and wide latitude with the on to victory war chest and let them go to work
The results on the field in Freeze’s five years have been remarkable.
Inheriting a team that won just two games in 2011 and had lost 14 straight Southeastern Conference games, Freeze directed Ole Miss to four bowl appearances in his first four years – the first coach in school history to do that – including wins in the BBVA Compass, Music City and Sugar.
Ole Miss was one of five programs in the country (along with Alabama, Florida State, Michigan State and Ohio State) to make consecutive New Year’s Six bowl appearances in the first two years of the College Football Playoff system.
The Rebels increased their win total in each of Freeze’s first four years, including their first 10-win season since 2003. Ole Miss rose as high as No. 3 in the national polls in both 2014 and 2015 and finished top 10 in the country for the first time since 1969 after the 2016 Sugar Bowl win over Oklahoma State.
The Rebels have been a fixture in the national rankings under Freeze, having been included in the top 25 for a total of 45 weeks over the last five years, including a string of 27 straight weeks in the polls for the first time since 1957-62.
Freeze’s teams have shattered most of the offensive school records and had the nation’s No. 1 scoring defense in 2014. His high-flying tempo offense has helped shine the college football spotlight brightly on quarterbacks Bo Wallace and Chad Kelly and receivers Donte Moncrief, Laquon Treadwell, Evan Engram and others.
The Rebels have saved some of their best work for the biggest games, upending No. 1 Alabama in 2014 and claiming their second-ever road win over the Crimson Tide in 2015. The Rebels are 3-2 in the “Egg Bowl” rivalry against Mississippi State under Freeze. Their 48-20 Sugar Bowl triumph over Oklahoma State to capture their 10th win two seasons ago featured the third-most points ever scored by a team in the Sugar Bowl’s 82-year history.
In all, Freeze has a 69-32 career college coaching record and 39-25 mark at Ole Miss. He guided Ole Miss to back-to-back nine-win regular seasons for the first time since 1962 and four consecutive bowl games for the first time since 1971.
Freeze and his staff have developed 20 players to All-SEC honors, including All-Americans Cody Prewitt, Senquez Golson, Robert Nkemdiche, Laremy Tunsil, Engram, Treadwell and Trae Elston. Treadwell was named Ole Miss’ first ever SEC Freshman of the Year in 2013 and became the school’s first Biletnikoff Award finalist in 2015. Nkemdiche was the first defensive lineman to be named a Hornung Award finalist. Engram won the Ozzie Newsome Award and Pop Warner College Football Award following the 2016 season.
Eleven Ole Miss players have been selected in the NFL Draft since Freeze arrived as head coach, including first-rounder Engram as well as D.J. Jones, Derrick Jones and Chad Kelly hearing their names called in the latest draft. In 2016, the Rebels had three first-round draft picks in Tunsil, Treadwell and Nkemdiche. Moncrief, Golson, Fahn Cooper and Cody Core were also drafted over the last four years.
Success on the field has been a direct result of the way Freeze runs his program – recruit elite football talent and treat the team like a family.
Freeze and his staff have collected four recruiting classes ranked among the top 15 in the nation. The 2013 and 2016 classes were both among the top five in the country, which makes them the best two classes in recorded program history.
A total of 121 players have earned their University of Mississippi degrees since Freeze’s arrival, while the 2016 spring semester saw the team earn its highest cumulative grade point average in recorded history. A program-best APR score of 991 in 2015-16 ranked second in the SEC.
Freeze’s staff has brought stability to the program’s academic standing and has emphasized the value of good character and brotherly love throughout all aspects of the team. Many players volunteer their time to community service projects in the Oxford area, and 19 players have participated in mission trips to Panama and Haiti.
2016: Offense Continues to Thrive
Ole Miss remained one of the best offensive teams in the country in 2016, while ranking top three in the SEC in passing offense, first down offense and total offense. Averaging 314.9 passing yards per game, the Rebels paced the conference for the second consecutive season.
The 2016 season was marred by injuries, beginning with season-ending injuries to starting cornerback Ken Webster and running back Eric Swinney. Later in the year, Ole Miss lost record-setting quarterback Chad Kelly to an ACL injury that brought an early end to the career of one of the best passers in program history. Defensive end John Youngblood, the 2016 Chucky Mullins Award recipient, also suffered a career-ending injury in the same game.
The Rebels continued to beat some of the nation’s best teams, knocking off No. 11 Georgia 45-14 at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium before a memorable comeback victory at Kyle Field against No. 8 Texas A&M. Behind true freshman quarterback Shea Patterson, who was making his Rebel debut, Ole Miss rallied from a 15-point deficit in the fourth quarter to stun the Aggies 29-28. In the comeback win, Patterson set Ole Miss records for passing yards (338) and total yards (402) in a single game by a freshman.
At the end of the season, kicker Gary Wunderlich became the 21st NCAA individual statistical champion in Ole Miss history. Wunderlich made 22 of 23 field goals for a school-record 95.7 percent success rate that finished atop the country in field goal percentage.
2015: Magnolia Bowl, Egg Bowl, Sugar Bowl Champs
The Rebels earned their 10th win of the 2015 season by crushing Oklahoma State in the Allstate Sugar Bowl, 48-20, highlighted by three Chad Kelly-to-Laquon Treadwell touchdowns and another score by junior offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil on his final play as a Rebel. The Sugar Bowl appearance was the Rebels’ first since the 1969 season, and Freeze guided the team to its first 10-win campaign (10-3) since 2003.
At No. 9 in the final coaches poll and No. 10 in the final Associated Press poll, Ole Miss finished with its highest national ranking since 1969.
Freeze led the Rebels to back-to-back seasons with at least nine victories for the first time since 1961-62. Ole Miss finished the regular season 6-2 in conference play to place second in the SEC West. The six SEC wins were the most by a Rebel football team since 2003.
A whopping 64 Ole Miss team and individual records were broken or tied in 2015, including most total yards (6,731), points (531), touchdowns (68) and passing yards (4,351) in a season. Kelly and Treadwell made resounding cases for their status as Ole Miss icons with the number of records they set on the field -- 17 and 15, respectively -- surpassing such names as Eli Manning, Bo Wallace, Donte Moncrief and Chris Collins. Ole Miss also became the first team in SEC history to score 73 or more points in back-to-back games.
Kelly’s 4,542 total yards and 4,042 passing yards were both the third-most by a player in Southeastern Conference history, as he became the league’s third QB to ever throw for more than 4,000 yards in a season. He tied the Sugar Bowl record with four touchdown tosses in the Superdome.
Ole Miss finished the campaign eighth nationally with 40.8 points per game, 10th with 517.8 total yards per outing and 10th with 334.7 passing yards per game.
Freeze and the Rebels won multiple memorable games throughout the 2015 campaign, including a road win over No. 2 Alabama, capping off consecutive victories over the Crimson Tide for the first time in program history. Along with the Alabama victory, Freeze led Ole Miss to wins over Auburn and rival LSU, marking the first time the Rebels took down all three teams in one season. The 2015 team also kept a stranglehold on the Golden Egg, winning back-to-back Egg Bowls over Mississippi State for the first time in more than a decade.
Alabama went on to claim the national title, making it the third time in program history that the Rebels were the national champion’s only loss. The Rebels also upended Notre Dame in 1977 and Florida in 2008.
2014: Rebels Take Down No. 1, Make Inaugural New Year’s Six Bowl
The foundation that was laid in 2012 and 2013 led the way for a memorable campaign in 2014. Ole Miss played in the very first of the inaugural New Year’s Six bowl games - the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl vs. TCU. The Rebels got there on the strength of the nation’s No. 1 scoring defense (16.0 ppg allowed) and triumphs over four 10-win teams (Alabama, Boise State, Memphis, Mississippi State) and three conference champions (Alabama, Boise State, Memphis).
Freeze, a finalist for both the 2014 Bear Bryant Award and Dodd Trophy, led Ole Miss to its most regular-season wins over ranked teams since 1969 and its highest national ranking (No. 3) since 1964.
October 4, 2014 will forever be remembered by Rebel Nation as the day ESPN’s College GameDay and pop singer Katy Perry put Oxford in the national spotlight, and the Rebels knocked off the No. 1 Crimson Tide 23-17 for the program’s first ever victory over the nation’s top-ranked team.
On top of pacing the nation in scoring defense, the 2014 Landsharks also paced the SEC in interceptions (22), turnovers forced (32), tackles for loss (7.6/game) and opponent third-down conversion (33.0 percent).
Give the man and his staff unfettered jet access, the new FOF, and wide latitude with the on to victory war chest and let them go to work
