WEST POINT — First impressions at speaking engagements are extremely important for new coaches.
New University of Mississippi football coach Hugh Freeze is trying to impress at 16 of those engagements this week as the Rebel Road Tour treks through Mississippi and into the states of Tennessee and Alabama.
On Wednesday, Freeze, new athletics director Ross Bjork, and chancellor Dan Jones reminded the more than 200 in attendance at Old Waverly Golf Club that Rebel Nation needs their support
“We are trying to get out and spend some time with Rebel Nation,” Freeze said. “We want to interact with the people who have been supportive of our program. The message is we need to forget about where we have been, not totally, but certainly the recent past, and we need to move forward together.”
Freeze was named Ole Miss’ new coach in December after a two-year coaching stint at Arkansas State University, which included one season as offensive coordinator and one season as head coach. The Red Wolves went 10-2 last season with Freeze in charge.
The task at Ole Miss is challenging. The Rebels won only one Southeastern Conference game in Houston Nutt’s final two seasons as coach. To begin the turnaround, Freeze feels the commitment from the fans will be as important as the commitment from the players.
“Anytime you are a team, whether we are talking about the team or the fan base, the more buy-in you have, the better the result will be,” Freeze said. “You will have more progress on this journey that way. This is going to take time. But when you have a great number of buy-ins percentage wise, it sure makes things a lot easier.”
Bjork assumed the athletics director position on a full-time basis nine days ago. While most in attendance probably didn’t know that number, the Dodge City, Kan., native did.
“This is my ninth day on the job,” Bjork told the audience. “That is important because I truly feel blessed to have been in this job for nine days. As an athletic department, we are going to work hard to deliver championship programs. For that reason, we will always count the days. There will not be a day that goes by that we won’t be doing something to reach those championship goals.”
Bjork, 39, the former athletics director at Western Kentucky University, felt the timing was right for a move into one of the nation’s best conferences.
“I thought I had the best job in the world at Western Kentucky,” Bjork said. “Ole Miss recruited me. I did not recruit them. However, after listening to the vision Dan Jones had for his athletic programs, I saw this is a place where I could fill a need. The thing with Chancellor Jones is he wants to be the best at everything, from any academic program to any athletic program. The commitment is there across the board for excellence.
“That is something that really excites me. After being approached by Ole Miss, I watched some YouTube videos and I did my research. I saw the mission statement for the university was something I could really believe in. I saw a level of commitment to excellence, which really motivated me. I am excited about being a part of the process of reaching that excellence.”
Jones said Bjork already has established himself as a winner.
“He understands the nature of the beast and he understands what makes a Division I program operate at its highest potential,” Jones said. “My goal is to take a lower-profile in athletics. With these two hires, I can do just that. We have proven winners who understand the hard work, commitment and sacrifice that will be necessary to achieved greatness.”
Bjork knew Freeze well from his last stop because Western Kentucky and Arkansas State are in the Sun Belt Conference and played each other annually.
“One of the true drawing cards to this job was the ability to work with Hugh,” Bjork said. “I know the character he has. I know the resolve in which he coaches his team. I know how he carries himself as a person. He has a plan on how to make Ole Miss football championship caliber again. It won’t happen overnight. However, it is a plan I think will prove to be successful.”
Each speaker stressed patience. There were no specifics about Ole Miss’ 2012 football team, other than a push to sell season tickets. There also were no references to archrival Mississippi State University. Ole Miss will open the season Sept. 1 when Central Arkansas visits Oxford. It will close the regular season Nov. 24 in Oxford against MSU in the annual Egg Bowl game.
In a preprogram interview, Freeze said he liked the progress his team made in spring drills, which ended Saturday with the Grove Bowl. A crowd of more than 25,000 watched the Red squad beat the Blue squad 24-23 in overtime.
“As a coach, you never feel like you get everything you want done during spring practice,” Freeze said. “I liked the attitude. I liked the fact that players are buying in to a new way to do things. Anytime there is a coaching change, the most important thing is to have everybody buying in to what you are doing.
“There is so much more to be done between now and September. However, you do like the attitude, you do like the spirit, and you do like the understanding of the players for what you are trying to do.”
Freeze added a good part of the spring was spent stressing the importance of family to his players. He feels like all 120 players have a role to play in helping the team become a family.
While Freeze is recruiting players and fans, Bjork is recruiting names. He said the most striking thing about his first nine days at work is the number of unique Mississippi names he has learned.
“I have met a Bones, a Greaser, a Bouncer, a Hash, a Cosmo, and a Bobo,” said Bjork, as he read his unique name list from the back side of a program. “We want to reach out and meet all of Mississippi. We are the flagship university of the state. While you can’t figuratively put your arms around the entire Rebel Nation, you can certainly try to do it spiritually.”
To bring that point home, Bjork encouraged the people in the blue-and-red clad crowd to stand and to hug one another. This physical interaction was just part of a light-hearted day where the central theme was encouraging fans to buy in to the new philosophy of Ole Miss athletics.
The tour stop included a 10-minute video presentation where a number of students, student-athletes, and coaches repeated the central theme, “Come home to Ole Miss.”
“So much has changed since so many of you were on our campus,” Jones said. “We want each of you to come back. We want you to experience that growth for yourself. We want you to be a part of that growth. This is a critical time for our university.
“With a record enrollment of 3,600 freshmen this year, some really great things are happening. For our university to reach the level we all want it to reach, we all have to be in it together. The time for that to happen is now.”
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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