HOOVER, Ala. — The dust may have settled on SEC Media Days in Hoover, Ala., but there was plenty of note to take away from Thursday's closing day -- which included three coaches in three unique situations.
First, South Carolina's Will Muschamp took the podium and made a case for having learned some valuable lessons during his first head coaching stint at Florida -- only to be completely upstaged by the utterly unique stream-of-consciousness stylings of Les Miles.
Introduced as the "dean of SEC coaches" thanks to his 12 years with the Tigers, Miles touched on topics both sincere, off-the-wall and everything in between, as he over-ran his allotted time while inducing bleary-eyed journalists to laughter.
"I think really being called a dean, I should probably get like a robe, right, and maybe a hat that maybe sits to the side and maybe my hanging cloth could be, you know, kind of dressed up some," Miles deadpanned. "That would be nice."
There were even a few updates pertaining to his actual team, but they were undoubtedly the sideshow.
There was little doubt, however, as to the center of attention, as Ole Miss' Hugh Freeze closed the proceedings. The coach addressed an ongoing NCAA investigation within seconds of taking the podium, and while he professed confidence that his program will be availed, there were still plenty of questions over how the Rebels got into the predicament.
The most public face of the allegations center around former offensive lineman Laremy Tunsil, who acknowledged on NFL draft night that he accepted money from a coach while he was at Ole Miss.
A large part of the the Rebels' defense concerning violations that have already seen them self-impose penalties -- including scholarship reductions and three years of probation -- center around negligence and miscommunication.
"We obviously feel like we did dot a bunch of 'I's and crossed a lot of 'T's. Could we have been better? Obviously we could," said an almost contrite Freeze. "I obviously believe that I am responsible for things that happen in our program and some that are outside, and you have to be able to prove that you've set a tone of compliance, which I'm confident that I have done that. But ultimately that's not my say. I can't comment on anything that's ongoing with the NCAA."
That didn't stop the questions from coming, however -- including one over the now somewhat infamous tweet from 2013 in which Freeze decried that anyone with knowledge of violations should contact his school's compliance department.
"Do I regret doing it? Absolutely," Freeze said. "Sometimes you make decisions that probably aren't the sharpest. I did mean that with sincerity. I really want everyone around our program and everyone within our program to do everything the right way."
The NCAA has still to determine whether the Rebels' response to violations is sufficient or whether it will add further punishment. Until then, however, Ole Miss -- which still features plenty of talent, including perhaps the best quarterback in the league in Chad Kelly -- is going about its way of preparing for the 2016 campaign.
"We will be responsible and held accountable for anything that happened on that day, but until that day, we're going to stay focused on being the best football team we can and continue to be relevant and having confidence in who we are," Freeze said.
"We just worry about football," noted Ole Miss tight end Evan Engram. "We show up to work every day to get better and work toward our goals, which are winning in Atlanta and competing for a national championship. So all the outside stuff, we're not paying attention to it, and we're definitely not letting it distract us."
That could not have been easy to do on Thursday.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2016/7/423063/sec-media-days-closes-with-a-bang-thanks-to-freeze-questions-miles-laughter