Hugh Freeze Comments on NCAA Investigation's Impact on Ole Miss' 2017 Recruiting

Ole Miss Rebels head football coach Hugh Freeze opened up about what he felt were external issues that impacted him on the recruiting trail this year.

"It was ugly. I didn't enjoy it," Freeze said Wednesday, according to the Associated Press' David Brandt.

Freeze blamed "rhetoric" and the NCAA's investigation into the school for hurting the Rebels' recruiting.

"This recruiting class: It was a penalty," he said, per Brandt.

Alluding to coaches who attempted to undermine him and the Ole Miss program, Freeze added that he "won't forget who they are," per the Oxford Eagle's Davis Potter.

For the most part, Freeze has been a strong recruiter for the Rebels. He made a big splash in 2013, when Robert Nkemdiche, Laremy Tunsil, Laquon Treadwell and Tony Conner all signed with Ole Miss. That 2013 class was both a blessing and a curse for the school, though.

Tunsil, Treadwell and Nkemdiche all played key roles for the Rebels in 2015, when they won 10 games and beat Oklahoma State in the Sugar Bowl.

Nkemdiche missed the Sugar Bowl while serving a one-game suspension after he was charged with marijuana possession in December 2015. Tunsil brought more negative attention to Ole Miss on the night of the 2016 NFL draft, when he admitted to taking money from a Rebels coach while with the team.

Someone also hacked Tunsil's Instagram account, posting what were supposedly screenshots from an interaction between Tunsil and assistant athletic director John Miller in which Tunsil asked for money for his mother.

Busted Coverage shared the Instagram photos before they were deleted:

It's tough to argue the NCAA specter hovering over Ole Miss hasn't had an effect on the school's recruiting efforts. In 2016, the Rebels had the fifth-best class in the country, and they ranked 16th in 2015, per Scout. With a few hours left on national signing day this year, Ole Miss ranked 32nd.

USA Today's Dan Wolken thought Freeze was incorrect to direct any of his anger toward the NCAA:

Any sort of recruiting scandal would hit Ole Miss especially hard since the Rebels don't have a rich history of success.

North Carolina was in a similar position in the wake of Butch Davis' firing in 2011. The Tar Heels spun their wheels in the following seasons, and current head coach Larry Fedora said in 2014 that recruits had discussed the NCAA's investigation with him, per ESPN.com's David M. Hale.

Until Ole Miss gets out from under the NCAA's watch, Freeze may struggle to repeat the success of the 2015 campaign.