Ross Bjork speaks about the Creed at the Ford Center in Oxford, Miss., Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2014. DM Photo | Cady Herring
At the weekly Ole Miss press conference Monday, Athletic Director Ross Bjork talked about a contract extension for head coach Hugh Freeze in the near future.
The Ole Miss football team has vastly exceeded expectations for the 2014 season, the third year of the journey under Freeze. The team currently sits at 8-2 overall and 4-2 in conference play and a chance for a spot in the SEC championship and the first College Football Playoff is still alive.
Many people did not expect Ole Miss to make it this far, especially in the third year of a new regime of coaching. Freeze has transformed Ole Miss with strong recruiting, an up-tempo offense and a stingy, ball-hawking defense that near tops in the country.
According to Bjork, talks have been going on throughout the season and a strong relationship between Bjork and Freeze certainly helps.
“We’ve been proactive throughout the season,” Bjork said. “Coach knows how we feel about him. We love that he loves being here and his family is comfortable. We’ll take the next couple of weeks to iron out the details and by all accounts, we’ll have a new deal in place for him when the season is over.”
Bjork said Freeze’s relation to the Ole Miss program and the dedication he has put in to make Ole Miss a top-flight program in the country is what sparked the talks of a contract extension.
Bjork also said the transformation Ole Miss athletics has been through since Freeze arrived has been great.
“I think we can be competitive with anybody in the country in terms of what we can offer and the quality of life and in terms of salary,” Bjork said. “I think we can be competitive and I feel good about the resources that we have.”
The recently launched SEC Network will eventually increase the athletics budget for Ole Miss Bjork added. Bjork said that because of the network, the budget will be over 80 million dollars, compared to 76.5 million that athletics has now.
“I think when you’re in that realm, that’s where you feel good about the resources that we can put out there,” Bjork said.
With the increase in budget for the athletic department, Bjork feels Ole Miss can level the playing field with programs such as Alabama, Tennessee, Florida and all of the other high-budget programs in the conference.
Bjork was not sure about the projected salary yet.
“We’re going to dictate how we feel about that coach, we’re going to dictate with our resources and what that sweet spot is,” Bjork said. “I think it can all be determined soon, but near four million a year sounds right.
“When you’re in the SEC, you got to be able to say, ‘We’re committed to playing and competing at the highest level.’ Whatever that number is, is what we’ll be comfortable with.”
