OXFORD — Hugh Freeze’s tenure as Ole Miss’ head coach reached its unexpected conclusion Thursday evening.

Freeze, who has coached the Rebels the past five years and led the program to a 2016 Sugar Bowl victory, resigned Thursday afternoon after the university discovered a “pattern of personal misconduct inconsistent to the standards we expect from the leader of our football team,” Chancellor Jeff Vitter said.

If Freeze didn’t resign, athletic director Ross Bjork said the university would have exercised the termination clause in his contract for “moral turpitude.”

Offensive line coach Matt Luke will step in as the interim head coach for the 2017 season, while defensive coordinator Wesley McGriff has been elevated to associate head coach.

USA Today Sports reported that a one-minute phone call on Freeze’s university-issued cell phone was made to a female escort service, which The Clarion-Ledger can confirm. Dan Wolken reported the phone call raised an issue between the university’s legal counsel and Thomas Mars, Houston Nutt’s attorney.

Nutt filed a lawsuit against Ole Miss and its athletic foundation last week. Rumors of the phone call surfaced last week.

At a press conference Thursday night, Bjork said he wanted to protect that information and Freeze’s privacy and did not reference a female escort service. Bjork said a phone call was brought to Ole Miss’ attention last week.

“We did a quick assessment and determined this was the only time that that particular number was ever called from coach Freeze’s phone since he started working here at Ole Miss,” Bjork said. “Because the call lasted less than one minute … we initially attributed this call to a (accidental dial of the) number.

But Bjork said the university proactively looked into the rest of Freeze’s phone records.

“In our analysis, we discovered a pattern of conduct that is not consistent with our expectations as the leader of our football program,” Bjork said. “As of yesterday, there appeared to be a concerning pattern.”

And with that, Freeze’s five-year tenure as Ole Miss’ coach came to an end. He went 39-25 during that time and reached a bowl game in each of his first four seasons.

But Freeze’s tenure had been marred by a years-long NCAA probe into his program. In February, the NCAA’s enforcement staff delivered its notice of allegations to the university, which included 21 allegations and charged Freeze with violating head coach responsibility legislation.

Ole Miss self-imposed a bowl ban shortly after it received its notice of allegations, which meant it also had to forfeit nearly $8 million in postseason revenue.

Vitter made it a point to say this decision had nothing to do with Ole Miss’ NCAA case.

“Our position on the facts documented in our response remains the same,” Vitter said.

Ole Miss was firm in its support of Freeze throughout the NCAA process.

“I believe that our response again speaks for itself,” Bjork said. “I believe he has an established record that is well, well documented in terms of how he ran the program around compliance and we still believe in that.”

Bjork, when asked if a coaching search will start immediately, said the team is the focus right now and that he hasn’t thought about a search. Freeze addressed the staff around 6 p.m. and the team 30 minutes later.

Bjork said there’s no buyout or settlement for Freeze. Freeze addressed the press at SEC Media Days last week and was asked about the Nutt lawsuit but did not say much about it.

He was hoping there was a day he could come to SEC Media Days with football as his main focus. He, Bjork and Freeze spoke to Ole Miss fans in Memphis and Jackson on Monday and Tuesday, respectively, as they finished up this year’s Rebel Road Trip.

Freeze met with Vitter and Bjork initially on Wednesday, then met with them again Thursday.

Ole Miss is set to open training camp on Aug. 2 and it will open the season against South Alabama on Sept. 2.

More:Hugh Freeze at SEC Media Days: Timing of lawsuit 'ironic'

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ContactAntonio Morales at 601-961-7117 oramorales2@gannett.com. Follow him onTwitter.