On Jan. 21, 2016, Hugh Freeze tweeted, "Been a great week of recruiting but so glad to see my girls and be back in Oxford for the weekend. And LOVED the call I just got. #SIPBOYZ16"



Less than three hours earlier, he called a Florida-based escort on his university-issued cell phone.



That phone call led to his resignation Thursday after Ole Miss discovered a "pattern of conduct" unbecoming of the football program's leader following media inquiries about the escort.

It's a stunning fall from grace for Freeze who was making more than $4.7 million annually at Ole Miss and will now receive no buyout because the school had enough to fire him through a moral clause in his contract. He's earned himself the ignominy of being one of college football's biggest frauds.

This was a man who made religion his public persona, even using the NCAA's long inquiry into Ole Miss as an example of the persecution he faced.

"Coach Freeze told me when you're that big and out there with faith in Christ, he's like 'What do you expect? Jesus got nailed to the cross," recruit Chevin Calloway told SBNation though the Ole Miss coach denied that characterization.

His Twitter was full of daily Bible messages, Christian allegories and other inspiring messages about football. He was a living embodiment of the cliche "Faith, Family and Football." When he interviewed for the job, he even said that "Jesus Christ will be at the center of it all" and "if that's not what you want, I'm not your guy," according to former linebackers coach Tom Allen.

Unfortunately for Ole Miss, that proved to be a facade. The school's highly-paid football coach believed more in the "Do as I say, don't do as I do" mantra.

Freeze was holier than thou, smarmy even, about his religion and the type of man he was. He organized public displays of goodwill to boost his image, but privately was paranoid and lashed out over small misgivings. No coach in the SEC cared more about how the media portrayed him. It's a safe bet your favorite college football writer has a story of Freeze calling him and invoking his Christian beliefs over even a remotely negative story about Ole Miss. He loved to dish out accusations and blame others for any of the Rebels' shortcomings, rarely if ever acknowledging his role in them.

Even when presented with evidence of a phone call to an escort, Freeze claimed to Yahoo Sports it was a "misdial."

Watch the way you talk. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth. Say only what helps, each word a gift. Ephesians 4:29 (MSG) — Hugh Freeze (@CoachHughFreeze) January 27, 2016





A rough patch awaits Freeze. He's lost an incredibly lucrative job and likely will never get one as good again in his career. He must explain to his players and his family why he couldn't live up the lofty standards he set for himself. He'll likely face additional NCAA penalties, including potentially a show cause, once the Committee of Infractions concludes the Ole Miss case.

"He admitted that conduct to us," Ole Miss athletic director Ross Bjork said Thursday. "None of us are perfect. Nobody in this room is perfect. I think we need to respect how he resigned and respect his privacy."

Life will ultimately go on for Freeze and Ole Miss. Our society readily forgives far worse sins than cheating, even if both on and off the football field. Freeze wouldn't be the first -- or the last -- football coach to engage in extramarital activities. Coaches have done worse than place a call to an escort and kept their jobs though Bjork's comments Thursday strongly indicate it goes beyond that.

But Freeze is different because of everything he did leading up to this moment. He put himself on such a pedestal that even a minor scandal threatened his perch. Ole Miss supported him throughout the NCAA investigation and likely would have continued to do so had his extracurricular actions not come to light. He was cocky and defiant the whole way, a display of hubris that rival coaches couldn't believe. He'll never live down that infamous tweet asking anyone with knowledge of NCAA violations, to email Ole Miss' compliance department.

If you sense rejoicing over Freeze's resignation, it's centered around the satisfaction of a sanctimonious person receiving his comeuppance. If judged on hypocrisy alone, Freeze would be the kind of five-star recruit that'd get Ole Miss in trouble.

The end result of Freeze resigning shouldn't come as a surprise. His time in Oxford was bound to end badly eventually given the multi-year investigation into his football program. The NCAA invested too much time and resources to walk away with nothing. He was going to leave sooner than later though in most scenarios his bank account would be far more flush than it's going to be now.

It's the timing that came as a shock to many, only days after Freeze went before hundreds of reporters at SEC Media Days and offered an award-worthy filibuster. He did not look like a man who knew it was all about to come crashing down. He was still lamenting that he wasn't able to talk as much about his football team because of outside distractions.

Those outside distractions finally brought him down albeit few could have predicted it'd be Houston Nutt and a one-minute phone call to an escort that did it. Nutt, a former Ole Miss head coach, taking down the school's most successful coach in more than a decade over Freeze pushing the NCAA violations blame on him to reporters is a soap opera so absurd it's still difficult to comprehend. Amazingly, it could have been avoided had Freeze shown humility, apologized to Nutt and taken his fair share of the blame.

Now, Freeze departs Oxford as a discredited sham, a man who preached words he didn't believe in.

I believe 1 can make a difference? 1 letter, 1 phone call, 1 act of kindness, 1 prayer for someone, 1 help to a stranger.Let's try 1 of each — Hugh Freeze (@CoachHughFreeze) November 14, 2016

He has only one person to blame for his precipitous fall: The man in the mirror.