The following is a transcript from a teleconference this afternoon. The media was instructed to send in questions ahead of time, as the actual teleconference was listen-only.
Here are the questions we sent in. Manning and Glenn said identifying individual candidates was against their privacy agreement so some of our questions weren't relevant.
Did you speak to Mike Leach and/or Rich Rodriguez about the Ole Miss job? If not, why not?
Did you contact Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart to gauge his interest in the Ole Miss job? If not, why not?
How many coaches did you meet with in a face-to-face setting?
There is a strong sentiment among the Ole Miss fan base that this was a predetermined hire. How do you address that sentiment? Does that bother you?
Houston Nutt is owed $6 million over five years. Did that limit your options when evaluating candidates?
Here is the transcript from the teleconference:
On how many candidates were formally interviewed and who conducted the interviews
Manning: "Obviously we considered several candidates of course all of this is new to me and there are several candidates that don't want it known they were interviewed. I understand that from their standpoint and that's the difficult part. Mike and I did most of the interviews and reported to the rest of the committee. I don't have a number."
Glenn: "We had Bob Beaudine join us during the interviews the three of us together did most of the interviewing."
On criticism that Ole Miss did not hire someone with SEC couching experience or maybe this was a convenient hire
Manning: "I think anything to do with college football you can expect criticism. I'll be honest with you, BCS didn't enter my mind very much. We were looking for a good football coach, a good fit for Ole Miss I don't understand at all about a convenient hire I think, I know Mike can speak for himself, we spent a lot of time together we went into this thing wide open we considered people from coast to coast."
Glenn: "The pool of candidates was significant, including NFL coaches, D1 level coaches, coordinators and we feted each of the candidates in great detail along with Bob Beaudine from Eastman-Beaudine. We started conducting interviews and selected the candidate that stood out the most to the committee. He was our number one choice coming out of those interviews and we got our guy."
On sentiment that this was a predetermined hire
Glenn: "When Archie and I first got together we laid out a process that we wanted to follow and that included hiring Eastman-Beaudine. The choice in Eastman-Beaudine was to identify candidates that they felt would be a good fit for Ole Miss. We wanted coaches that had an interest in Ole Miss and present a large deep and pool to us for consideration. Once that was done we began feting the candidates, narrowed the list of candidates and Archie and I went in to that with an open mind about who would be the best candidate for Ole Miss and coming out of those interviews it was a clear that the best for Ole Miss was Hugh Freeze."
Manning: "I can assure you that if this was a predetermined hire I don't think Mike and I would have been consumed for the last few weeks like we have been. I don't know how much FedEx business he got done, but if it was predetermined I'd probably gone to my grandchildren's baptisms and done a lot of other business that didn't get done. So there was nothing predetermined."
On when was the decision made to hire Coach Freeze
Glenn: "The decision to offer Coach Freeze the job was made last evening. That was after an extensive interview process obviously we wanted to make sure the chancellor was comfortable with the recommendation that we were presenting to him. The chancellor spent several hours with Coach Freeze as did the rest of the committee. Once we completed all of those interviews and got appropriate feedback the decision was made to offer Coach Freeze the job."
On what made the committee hire Coach Freeze
Glenn: "I think the thing that impressed Archie and I about Coach Freeze was the energy, passion, level of excitement that he approached the interview process. He came in with a very detailed plan. The plan was entitled "Ole Miss the Journey: SEC Championships" that plan included a lot of detail regarding offensive philosophy, defensive philosophy, recruiting philosophy, strength and conditioning, nutrition, just how he handles disciplinary issues, things of that nature. Of course his ability to assemble staff, his approach to recruiting, his understanding of Ole Miss, what it takes to win here is that with passion and enthusiasm for this job and I think all of those things clearly set him apart from our prospective. I'll have to let Archie talk about the football components of that, but I can assure you that we were both impressed with his ability from a leadership perspective and were confident that he will be successful at Ole Miss."
Manning: "I can't add a lot to that, Mike expressed it very well. I will just reiterate his knowledge and love of Ole Miss, his desire to be the coach at Ole Miss, and his leadership integrity. Certainly we talked a lot about staff, a lot about recruiting and Mike hit on all aspects of discipline which is important as many aspects of that now. So, getting into the x's and o's where Hugh is very good and where he is not. He hadn't had years and years of head coach experience, but he's been very successful and has great respect from assistant coaches that work for him even those that coached against him all those things were factored. We pressed that fact last year that Arkansas State had a great year, led their conference in offense and defense, and a lot of people that felt like he's just a rising star in the head coaching fraternity."
On primary qualifications they were seeking
Manning: "I think we mentioned we started with integrity and leadership. The last question I mentioned we went into detail about staff right on down to the last aspect of the staff talked a lot recruiting, talk a lot about recruiting in the state of Mississippi where you begin. Mike mentioned a minute ago, not just discipline, but we talked about weight room, nutrition, off season work, spring practice, just the formula that it will take to win and win right."
On concern for lack of head coaching experience
Manning: "He made a great impression on us so I don't think it was a concern. We just had people tell us two more years of him coaching where he is now what a hot commodity people fell like he would be in this profession. Like I said, he was someone just coming up doing it the right way and doing it with success so we think we're kind of jumping the gun right here and getting an outstanding coach."
Mike: "I think the thing that impressed us is the fact that he's won on every level, and he's won quickly at every level. If you look at his teams, they're built on character, discipline, and sound fundamental football. He's got a formula for success and he's implemented that formula wherever he's been. You don't have to do anything more than look back at the accomplishments at Arkansas State. Where they took a team that was very good offensively, but not very good defensively. That team went 4-8. Then you turn around and go 10-2. That's with a guy who's considered an offensive guru at the helm. He knows how to get it done."
On importance of getting someone who was connected to Ole Miss
Glenn: "I think it was certainly desirable to get someone that was familiar with Ole Miss and that understood Ole Miss. Someone that understood what it takes to recruit Mississippi successfully. Ole Miss is a special place. We certainly didn't rule anybody out because they didn't have connections to Ole Miss, but at the same time we were thrilled that many of the candidates we talked to either had a connection to Ole Miss or certainly had a good understanding of Ole Miss, which is not surprising since we compete in the Southeastern Conference. It was not a criteria, but it was certainly desirable. We feel very good that Hugh brings that to the table, and we are excited to see him lead the team going forward."
On what Freeze said to committee
Glenn: "Once again we talk about the passion, energy, and commitment that he brought to the interview, but more importantly was the plan for success. He had a very detailed approach. He understood a tremendous amount about the program and the state of the program. He gave a fairly thorough review of the existing players on the team. He had a very detailed understanding of what recruiting needs might be. His knowledge of both sides of the ball was impressive. His commitment to having a team that plays four quarters with passion, commitment, and discipline was impressive as well. I don't think there was one aspect of the interview that he wasn't extremely prepared for. We talked to a lot of good candidates. Many of whom could have been successful at Ole Miss. His level of preparation, energy, commitment, and passion for the job really stood out."
Manning: "This has really been quite the experience for me. We were looking for something very complete that would hopefully be a good hire. That's what we were looking for. We feel like Coach Freeze is going to be a good hire and a good football coach at Ole Miss."
Here are the questions we sent in. Manning and Glenn said identifying individual candidates was against their privacy agreement so some of our questions weren't relevant.
Did you speak to Mike Leach and/or Rich Rodriguez about the Ole Miss job? If not, why not?
Did you contact Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart to gauge his interest in the Ole Miss job? If not, why not?
How many coaches did you meet with in a face-to-face setting?
There is a strong sentiment among the Ole Miss fan base that this was a predetermined hire. How do you address that sentiment? Does that bother you?
Houston Nutt is owed $6 million over five years. Did that limit your options when evaluating candidates?
Here is the transcript from the teleconference:
On how many candidates were formally interviewed and who conducted the interviews
Manning: "Obviously we considered several candidates of course all of this is new to me and there are several candidates that don't want it known they were interviewed. I understand that from their standpoint and that's the difficult part. Mike and I did most of the interviews and reported to the rest of the committee. I don't have a number."
Glenn: "We had Bob Beaudine join us during the interviews the three of us together did most of the interviewing."
On criticism that Ole Miss did not hire someone with SEC couching experience or maybe this was a convenient hire
Manning: "I think anything to do with college football you can expect criticism. I'll be honest with you, BCS didn't enter my mind very much. We were looking for a good football coach, a good fit for Ole Miss I don't understand at all about a convenient hire I think, I know Mike can speak for himself, we spent a lot of time together we went into this thing wide open we considered people from coast to coast."
Glenn: "The pool of candidates was significant, including NFL coaches, D1 level coaches, coordinators and we feted each of the candidates in great detail along with Bob Beaudine from Eastman-Beaudine. We started conducting interviews and selected the candidate that stood out the most to the committee. He was our number one choice coming out of those interviews and we got our guy."
On sentiment that this was a predetermined hire
Glenn: "When Archie and I first got together we laid out a process that we wanted to follow and that included hiring Eastman-Beaudine. The choice in Eastman-Beaudine was to identify candidates that they felt would be a good fit for Ole Miss. We wanted coaches that had an interest in Ole Miss and present a large deep and pool to us for consideration. Once that was done we began feting the candidates, narrowed the list of candidates and Archie and I went in to that with an open mind about who would be the best candidate for Ole Miss and coming out of those interviews it was a clear that the best for Ole Miss was Hugh Freeze."
Manning: "I can assure you that if this was a predetermined hire I don't think Mike and I would have been consumed for the last few weeks like we have been. I don't know how much FedEx business he got done, but if it was predetermined I'd probably gone to my grandchildren's baptisms and done a lot of other business that didn't get done. So there was nothing predetermined."
On when was the decision made to hire Coach Freeze
Glenn: "The decision to offer Coach Freeze the job was made last evening. That was after an extensive interview process obviously we wanted to make sure the chancellor was comfortable with the recommendation that we were presenting to him. The chancellor spent several hours with Coach Freeze as did the rest of the committee. Once we completed all of those interviews and got appropriate feedback the decision was made to offer Coach Freeze the job."
On what made the committee hire Coach Freeze
Glenn: "I think the thing that impressed Archie and I about Coach Freeze was the energy, passion, level of excitement that he approached the interview process. He came in with a very detailed plan. The plan was entitled "Ole Miss the Journey: SEC Championships" that plan included a lot of detail regarding offensive philosophy, defensive philosophy, recruiting philosophy, strength and conditioning, nutrition, just how he handles disciplinary issues, things of that nature. Of course his ability to assemble staff, his approach to recruiting, his understanding of Ole Miss, what it takes to win here is that with passion and enthusiasm for this job and I think all of those things clearly set him apart from our prospective. I'll have to let Archie talk about the football components of that, but I can assure you that we were both impressed with his ability from a leadership perspective and were confident that he will be successful at Ole Miss."
Manning: "I can't add a lot to that, Mike expressed it very well. I will just reiterate his knowledge and love of Ole Miss, his desire to be the coach at Ole Miss, and his leadership integrity. Certainly we talked a lot about staff, a lot about recruiting and Mike hit on all aspects of discipline which is important as many aspects of that now. So, getting into the x's and o's where Hugh is very good and where he is not. He hadn't had years and years of head coach experience, but he's been very successful and has great respect from assistant coaches that work for him even those that coached against him all those things were factored. We pressed that fact last year that Arkansas State had a great year, led their conference in offense and defense, and a lot of people that felt like he's just a rising star in the head coaching fraternity."
On primary qualifications they were seeking
Manning: "I think we mentioned we started with integrity and leadership. The last question I mentioned we went into detail about staff right on down to the last aspect of the staff talked a lot recruiting, talk a lot about recruiting in the state of Mississippi where you begin. Mike mentioned a minute ago, not just discipline, but we talked about weight room, nutrition, off season work, spring practice, just the formula that it will take to win and win right."
On concern for lack of head coaching experience
Manning: "He made a great impression on us so I don't think it was a concern. We just had people tell us two more years of him coaching where he is now what a hot commodity people fell like he would be in this profession. Like I said, he was someone just coming up doing it the right way and doing it with success so we think we're kind of jumping the gun right here and getting an outstanding coach."
Mike: "I think the thing that impressed us is the fact that he's won on every level, and he's won quickly at every level. If you look at his teams, they're built on character, discipline, and sound fundamental football. He's got a formula for success and he's implemented that formula wherever he's been. You don't have to do anything more than look back at the accomplishments at Arkansas State. Where they took a team that was very good offensively, but not very good defensively. That team went 4-8. Then you turn around and go 10-2. That's with a guy who's considered an offensive guru at the helm. He knows how to get it done."
On importance of getting someone who was connected to Ole Miss
Glenn: "I think it was certainly desirable to get someone that was familiar with Ole Miss and that understood Ole Miss. Someone that understood what it takes to recruit Mississippi successfully. Ole Miss is a special place. We certainly didn't rule anybody out because they didn't have connections to Ole Miss, but at the same time we were thrilled that many of the candidates we talked to either had a connection to Ole Miss or certainly had a good understanding of Ole Miss, which is not surprising since we compete in the Southeastern Conference. It was not a criteria, but it was certainly desirable. We feel very good that Hugh brings that to the table, and we are excited to see him lead the team going forward."
On what Freeze said to committee
Glenn: "Once again we talk about the passion, energy, and commitment that he brought to the interview, but more importantly was the plan for success. He had a very detailed approach. He understood a tremendous amount about the program and the state of the program. He gave a fairly thorough review of the existing players on the team. He had a very detailed understanding of what recruiting needs might be. His knowledge of both sides of the ball was impressive. His commitment to having a team that plays four quarters with passion, commitment, and discipline was impressive as well. I don't think there was one aspect of the interview that he wasn't extremely prepared for. We talked to a lot of good candidates. Many of whom could have been successful at Ole Miss. His level of preparation, energy, commitment, and passion for the job really stood out."
Manning: "This has really been quite the experience for me. We were looking for something very complete that would hopefully be a good hire. That's what we were looking for. We feel like Coach Freeze is going to be a good hire and a good football coach at Ole Miss."