Studs and Duds: A Big Week for D-Bag QBs

By Jeremy Conlin and Joe Parello

Studs and Duds is a weekly feature on Suite Sports. Who had a good week? Who had a bad week?

Studs:

Hugh Freeze

On Signing Day 2007, Freeze was an assistant on then-Ole Miss coach Ed Orgeron's staff when the Rebel coaches received the bad news that the nation's top prospect, Joe McKnight, was committing to USC instead of Ole Miss.

At the time, it was considered a minor miracle that McKnight was even considering the hapless Rebels, and Orgeron was considered to be the nation's best salesmen in the recruiting game.

Well, the student became the master on Signing Day 2013, as Freeze did was his mentor could not: close the deal on the best high school football player in the country. When Robert Nkemdiche committed to the Rebels, it not only gave some much needed punch to their pass rush, it legitimized Oxford as a Blue Chip destination once again.

The fact that Ole Miss would also add five star Florida offensive lineman Laremy Tunsil on Signing Day and already had five star receiver Laquon Treadwell "in the boat," led to the Rebels earning a consensus top-10 recruiting ranking.

It also led to speculation that they had to be cheating. Heck, even I labeled them as "The Program that Has No Business Recruiting this Well." It's also amusing, because back in late 2006, Orgeron joked that if McKnight committed to the Rebels, they would be investigated by the NCAA.

But Freeze, who prior to Wednesday was best known for being Michael Oher's high school coach in The Blind Side, claims this class is full of natural "ins" with recruits and kids really recruiting for the program. We'll see how it works out when they get on campus, but on the recruiting trail, Freeze is the top stud in the country.

-JP