Briarcrest Revisited

[horshack.sixpack]

I'm on board with Hugh behaving in pretty terrible ways at Ole Miss and I've seen all the smoke from his Briarcrest days. One thing that I can't figure out is that if any of those things really did occur while he was there, who was motivated to protect him and why? I don't think that Hugh had anything special about him at the time that would warrant protection once people initially found out. I mean he was just a sports coach at a pretty low level. The idea that it was covered up for him just seems odd to me. I think that there either was a culture of wrongdoing that resulted in Hugh being protected because it protected others or nothing really happened and it is the stuff of rumors. I'd love for someone with actual direct knowledge to provide the rationale for cover up based on Hughs lowly position at the time. Seems like it would have just been a fire the coach, call the authorities thing to me like we've unfortunately seen at many high schools...

 

[patdog]

I have no actual knowledge of Briarcrest, but that sort of thing has been covered up at high schools all over the country for a long time. It makes the news when it does get reported to the authorities, but those cases are the minority.

 

[615dawg]

Winning games, no matter the level, covers up a lot of sins.

Remember the football coach at Smithville? That's a 1A school in the middle of nowhere. He won games and had the stadium named after him. FBI arrested him after a football game on a Friday night with a 12 year old boy. After he was arrested, the community was "We heard rumors, but we didn't believe them."

This is at a 1A public school in Mississippi.

 

[BiscuitEater]

I have zero knowledge of anything that happened at Briarcrest but I have seen many schools, large and small, cover-up 'misdeeds' just to protect the image of the school.

They hide the transgression and go into a 'self-preservation' mode thinking it will hurt the school's reputation if the word get's out.

In reality, the cover-up just makes it worse when the truth comes out. ie, Penn State, Baylor, Ole Miss

 

[horshack.sixpack]

Perhaps my naivety is explanation enough. I don't particularly want to believe that people value "success" in anything over protecting children (or anyone for that matter), but I realize that there's a lot of evil in the world. Logic, reason and decency don't always(often?) rule the day.

 

[drt7891]

In small communities/towns, etc... if you are in the right circles, there will be a lot of people there to protect you, no matter what. Most of the time, it's not aggressive protection, so much as it is dismissal of the notion that person did anything wrong. If you are an outsider, however, you are exposed to whatever sins you commit, whether they are true or perceived.... in other words, people will look for a reason to run you off. Christian communities in the south (including churches, small towns, and Christian schools) are especially tribal in that regard...

Probably the same dynamic that protected him at OM protected him at briarcrest.

 

[kired]

Also remember he was there during the 90s to early 2000s. This kind of stuff was often ignored until the last 15 years when it started making so many headlines. A lot of times it was assumed kids were lying or just wanted attention, and that people in leadership positions couldn't possibly do the things they were accused of... until Chris Hansen and NBC showed up.

 

[seshomoru]

It's a school that gets people to pay upwards of $15k a year per kid based on the image of not being a heathen public school were all the bad stuff happens. It wasn't Hugh they were protecting.

 

[ShrubDog]

A girl in my HS class 'dated' an assistant football coach. His dad was the principle. He would show up at our parties and act like it was no big deal. There is no way this would be acceptable today.

 

[thatsbaseball]

I've been wondering the same thing. When one of my daughters was at State she met and still has close friendships with a number of young women who were at Briarcrest when Freeze was there also. None of them could stand him then or now. If you want to make a "Varsity Blues" analogy I think the rumors about Freeze fooling around are with Lance's type girlfriend and the ones who are talking now are Mox's type girlfriend. I just get he was a real sleazey guy fooling with some little hotties who were ready willing and able and they ain't talkin....yet.

 

[Dawgbite]

When i was in High School, early 80's, an assistant coach went through a family of 3 sisters. When one graduated he went to the next one until there were none. Everybody knew it but it wasn't a big deal back then.

 

[AssEndDawg]

It's a school that gets people to pay upwards of $15k a year per kid based on the image of not being a heathen public school were all the bad stuff happens. It wasn't Hugh they were protecting.

As someone who pays a ridiculous amount of money to be part of the Memphis Private School community I can back this up. But it's not only this, if you are in Mississippi then you have to realize that private school doesn't mean the same thing in Mississippi as it does here in Memphis.

Memphis private schools play sports at the equivalent of 6A in Mississippi. No "Academy League" for these guys, they play against all the big public schools in the area. Remember it was MUS (Memphis University School) who ended the South Panola's streak. (MUS is where my son goes to school and plays football, I have no direct knowledge of Freeze's tenure at Briarcrest) Because the schools play at such a high level, and since they don't have to follow the same admissions rules as public schools, there is INSANE competition for talent and they routinely "recruit" from the public schools offering free tuition for athletic ability. Oddly enough, everyone knows it happens and whispers about the "scholarship kid" but we never really talk about it openly. Briarcrest was formerly a Baptist school, they now consider themselves independent but definitely have a Baptist flair to them. No offense to Baptists out there but you guys seem a little more susceptible as a whole to the "slick preacher" type.

All this to say, if Freeze was recruiting well and winning then he would have ENORMOUS power at the school. It is far closer to SEC football than it is to Mississippi Academy ball.

 

[maroonmania]

I'm on board with Hugh behaving in pretty terrible ways at Ole Miss and I've seen all the smoke from his Briarcrest days. One thing that I can't figure out is that if any of those things really did occur while he was there, who was motivated to protect him and why? I don't think that Hugh had anything special about him at the time that would warrant protection once people initially found out. I mean he was just a sports coach at a pretty low level. The idea that it was covered up for him just seems odd to me. I think that there either was a culture of wrongdoing that resulted in Hugh being protected because it protected others or nothing really happened and it is the stuff of rumors. I'd love for someone with actual direct knowledge to provide the rationale for cover up based on Hughs lowly position at the time. Seems like it would have just been a fire the coach, call the authorities thing to me like we've unfortunately seen at many high schools...

Well rumors are rumors but nobody really has to deal with anything until some victim has the backbone to actually make a formal accusation and is willing to deal with any blowback they get from doing so. That's the only time it really has to be dealt with.

 

[Croom's knee socks]

He was in taco touhey's pocket. That's who I bet protected him.

 

[Croom's knee socks]

As someone who pays a ridiculous amount of money to be part of the Memphis Private School community I can back this up. But it's not only this, if you are in Mississippi then you have to realize that private school doesn't mean the same thing in Mississippi as it does here in Memphis.

Memphis private schools play sports at the equivalent of 6A in Mississippi. No "Academy League" for these guys, they play against all the big public schools in the area. Remember it was MUS (Memphis University School) who ended the South Panola's streak. (MUS is where my son goes to school and plays football, I have no direct knowledge of Freeze's tenure at Briarcrest) Because the schools play at such a high level, and since they don't have to follow the same admissions rules as public schools, there is INSANE competition for talent and they routinely "recruit" from the public schools offering free tuition for athletic ability. Oddly enough, everyone knows it happens and whispers about the "scholarship kid" but we never really talk about it openly. Briarcrest was formerly a Baptist school, they now consider themselves independent but definitely have a Baptist flair to them. No offense to Baptists out there but you guys seem a little more susceptible as a whole to the "slick preacher" type.

All this to say, if Freeze was recruiting well and winning then he would have ENORMOUS power at the school. It is far closer to SEC football than it is to Mississippi Academy ball.

As a baptist I can verify that we are second only to the Pentecostals in terms of that susceptibility.

 

[VillagepeopleDogs]

That's what 'dunkin' does for you.

 

[615dawg]

Glad you can admit it.

I'll tell you who I will never support any ministry they do again - Pinelake.

They put Hugh Freeze in the pulpit, knowing there were concerns about him.

 

[KeyserSoze1999]

I had 2 Coaches at my High School who were Ole Miss Alums and former Ole Miss Baseball & Football players...both had affairs with MULTIPLE female students.

The one who was a former Ole Miss Baseball player, coached our Girl's Softball Team...he had affairs with 3 of the players from the Softball team and 1 Cheerleader. The one who was a former Ole Miss Football player (WR), was an assistant Football Coach...he had affairs with 2 girls, 1 was a Cheerleader.

The Ole Miss Baseball player / Softball Coach got caught and was fired. The Ole Miss Football player / Assistant Football Coach got away with it but his Wife found out and divorced him.

So I already have a very low opinion of Ole Miss folks...and Hugh Freeze just reinforces this in my mind.

 

[sleepy dawg]

Glad you can admit it.

I'll tell you who I will never support any ministry they do again - Pinelake.

They put Hugh Freeze in the pulpit, knowing there were concerns about him.

I'm surprised Pinelake is still even considered a church over a for-profit business.

 

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

Winning games, no matter the level, covers up a lot of sins.

Remember the football coach at Smithville? That's a 1A school in the middle of nowhere. He won games and had the stadium named after him. FBI arrested him after a football game on a Friday night with a 12 year old boy. After he was arrested, the community was "We heard rumors, but we didn't believe them."

This is at a 1A public school in Mississippi.

I am from Smithville and this torn that town apart almost as much as the F5 that pretty much destroyed it later.

From what I understand, most of this happened long after I left, at least I had not heard anything even though I still had contact with many people there.

It was shocking to me and still has aftershocks going on today. Just proved to me once again that you really don't know people as well as you think you do.

 

[paindonthurt_]

This isn't an Ole Miss thing. It happens a lot.

It's wrong but a lot of times it's not just the older man at fault. There are plenty of 16 to 18 year old high school girls who know what they want and what they are doing.

Same in reverse for a female teacher and 16 to 18 year old males.

 

[Dawgg]

A quick look at Baylor should answer that question.

The head football coach, the AD, and the President are all gone because of what's been happening there. Even with all of those dismissals and even though it's only an hour's drive from my house, I would still never let either of my daughters go there and I know a lot of people that I've spoken with that feel the same way. It's a stain that will take years to wipe away. Same with Penn State.

Baylor and Penn State, however, have the history, the resources, and the alumni support to weather the storm. A private grade school in Memphis? Notsomuch.