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Did Ross Bjork Lie to Save National Signing Day for Ole Miss?

By Josh Barnhill

Dec 22, 2015; Oxford, MS, USA; Mississippi Rebels head football coach Hugh Freeze talks with Mississippi athletic director Ross Bjork during a mens basketball game between the Rebels and the Troy Trojans at the Tad Smith Coliseum. Mississippi defeated Troy 83-80. Mandatory Credit: Spruce Derden-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 22, 2015; Oxford, MS, USA; Mississippi Rebels head football coach Hugh Freeze talks with Mississippi athletic director Ross Bjork during a mens basketball game between the Rebels and the Troy Trojans at the Tad Smith Coliseum. Mississippi defeated Troy 83-80. Mandatory Credit: Spruce Derden-USA TODAY Sports /
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New information has emerged from the NCAA investigation into Ole Miss’ athletic department that suggests Ross Bjork lied to the public about the allegations, perhaps in an effort to salvage a big National Signing Day for the Rebels.

On January 29th, just five days prior to National Signing Day, Pat Forde of Yahoo! Sports reported that Ole Miss had been charged with “roughly” 30 violations. After Ole Miss athletic director Ross Bjork initially had no comment, he released a statement on January 30th. Here is an excerpt:

"Included in the notice are alleged violations of NCAA bylaws in women’s basketball in 2012; track and field in 2012-13; and in football, with many of the allegations dating back to the former football staff in 2010 and the withholding and reinstatement process around Laremy Tunsil in fall of 2015."

Most Ole Miss fans carried the narrative that only about five of the 30 allegations were related to football, and some said as few as 10%. In addition, most were speculated to be from the Houston Nutt era (2008-11) and only secondary violations.

According to Bjork’s statement, “many” of the allegations date back to the Nutt era in 2010. And then he included Laremy Tunsil, who it is assumed paid for his wrong-doing in the summer of 2015 by missing the first seven games of that season. The comment did not get into specifics, because as he later went on to say was in “fairness to the individuals involved and the integrity of the NCAA process”; but the comments were undoubtedly about damage control. After all, signing day was just mere days away, and the Rebs big time recruiting weekend was happening.

Why else did Bjork decide he needed to release a 215-word statement about the allegations after saying the university would not comment on them the day before?

Ole Miss went on to sign a recruiting class ranked #6 in the country by 247 Sports on February 3rd.

Fast forward to February 9th. The AP releases new information that Ole Miss football was cited in 13 of the 28 allegations levied by the NCAA. What’s more, nine of the 13 occurred during the Hugh Freeze era (2012-present). Furthermore, the allegations include some Level 1 violations; here are some examples of Level 1 violations:

  • lack of institutional control
  • significant failure to monitor violations
  • academic fraud
  • compromising an investigation or lying to investigators
  • “buying players” or “big money” violations
  • blatant disregard for rules
  • significant extra benefits provided to enrolled student-athletes

Steve Robertson of Genespage.com has been on top of the story since day one. He sent a freedom of information request to Ole Miss some time ago, which was due by Friday, February 5th. He and OM mutually agreed on an extension to procure those documents until today, February 10th.

Related Story: Top 10 Reasons Mississippi State Loves Ole Miss

Ironically, or perhaps intentionally, the AP story detailing more information related to the NCAA investigation was released on the night of February 9th. Perhaps to keep a Mississippi State writer from being the one to report it? Nevertheless, Steve may be able to shed more light on the situation later today or tomorrow.

Did Ross Bjork lie? Did he stretch the truth or frame a narrative to put Ole Miss in a better light? You can be the judge of that, but we do know that Ole Miss is fortunate this latest story came out after signing day and not before it.

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