A number of SEC football programs were showing interest in former Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze.

Per Talty and Zenitz, at least five SEC schools were interested in Freeze, and both LSU and Missouri considered him for their offensive coordinator roles.

Nick Saban tried to hire former Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze for the Alabama coaching staff earlier this offseason, but the addition never materialized.

According to the report, the SEC preferred Freeze "go off the radar" for a while before pursuing a coaching position within the conference.

Instead, Saban wound up promoting Mike Locksley to co-offensive coordinator and hired Penn State assistant coach Josh Gattis. Freeze was publicly linked to the Missouri offensive coordinator position before Barry Odom hired former Tennessee head coach Derek Dooley.

A year-old SEC bylaw also gives the commissioner some additional oversight into the university's hiring practices.

The NCAA hit Ole Miss with sanctions in December following a lengthy investigation into the school under Freeze's watch. As part of the NCAA's punishment of the Ole Miss program, Freeze must serve a two-game suspension if any school hires him as a head coach before November 30, 2018, but he doesn't have to serve any suspension if he's hired as an assistant.

But Sankey, according to Al.com, did not want Freeze to work a prominent job in the conference this season.

"We have seen especially in basketball that coaches who get their programs into NCAA hot water, if they are a good coach, they'll get another job fairly quick", Abrams said. Even if he did, he likely wouldn't have any legal recourse against the conference. "That program will get a very determined, motivated, better coach Freeze if given a second chance".

It appears that won't happen for Freeze in the SEC in 2018.