Mississippi coach Hugh Freeze resigns

University of Mississippi head football coach Hugh Freeze abruptly resigned, effective immediately, with Rebels assistant coach Matt Luke taking over as the interim head coach, according to a tweet from the program Thursday night.

The news comes after Yahoo Sports' Pat Forde tweeted that, "explosive new information has put Ole Miss football coach Hugh Freeze's job in immediate jeopardy. A decision should come soon," roughly 30 minutes before the university announced Freeze's resignation.

Forde followed up his tweet with a report that the school found at least one call from Freeze to an escort service on his school-issued cell phone.

"I've got no idea, to be honest," Freeze told Yahoo Sports of the call early last year. "I was in an 813 area code and that was a 313 number, I think that might have been a misdial. I don't think there was even a conversation. There's nothing to it."

Mississippi was already under a self-imposed one-year bowl ban for the 2017 season after being notified of eight new alleged NCAA rules violations in addition to 13 pre-existing allegations.

Among the NCAA charges was a lack of institutional control and a charge against Freeze for failing to monitor his staff.

In January 2016, the university received a notice of allegations involving football, women's basketball and track and field from an investigation that began in 2012. Thirteen of the allegations were connected to football.

Former University of Mississippi head coach Houston Nutt filed a federal lawsuit against Ole Miss last week, claiming Freeze and athletic director Ross Bjork violated the university's 2011 severance agreement.

Nutt's lawsuit alleges that Freeze and Bjork promoted a false storyline that suggested that most of the ongoing case of NCAA infractions involved violations that occurred under Nutt.

Freeze had a 39-25 record in five seasons at Mississippi, and that includes a 5-7 record in 2016.