Deforest cleared of any wrongdoing, violations while at WVU

By John TaylorOct 23, 2013, 11:51 AM EDT

It’s been a little over a month since a Sports Illustrated expose’, well, “exposed” various levels of alleged corruption in the Oklahoma State football program dating back to the early part of last decade.

While nothing has come of the allegations levied in the series — nor is anything expected to come out of it in the future — there is a bit of housecleaning in relation to that piece that has surfaced today.

Following an internal investigation, West Virginia announced in a statement that the school “has not found any infractions of NCAA rules or other misconduct” committed by Joe DeForest during his two years with the Mountaineers.

Former Cowboy players had claimed that DeForest ran a bonus program, which paid players for certain plays, as late as 2011, the coach’s final season in Stillwater. Additionally, it was alleged that DeForest gave some players various amounts of “walking-around money,” including one player who claimed the coach gave him a debit card with $5,000 on it and which was periodically refilled.

DeForest, who carries the titles of associate head coach and special teams coordinator in Morgantown, vehemently denied the allegations when they were first levied against him.

“WVU is unable to comment on the veracity of the media allegations levied against the assistant coach while employed at another institution, and defers to that institution, as well as appropriate NCAA infractions personnel, to complete a review and assessment of those allegations,” WVU’s statement read.

(Photo credit: West Virginia athletics)

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Report: Call to escort service coincided with a Hugh Freeze recruiting trip

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By John TaylorAug 16, 2017, 12:10 PM EDT

Not surprisingly, more details are surfacing in Hugh Freeze‘s unceremonious exit from Oxford.

Freeze resigned as the head football coach at Ole Miss last month in part because of Jan. 19 phone call to an escort service that was initially deemed to be a misdial. According to the Wall Street Journal, that call came a few hours after a university plane landed in Tampa, Fla., as part of a five-day, 13-stop recruiting trip. On that plane was Freeze as well as other members of the Rebels football staff.

The discovery of the link between the call and recruiting trip came after a review of phone records and other documents.

After Freeze’s “resignation,” Ole Miss athletic director Ross Bjork described an unspecified pattern of personal misconduct that led to the coach’s departure. Bjork somewhat expounded on that pattern to the Journal.

Although school officials had previously declined to characterize the alleged misconduct, Ole Miss athletic director Ross Bjork said in response to questions from the Journal about Freeze’s travel that the university’s investigation uncovered “calls of a similar nature” over the course of several years, often matching up with travel logs showing the coach’s use of the school plane. The school said it examined his travel logs from peak recruiting times—often November, December and January—when Freeze would travel out of state, using the school plane and other public resources.

“When we say pattern, we are describing other phone numbers that when you Google them pull up similar type websites, services, however you would describe them,” Bjork said. “We took action swiftly.

Speculation of late has there being more, potentially much more, to Freeze’s forced resignation. Only time will tell how much more will ultimately come out — especially if another former Ole Miss head coach’s lawsuit, kicked out of federal court for lack of jurisdiction, is revived in the state of Mississippi as expected.

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Next Chance U: Dismissed Oklahoma QB Chris Robison will join Auburn transfer John Franklin III at FAU

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By John TaylorAug 16, 2017, 8:58 AM EDT

In a span of just a few hours, Lane Kiffin Tuesday bolstered his first Florida Atlantic roster with a pair of Power Five transfers.

In the middle of the afternoon Tuesday, Auburn confirmed that John Franklin III had decided to transfer from the Tigers in order to be closer to his Fort Lauderdale, Fla., home. Not long after, the quarterback-turned-wide receiver revealed on his Instagram account that he is “coming home and looking forward to playing my last collegiate season at FAU under Coach Lane Kiffin.”

Franklin would come to the Owls as a graduate transfer, giving him immediate eligibility.

Thank you Tiger Nation #WDE

A post shared by John Franklin III (@jf3_5) on Aug 15, 2017 at 12:45pm PDT

Not even four hours later, Chris Robison took to social media on his private Twitter account to announce that he too will be transferring into Kiffin’s FAU program. The quarterback was dismissed by Oklahoma earlier this month for violating unspecified team rules.

Former #Sooners QB Chris Robison announces via Twitter he will join the Florida Atlantic football program. pic.twitter.com/RIgrmKgkyL

— Eddie Radosevich (@Eddie_Rado) August 15, 2017

A four-star member of the Sooners’ 2017 recruiting class, Robison was rated as the No. 7 pro-style quarterback in the country; the No. 29 player at any position in the state of Texas; and the No. 173 recruit on 247Sports.com‘s composite board. As an early enrollee, Robison took part in spring practice and played in the spring game, completing 3-of-5 passes for 49 yards.

Roughly 12 hours after that game, he was arrested for being drunk in public. Because of only what were described as “personal reasons,” Robison wasn’t enrolled in summer classes and didn’t take part in football workouts during the same period.