Ole Miss' Hugh Freeze supports move away from state flag

Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze took the opportunity Thursday at SEC Media days to show his support for the state of Mississippi to move away from the state flag.

The Mississippi state flag has the Confederate flag in the upper left corner.

From the Clarion-Ledger:

"In the late '90s our university made a move to go away from the Confederate flag and being a Mississippian I have a great appreciation for the Mississippi people and the pride we have in the heritage and all those things," Freeze said while meeting with Mississippi media. "Unfortunately that symbol has been hijacked by some groups that mean ill-will towards some people.

"While I'm not a political figure, I strongly believe it is time we move in a different direction and change the flag. Hopefully that'll happen."

The Confederate flag was recently taken down from the grounds of the South Carolina Capitol after the murders of nine black people at a Charleston church on June 17. Suspect Dylann Roof, who had written a racist manifesto, had taken pictures with the Confederate flag among other things.

Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen was asked about his opinion of the flag during his Media Days appearance on Tuesday. He didn't take a stance like Freeze.

"That's a lot for people in Jackson and for the people in Mississippi," Mullen said. "I know – I don't see it very often. We don't have it on our campus up. I do know we're the most diverse campus in the Southeastern Conference. I know the university embraces that diversity as a whole. I certainly embrace that diversity. We're so diverse, they have a Yankee as the head football coach in the Southeastern Conference. I think it's something that on a national level is getting an awful lot of attention right now, that people are really looking into how we can make things better in the state of Mississippi. And I hope as a university we're out on the forefront trying to help make things better with the type of school that we have and the diversity we have in our school."

South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier said Tuesday that he applauded South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley for starting the movement to take down the flag. Spurrier has long been an advocate against the presence of the flag.

NASCAR has also issued stances distancing itself from the Confederate flag and has requested that fans don't fly it while in attendance at NASCAR races.

Because it took down the flag, the NCAA will allow South Carolina to bid on NCAA championship events. Due to its flag, Mississippi still can't make any bids.

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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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