Auburn Tigers football coach Hugh Freeze was a controversial hire that sparked a wild media reaction that sometimes bordered on slander. It's not a stretch to say that Freeze was straight-up maligned by the local media that covered his exploits while with the Ole Miss Rebels over the state line to the west.
If AU was willing to walk through the fire with that, why would they have a problem with Bruce Pearl, who simply spouts political opinions?
Sports Illustrated's Kevin Sweeney debunked ESPN's Michael Wilbon's silly theory that AD John Cohen and the rest of the Auburn athletic department forced Pearl out.