Freeze returns to the SEC with Auburn hire
Auburn is hiring Liberty coach Hugh Freeze to take over the football program, more than five years after his resignation from SEC West rival Mississippi amid both personal and NCAA scandals.
He replaces Bryan Harsin, who was fired Oct. 31 after going 9-12 in less than two seasons. Freeze is 68-44 in 11 seasons as a head coach at Arkansas State, Mississippi and Liberty, but he comes with baggage that required extensive vetting by Auburn.
He led the Rebels to a 39-25 record and four bowl games and even beat Auburn’s big rival, Alabama, in back-to-back seasons. But he resigned in the summer of 2017 after school officials uncovered a “pattern of personal misconduct” starting with a call to a number used by an escort service from a university-issued cellphone.
That was after the NCAA had started an extensive investigation into rules violations committed by the football program under Freeze.
The NCAA found 21 violations of academic, booster and recruiting misconduct, most of which happened under Freeze’s watch. The rule-breaking landed Ole
Miss on probation, including a two-year postseason ban and recruiting restrictions.
The NCAA’s ruling said Freeze promoted an atmosphere of rules compliance but failed to monitor his staff. Freeze received what would have been a light penalty: a suspension for two conference games if he had coached in 2018.
Instead, the personal misconduct matter was uncovered and he was forced to resign in July 2017.
He was out of college coaching for two years before landing in 2019 at Liberty, where he has gone 34-15 in four seasons, including 8-4 this year.
Huskers pay premium for promise of Rhule
LINCOLN, NEB. » Matt Rhule said he had plenty of options after he got fired by the Carolina Panthers.
He could have taken a year off from football or worked in television. Or he could jump back into college coaching. A number of schools reached out, he said, but only one appealed to him and his family.
Nebraska introduced Rhule as its coach, exactly seven weeks after the Panthers fired him five games into his third season. Awaiting him is the daunting task of taking over a team coming off a sixth straight losing season and a program that’s a shell of what once was one of the biggest brands in the college game.
“I am here because this is the right fit, it’s the right time,” Rhule said. “And if I have one message for you: We can absolutely do it. We can absolutely get University of Nebraska football exactly where it’s supposed to be. It will be hard. It may take time, but it will be done.”
Rhule signed an eight-year, $74 million contract that makes him the third highest-paid coach in the Big Ten. Athletic director Trev Alberts said the contract is 90 percent guaranteed and that some of the compensation is deferred. hen the Panthers fired Rhule, he was still owed $34 million on his seven-year contract.
Rhule, who was 11-27 in twoplus seasons with the Panthers, was hired because of the success he had in his two college head coaching jobs. At Temple, he won the American Athletic Conference championship in his fourth seasons in 2016. He had Baylor playing for the Big 12 championship in his third season (2019) after taking over a program emerging from the sexual assault scandal under Art Briles.
Fickell up for Wisconsin task
MADISON, WIS. » Wisconsin coach Luke Fickell spent much of his first day on the job speaking to his new players, knowing many had hoped this search would have a different outcome.
His message to them was sympathetic but direct.
“Change is inevitable,” Fickell said during a welcome event. “The growth is what’s optional. I’m willing to grow.”
Fickell posted a 57-18 record in six seasons at Cincinnati and helped the Bearcats earn a College Football Playoff berth last year. He has Big Ten experience as a former Ohio State defensive lineman and interim head coach.
Yet his immediate challenge will be winning over a roster of many players who wanted the job to go to Jim Leonhard, the former Wisconsin defensive coordinator who went 4-3 as interim head coach after the Oct. 2 firing of Paul Chryst.
“We’ll all be growing together through this change,” Fickell said. “It’s never easy. It’s never easy, but the things that are easy aren’t what last. The things that are easy aren’t going to get us to where we want to go, to get us back to where we deserve and believe we need to be.”
Fickell takes over a program that hasn’t won a Big Ten title since 2012 and must win its bowl game to avoid its first losing season since 2001.
Stanford at crossroads as Shaw steps down
STANFORD, CALIF. » David Shaw helped build Stanford into a physical powerhouse that was one of the top programs in the last decade.
Shaw now believes a new coach will be best positioned to return the Cardinal to that level, leading to his decision to step down after a 16-year run, including the last 12 as the head coach who won the most games in school history.
“It’s time. It’s time for me to step away. Time for Stanford to find that next person to lead,” Shaw said two days after announcing his decision following a seasonending loss to BYU. “I hope the next person beats (our accomplishments). I really do. “
The Cardinal are 14-28 over the last four seasons.