Reports: Auburn set to make Freeze next coach
AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn is hiring Hugh Freeze to be its next football coach, according to multiple reports.
Ross Dellenger of Sports Illustrated was the first to report the news. Freeze, who is leaving Liberty, led the Flames to a 34-15 record in four seasons with the program. He replaces Bryan Harsin, who was fired Oct. 31 after he compiled a 9-12 record through a little less than two seasons with the Tigers. Freeze is the first hire for athletic director John Cohen, who was officially announced as the new AD the same day Harsin was dismissed.
A Southern Miss graduate, Freeze got his start in the coaching world with Briarcrest Christian School, a high school in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was the team’s offensive coordinator and later the head coach.
Freeze’s stay in the high school ranks didn’t last long, however, as he went on to coach at Lambuth, an NAIA team, and Arkansas State a couple of years later.
He broke onto the national scene when he was hired by Ole Miss in 2012 to coach the the Rebels, replacing Houston Nutt, who was relieved of his duties after the 2011 season. Freeze went on to coach at Ole Miss for five seasons, leading the Rebels to a 39-25 record and a 10-3 mark in 2015, which included a Sugar Bowl victory over Oklahoma State.
Multiple wins were vacated, though, after Freeze was forced to resign in relation to a scandal involving recruiting violations and contacting numbers associated with escort services using a phone provided by the university.
After leaving Oxford, Freeze took a brief hiatus before joining Liberty in 2019. Freeze has taken the Flames to three straight bowl games and has won at least eight games in each of the four seasons he’s coached.
Arguably the biggest feather in his cap is the recruitment of former Auburn quarterback Malik Willis from the transfer portal. Willis transferred to Liberty in 2019 and helped the Flames go 17-6 in games he started. He threw for over 5,000 yards under the tutelage of Freeze and rushed for another 1,822 before getting drafted by the Tennessee Titans with the 86th overall pick in the 2022 NFL draft.
Cohen, who began Auburn’s coaching search immediately upon taking the job, was AD at Mississippi State when Freeze’s scandal at Ole Miss broke.
Auburn announced a “change in football leadership” on Halloween and embarked on a national search to find its 27th coach in program history. Although Cohen was brought in almost simultaneously, it was President Christopher Roberts who was credited with making the decision to move on from Harsin.
Harsin’s time at Auburn was, at best, a disappointment, and, at worst, a disaster. He came to the Plains after spending seven years at Boise State, leading the Broncos to a 69-19 overall record and a 3-2 mark in bowl games.