AUBURN | When Hugh Freeze walked out of the Manning Center at Ole Miss for the final time in July of 2017, he had to wonder if he’d ever have another opportunity at a top Power 5 job.
The Rebels were under a wide-ranging NCAA investigation and a lawsuit had revealed a series of calls to an escort service in Tampa, Fla., from Freeze’s University-issued phone.
But five years later, Freeze is getting that second chance at Auburn and he couldn’t be more grateful.
"It's humbling,” said Freeze at his introductory press conference. “I don't believe in deserving something. I believe in earning something, and I do believe we've fought to earn this. It's been rocky at times. But you can become overcome with emotion because of truthfully I feel like — and this is no offense to another school or anything — but I feel like I've leap-frogged where I was at that time by being in this family and this culture here. I loved my time there but I see this as one of the Top 10 football programs in the nation, and I believe that.
“I don't want to get emotional. We had that cry last night. We've celebrated that. I don't know if rewriting the story is exactly the right word. But it's going to make for a good ending. I couldn't win any more in life than look over there and look at my friends and my family. I can't win any bigger than that. I'm the most competitive dude I know. I want to win in football games, but I'm already a winner in life, and that matters a lot more.”
Freeze spent the last four seasons as the head coach at Liberty. He led the Flames to four consecutive bowl games, including three wins, and also beat Arkansas in Fayetteville earlier this season.
He believes much of what he accomplished at Ole Miss and Liberty can be recreated at Auburn, but on a bigger scale, with better facilities, bigger budgets and higher aspirations.
“The culture is going to be the same that we’ve created. I know that it works and it wins,” said Freeze. “I had a great five years at Ole Miss. They were great to me. My story is well documented. I let a lot of people down and I’m very sorry for that at the end. I have spent the last six years trying to earn the respect and trust of my family, teams, administrations, everyone that was around me. That’s the lesson that I have probably learned is just keep working to earn people’s trust and when they get to know you, a lot of that comes when they get to know you if they give you that chance to earn that trust. I’m thankful for Liberty, obviously, for letting me earn that. I think they would say ‘the guy served us well.’ I want to do the same at Auburn."
While Freeze hasn’t ever coached at Auburn, he certainly has a lot of connections to the school. His daughter attended AU and currently lives here with her husband.
Freeze is close friends with former Auburn coach Gus Malzahn, with the two even joking over Twitter about Malzahn loaning Freeze some of his old Auburn sweater vests.
“So why Auburn,” asked Freeze. “It's Pat Dye Field. It's Jordan-Hare Stadium. It's the Tiger Walk. It's the eagle flight. It's rolling Toomer's Corner. It's the Kick Six. It's Bo Over The Top. It's tremendous sense of community, passion that people have for Auburn. It's the Auburn Creed: I believe in work, hard work, which it will take. I believe in the spirit that is not afraid. I don't fear much in life, and I don't think our team will, either.
“I believe in the people -- it's the Auburn family. These people are special, and there's no other place I want to be. I believe in Auburn and love it. War Eagle.”
