Auburn names Hugh Freeze as their head football coach.
AUBURN, Alabama: Athletics Director John Cohen announced on Monday that Hugh Freeze has been chosen Auburn’s 31st head football coach in the school’s 129-year history. With twelve years of collegiate head coaching experience, Freeze has rapidly improved every team he has guided, including Ole Miss and most recently, Liberty.
During his tenure as Liberty’s head coach from 2019 to 22, Freeze guided the Flames to 34-15 overall and four bowl games. He converted former Auburn quarterback Malik Willis into one of the best quarterbacks in the country in 2021 when he was at Liberty.
“After a thoughtful, thorough, and well-vetted search, we ended where we started, with Hugh Freeze,” Cohen stated. “Hugh was the most suitable candidate out of all the ones we looked at. Fit may mean different things to different people, but the key components were SEC experience, football strategy, student-athlete development, and recruitment.
Prior to joining Liberty, Freeze served as head coach at Lambuth University (2008–09), Arkansas State (2011), and Ole Miss (2012–16). All three schools had comparable levels of success. The native of Oxford, Mississippi, guided both teams to seasons with ten or more wins, and in 2015, he assisted Ole Miss in placing in the top ten in the country. In twelve years, his on-field coaching record is 103-47.
Freeze has been a successful head coach for almost thirty years. During his illustrious tenure, he has guided many schools to bowl berths, nationally ranked recruiting classes, and conference titles.
“First of all, I would want to thank Cadillac Williams for his outstanding work as the head coach in transition. It is impossible to overestimate the influence he had,” Freeze remarked. “Secondly, I’m grateful to President Roberts and John Cohen for this chance at Auburn, as Auburn football is among the best in college football. As an SEC head coach and when visiting my daughter Jordan, who attended Auburn and now resides there, I had the good fortune to see firsthand what makes Auburn unique. Working with our student-athletes and the Auburn family to return titles to the Plains excites me.
Liberty’s record at the end of the regular season was 8-4 this year, with two victories—at home against BYU and away against Arkansas—and three defeats that totaled five points.
Joining Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, and Louisiana as the only five FBS programs in the nation to win a bowl game in each of the previous three seasons is Liberty. Additionally, it is the second squad in NCAA history to win a bowl game in each of its first three complete FBS seasons, all of which were played under Freeze’s direction.
“I’m pleased that our Athletics Director John Cohen conducted a detailed and thorough national search process, and I look forward to welcoming Hugh and Jill Freeze to the Plains,” said President Christopher B. Roberts. “I am impressed with Coach Freeze’s focus on player development and his on-the-field success at multiple universities and at multiple levels.”
As Liberty ended No. 17 in the nation in 2020, Freeze led the team to a 10-1 overall record and its first-ever national rating. During that season, Liberty defeated two Power 5 institutions, Syracuse and Virginia Tech, equaled the program record for victories with 10, and had the greatest start in program history (8-0). Freeze was a finalist for the George Munger Collegiate Coach of the Year Award because of his accomplishments.
