Auburn finalizing deal to hire new head coach, per reports
Auburn has settled on its next head coach and the Tigers are making moves to bring Hugh Freeze back to the SEC.
The Liberty coach, who previously coached at Ole Miss, would return to the SEC, where in 2017 Ole Miss fired him amid NCAA and personal scandal. In 12 years as a college head coach, he’s had one losing season, Ross Dellenger of Sports Illustrated reported.
This report is only days after Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin, who was reportedly the top choice of Auburn, decided to stay in Oxford.
Freeze is perhaps most known for beating Nick Saban and Alabama twice while at Ole Miss. At Liberty, he’s had a strong record despite recent struggles this season. He is 34-15 overall, and has won at least 8 games in all 4 seasons he’s coached there. Freeze was 39-25 at Ole Miss in 5 seasons.
Auburn is expected to owe Liberty $3 million, according to Sports Illustrated.
The Tigers fired Bryan Harsin a month ago after he was 3-5 this season, and 9-12 overall in less than 2 seasons at Auburn.
Dellenger reported that Freeze’s hiring at Auburn leaves open one of the most lucrative jobs in the Group of 5. Liberty has an abundance of resources, including Power 5-level facilities and is moving into a league (C-USA) where it will out-spend fellow schools by millions.
Hugh Freeze has agreed to a deal to become @AuburnFootball’s next head coach, sources tell ESPN. Freeze will be Auburn’s third different head coach in the last four seasons after taking @LibertyFootball to unprecedented heights in his four seasons as the Flames’ head coach.
— Chris Low (@ClowESPN) November 28, 2022