Hugh Freeze is set to become the 9th head football coach in Liberty history according to a number of reports including FootballScoop. Coach Freeze all but confirmed it in a tweet as well. Liberty has announced a 2pm press conference to announce the hiring. Bruce Feldman of the Athletic is reporting Freeze will get a 5-year contract.
Numerous reports in recent days had Freeze deciding between becoming the head coach of the Flames or offensive coordinator at any number of blue blood college football programs including Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee, and Florida State.
The 49-year old will take the reigns of the Flames’ football program in its first season as a full FBS member. Freeze did not coach in 2017 or 2018 after he was forced to resign in July 2017 as head coach at Ole Miss in the wake of scandal. Freeze was the head coach of the Rebels for 5 seasons, compiling a 39-25 record at the school and leading Ole Miss to 4 straight bowl appearances. The highlight of his tenure at Ole Miss included 2 wins over a top 5 ranked Alabama team and finishing 10-3 in 2015, a season in which the Rebels won the Sugar Bowl and finished ranked in the top 10 nationally in both major college football polls. In 2014, Freeze won the Grant Teaff Coach of the Year award by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes
The Ole Miss program was rocked by scandal in 2016 and 2017, beginning with recruiting violations and also cell phone records where Freeze’s university issued cell phone was used to call a female escort service.
He spoke publicly for the first time following this scandal at a Liberty University Convocation in early 2018.
Prior to his time as head coach at Ole Miss, Freeze was the head coach at Arkansas State in 2011, leading the Red Wolves to a 10-2 record and Sun Belt championship. In 2010, he was Arkansas State’s offensive coordinator. He was head coach of NAIA school Lambuth in 2008 and 2009, guiding the Eagles to a 20-5 record during those 2 seasons. He spent 2006-2007 as coach of the tight ends and recruiting coordinator at Ole Miss. The Oxford, Mississippi native began his coaching career at Briarcrest High School in Memphis, Tennessee, a place he served from 1992-2004.
