After a whirlwind few weeks of Coach Hugh Freeze trying to battle back from back spasms and surgery from complications with a staph infection, the Liberty football team is making plans for him to be on the sidelines this Saturday when the Flames take on Buffalo.
“I know that they are trying to make preparations for him to be on the sidelines,” Liberty WR coach and co-OC Maurice Harris said after practice Thursday. “I don’t think that the plan has been solidified.”
For the first two times in his coaching career, Freeze has coached from the press box during Liberty’s first two games, making national headlines as he coached from a hospital bed against Syracuse and then from a medical chair last week against Louisiana.
Freeze returned to practice this week for the first time since first dealing with back spasms in the early stages of Liberty’s August Training Camp. Enjoying his first live practice since missing 23 practices, Freeze joined the team for all three practice sessions this week in a golf cart.
“It’s been awesome to have him back at practice,” Harris said. “This is the most he’s been around since his surgery. The kids need him around. We need him around. He needs to be out there so he can get a better gauge of the team, and also a better feel for what we’re doing.”
Regardless of whether or not Freeze coaches from the press box or the sidelines Saturday, Harris will continue to coach from the sidelines while QB coach and co-OC will remain in the press box.
