Hugh Freeze Was Not Optimistic About Getting Another SEC Shot After Ole Miss Debacle, But The Reverend Rides Again In Auburn

NASHVILLE -- Optimism was not strong for Hugh Freeze after resigning from Ole Miss in 2017. His world came crumbling down around Oxford as he headed for the exit door, and wondered if he'd ever get that type of opportunity again, especially at a school like Auburn.

His life had changed in a short amount of time, with an NCAA investigation coupled with off-field personal problems. There was nowhere for him to go in coaching. Nobody was looking for a coach who had been caught up in a number of incidents outside the football building, while his personal life was taking on water.

The exit from Ole Miss left a sour taste in the SEC offices, not just for the NCAA part. There was a part of the conference that thought Freeze would get a second chance down the road, while others were not as optimistic, including Freeze.

"Truthfully when the ending at Ole Miss occurred, it was hard to truthfully process would you ever get that opportunity again, so I would have to say at that point no," Freeze said.

SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey Always Shot Freeze Straight

There were schools that wanted Freeze to return to the SEC, in a coordinator manner, but that was shot down by the SEC. Just when you thought Hugh would get another shot a few years after leaving Oxford, Greg Sankey was not ready to approve a second chance yet. Enough time had not passed after the NCAA was looking into the Rebels program and calls to an escort service sent Freeze packing.

Freeze mentioned on Tuesday that there wasn't a day that commissioner Greg Sankey didn't shoot him straight about a potential return to the conference. Schools were ready, but the SEC was still reeling from the bad press. Even though Hugh Freeze did not receive a 'show-cause' penalty, he needed to prove himself somewhere outside the sacred grounds of the SEC.

"There's never been a time when I had a conversation with Commissioner Sankey that he wasn't telling me exactly what the truth was and probably had great wisdom behind it," Hugh Freeze noted. "Whether I liked it or not, I always felt like, man, he really has thought through this and he's really telling me what he thinks is the truth and best. I respect that with people."

As you know by now, that opportunity came in 2019 when Liberty hired Freeze as its head coach. A new start for the embattled coach and his family. He vowed to do the right thing with his new opportunity with the Flames, while AD Ian McCaw saw a man of faith looking for redemption.

Auburn Came Calling At The Right Time For Hugh Freeze

Whether you believe High Freeze or not, his results on the field have gotten him two jobs in the SEC over a six-year period. It's safe to say that winning cures everything, which Auburn took notice of after the Bryan Harsin debacle.

For Freeze, having success against some pretty big FBS schools started to give him a little hope that a return to the SEC could potentially happen. He finally allowed himself to think about the future when Liberty started winning games against bigger schools.

"Yes, at that point. But not prior to that point did they enter my mind," Freeze says now.

If you believe Freeze, he's a changed man. Afforded an opportunity at redemption in a conference that is regarded as the best in college football, he found himself back in the same division as Ole Miss. What was once a dream that looked like it would never come true, Auburn AD John Cohen picked up the phone and offered Freeze a second chance in the SEC.

"We've been welcomed, Jill and I and our three daughters and their husbands," Freeze mentioned. "We could not have asked for a better welcoming to The Plains. What a great place it is to live. We're excited about putting our roots down there and building this program back to what it's been."

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - JULY 18: Head Coach Hugh Freeze of the Auburn Tigers speaks during Day 2 of the 2023 SEC Media Days at Grand Hyatt Nashville on July 18, 2023 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Johnnie Izquierdo/Getty Images)

But there will be pushback and there will be critics when Freeze loses a few games he isn't supposed to. After everything Auburn has been though over the last few years, having Hugh Freeze is a breath of recycled air in the conference. He won't surprise folks, especially with Auburn fans having such an understanding of what they were getting with Freeze.

We've seen what Freeze has done at his last two stops, so winning shouldn't be a concern down the road. The concern should center around Freeze making the most out of his second chance in the SEC.

"Our culture is based on faith, attitude, mental toughness and love," Freeze said. "If we're going to re-establish Auburn to being what Auburn should be, we have to have faith."