This report has been updated from a previous version.
The college football coaching carousel is spinning faster and faster, with Auburn joining Nebraska and Colorado in the news with a potentially impactful coaching hire in the works.
Multiple reports on Saturday indicate the Tigers have zeroed in on Liberty's Hugh Freeze to take over the program from interim coach Cadillac Williams, who in turn is leading the program in place of the recently fired Bryan Harsin.
Unlike Matt Rhule at Nebraska, however, it appears Freeze was not the first coach Auburn preferred to take over the program. That would be Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin, who was rumored to be interested in the job earlier in the week before vehemently denying those reports.
Ross Dellenger of Sports Illustrated reported early Saturday that Auburn had keyed in on two candidates — Kiffin and Freeze — before the Tigers ultimately focused solely on Freeze:
COACHING CAROUSEL: Nebraska | Colorado
In the last few hours, Auburn’s search has moved from Lane Kiffin and zeroed in on Liberty coach Hugh Freeze, sources tell @SINow. Negotiations are on-going and could be finalized as soon as tonight.
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) November 26, 2022
ESPN's Pete Thamel corroborated Dellenger's report in an appearance on "College GameDay," saying, "Kiffin's Auburn candidacy is over and Hugh Freeze has emerged as the top candidate."
.@PeteThamel has the latest on where things stand in Auburn's search for a head coach:
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) November 26, 2022
"It's safe to say this morning that Lane Kiffin's Auburn candidacy is over and Hugh Freeze has emerged as the top candidate to become Auburn's next head coach." pic.twitter.com/qg8hMdNVDJ
Brett McMurphy of the Action Network reported that Freeze has informed Liberty he is talking to Auburn, but did not indicate whether he would take the job.
Hugh Freeze told Liberty officials he's in conversations with Auburn, but has not informed LU yet he's leaving, sources told @ActionNetworkHQ. Liberty preparing to do search for its next coach, sources said
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) November 26, 2022
Here's everything you need to know about Auburn's reported interest in Freeze, as well as why the Tigers first looked to Kiffin in naming their next head coach:
Why is Auburn hiring Hugh Freeze?
It's clear based on Auburn's choice of candidates that it prefers an offensive-minded head coach. Freeze is one of the nation's top such candidates, as evidenced from his time at Liberty and, before that, a successful and controversial stint at Ole Miss.
Hugh Freeze's best season at Ole Miss came in 2015, a season in which the Rebels ranked 10th nationally in total offense (517.8 yards per game) and eighth in scoring offense (40.8 points per game).
Freeze has also had success at Liberty, a program he took over in 2019. The Flames have never won fewer than eight games under Freeze, who has also produced an NFL-caliber quarterback in Malik Willis, whom the Tennessee Titans drafted in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft.
| Year | Team | Record | Bowl |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Arkansas State | 10-3 | GoDaddy.com Bowl (loss) |
| 2012 | Ole Miss | 7-6 | BBVA Compass Bowl (win) |
| 2013 | Ole Miss | 8-5 | Music City Bowl (win) |
| 2014 | Ole Miss | 9-4 | Peach Bowl (loss) |
| 2015 | Ole Miss | 10-3 | Sugar Bowl (win) |
| 2016 | Ole Miss | 5-7 | N/A |
| 2019 | Liberty | 8-5 | Cure Bowl (win) |
| 2020 | Liberty | 10-1 | Cure Bowl (win) |
| 2021 | Liberty | 8-5 | LendingTree Bowl (win) |
| 2022 | Liberty | 8-3 | TBD |
Freeze is one of only two active head coaches with multiple victories over Alabama's Nick Saban, the other being UCF — and former Tigers coach — Gus Malzahn. Beating the Crimson Tide is the top job priority of any Auburn coach, and Freeze was able to pull the feat off in both 2014 and 2015.
Those wins are particularly impressive, as Freeze joined former LSU coach Les Miles (2010-11) as the only coaches to beat Saban in consecutive seasons. Only two other coaches have even beaten Saban twice in a row, though none were in consecutive seasons: Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville in 2004 (vs. LSU) and 2007 (vs. Alabama); and Georgia coach Mark Richt in 2004 (LSU) and 2007 (Alabama).
Dennis Dodd of CBS reported on Monday that Auburn has received "pushback" from hiring Freeze as a result of the way he left Ole Miss. Dodd reported the Rebels' first choice was Kiffin, then Freeze.
Hearing pushback on Auburn administration re fb hire now that Lane is staying at Ole Miss. Plan A was Lane; Plan B was Freeze. Don't know if Auburn had a Plan C. Bears watching.
— Dennis Dodd (@dennisdoddcbs) November 28, 2022
Later on Monday, independent reports by Bruce Feldman of The Athletic and Dellenger indicated Auburn was hiring Freeze:
BREAKING: Liberty coach Hugh Freeze is coming back to the SEC, per source. Auburn is hiring him as its new head coach. @RossDellenger first reported the move.
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) November 28, 2022
Auburn is finalizing a deal to hire Liberty coach Hugh Freeze, sources tell @SINow.
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) November 28, 2022
Freeze 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.
MORE: Is Lane Kiffin going to Auburn? Latest rumors on Ole Miss coach as Tigers reportedly close in
Did Auburn target Lane Kiffin?
A Wednesday report from Columbia, Miss.-based news station WCBI indicated Kiffin was going to step down from the Ole Miss job on Friday to take the job at Auburn.
Kiffin was quick to deny those rumors, however, responding to the tweet by telling WCBI sports director Jon Sokolof that it was "news to him."
That’s news to me Jon. 🤦♂️. Nice sources 🚫👿🪑🍽 https://t.co/P8rdpxEk0p
— Lane Kiffin (@Lane_Kiffin) November 22, 2022
Ensuing reports indicated Auburn and Kiffin had been in talks, but that the Ole Miss coach's family wanted to stay in Oxford.
Dellenger on Saturday reported that Ole Miss had offered Kiffin a new eight-year contract that pays an annual of $9 million per year. He added that the contract does not violate Mississippi State law stating public employees can't have contracts of longer than four years, since it will be done through the school's private foundation.
As of 12 ET, Kiffin has not signed the new deal, by the way. Ole Miss officials are expecting that to happen soon. The offer has been there for several days.
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) November 26, 2022
MORE: Hugh Freeze says he owns Ole Miss allegations, then denies, denies, denies
Why did Hugh Freeze resign from Ole Miss?
Freeze resigned from Ole Miss in July 2017 following a discovery he had used a university-issued phone to contact a Detroit number with ties to a Florida-based escort service. The athletic director at the time, Ross Bjork, offered Freeze that option over getting fired as a result of violating the morals clause in his contract.
Freeze's calls to the escort service were only uncovered as part of discovery for a defamation lawsuit against Freeze and Ole Miss by former Rebels coach Houston Nutt. Freeze's predecessor accused both parties of falsely blaming him for recruiting violations.
Eventually, the NCAA in 2019 found both Freeze and Nutt to be guilty of infractions, resulting in a two-year postseason ban, three years of probation and four-year scholarship reduction for the program. Ole Miss also vacated 33 wins from 2010 to 2016, 27 of which were under Freeze (only the 2015 season was unaffected).
Freeze's forced resignation from Ole Miss has been viewed as a significant hurdle for him to rejoin the SEC. Indeed, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey reportedly denied Saban from hiring Freeze as his offensive coordinator in 2018 because of the way he left Oxford.
It appears Freeze has cleared those hurdles as Auburn continues talks with the successful college coach.
