Hugh Freeze is 17-6 and has won the school’s first bowl game during his two seasons as Liberty’s head coach.
Freeze’s success at Liberty has placed his name in discussion for jobs throughout the Southeastern Conference.
Auburn relieved Gus Malzahn of his head coaching duties Sunday after eight seasons.
Freeze has since been linked in discussion to fill the vacant position.
“You never like to see people lose their jobs, ever,” Freeze said during his press conference Wednesday on the first day of the early signing period. “I’m not made that way to rejoice over anyone doing that. When you’re in this business, you know how much hurt is involved in that for all involved. You add to it, it’s one of your very dear friends, obviously, it’s unsettling and you hurt.
“I’ve been through that and I know what it’s like to lose a job, it’s not much fun, so my initial call was to Gus. I had a great conversation with him. He’s one of the best to do it now. He cares about his kids. He coaches it the right way. He’s the type of coach you want in this business, that was the initial thing, then you want to make sure your friend is okay. He will be fine, but there are a lot of other families that are affected by it.”
Freeze also mentioned why he thinks his name has surfaced for jobs such as Auburn, and also being discussed in Knoxville for what he considers his dream job.
“Then you get to what the national media starts saying,” Freeze said. “Let me say, there are so many people here that the reason that is being said is two-fold.
“I was fortunate to beat people like Nick Saban and Kirby Smart and Dan Mullen, that are in that league and with probably a lesser roster than what they had. Then you come here and have success and all the people that put you into that here deserve so much of the credit — mostly our kids and our players, so that’s a compliment and it’s humbling, but there are so many people that deserve credit for being mentioned and brings some notoriety to Liberty, but it also brings the negative side also.”
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