‘I worried sick’
Three times a week, the Liberty football team showed up before sunrise to get tested for COVID-19. It would often take 16 or 17 hours to get the results, and until they came in it was hard for coach Hugh Freeze to get to sleep.
“It was full of anxiousness,” he said.
But the time the snowball of positive tests reached Freeze himself during the most anticipated week of Liberty’s season, he had already resigned himself to the outcome.
“Of course I start worrying about my wife and kids then, and I can only imagine the people who are older or who have a child or a wife who have some type of health issue,” Freeze said. “Can you imagine that worry that those coaches have from being around all of these players and all of the staff and wanting to be around your family? I worried sick over mine, and mine are healthy.”
On Nov. 30, ESPN announced that the iconic College GameDay show would broadcast that week from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, the site of Coastal Carolina-Liberty — a huge honor for two outsider programs having historically good seasons. But by the time Liberty learned it was going to be part of GameDay, trouble was already brewing.
Malik Willis, Liberty’s quarterback, had tested positive for COVID-19 during the Sunday test along with multiple defensive coaches. Freeze’s heart sank but he tried to reassure the team and told players to focus on what they could control. Liberty continued practicing, with Freeze even moving over to coach the defense.
“We felt like we owed it to college football to try to play, particularly on that stage,” he said.
But when Wednesday’s tests came back, it was more bad news: Another 15 positives, including five coaches, leading to a pause in all football activities. Freeze had been in meeting rooms for hours on end with those assistants trying to take up the slack. So it was no surprise to him that by Friday’s test, he had also been swept up in the outbreak.
“I was fortunate compared to others.” he said. “I’ve been pumping in my body since all this started with enormous amounts of vitamin C, D, Zinc, whatever I read about. Just pumping it in. I had two nights where I was very uncomfortable but not breathing-wise, just my bones, my back and where I had surgery. My doctor said this virus has been known to attack some arthritic type places and that was the worst part of it for me.”
After an eight-day shutdown, Liberty got back to work preparing for the Cure Bowl, where it finally got a shot at Coastal Carolina. The Flames won, 37-34 in overtime, to finish 10-1.
There were a lot of positives Freeze can point to out of what they went through. It was rewarding in its own way.
“Now do I want to have another season like this? Not really,” he said. “I have not talked to any coach that isn’t glad it’s over.”
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