Hugh Freeze started his coaching career at Briarcrest High School in Memphis, Tennessee.
Freeze served as offensive coordinator and defensive backs coach from 1992-94 before becoming Briarcrest’s head coach (1995-2004). He later became head coach at Lambuth (NAIA) in Jackson, Tennessee from 2008-09.
The former Arkansas State and Ole Miss head coach continues to leave his mark with offensive success throughout the sport of football at Liberty.
Freeze is described as an incredible mind by his former players and is always looking for ways to improve.
The second-year Liberty head coach has an understanding of how much the run game means for opening up the pass game, however he is adaptable when seeing something that defenses are giving his offensive personnel within a game.
Freeze has the ability to simplify things for his offensive personnel. The more things are simplified, the more difficult it becomes for defenses defending his offense.
His offense centers around putting defensive personnel in conflict. Conflicts can be caused by a zone read on the defensive end, reading the second level and placing linebackers in conflict of their assignment.
Freeze understands how to attack linebackers that are in a run fit and attached to the box. His offense displays a fast read with the quarterback eyeing what linebackers are going to do. This helps the quarterback conduct a pass or a run option.
Freeze demands his offensive personnel to have an answer to a zone blitz, allowing for tempo. This is known as a three-man surface in Freeze’s offense.
His offense can also have three-man surfaces in motion. For instance, a short motion with a tight end against a zone blitz can open up a play against the high safety.
With a tight end in motion, he can block a cornerback, providing a three-man surface. The quarterback can then throw a hitch screen to the outside with a stick screen to the inside.
This also allows for an inside zone run if the quarterback elects to not throw a hitch or screen pass, or attack the high safety. The quarterback must read the MIKE linebacker and see if he decides to play the outside screen or stay within the box.
Freeze’s offense caters to where his offensive personnel can have an advantage numbers-wise.
His offense also has a wide receiver on the outside that is able to have one-on-one matchups once defenses play the run or screen. The quarterback can decide quickly if the defensive personnel has committed to playing the run or screen, and then throw to outside wide receiver for a favorable matchup.
“I will never change what we do offensively. I don’t know all but what we’ve done, it’s had success everywhere we’ve been. It’s what I am familiar with and what I feel comfortable calling the game with, so we’re doing the same stuff.” — Hugh Freeze on the show “Tennessee Two-A-Days”