Tag: Mike Farrell Sports

How does the Hugh Freeze hire compare to other Power Five hires?

Mike Farrell feels that Hugh Freeze will be “wiser and more effective” in his second tenure as an SEC head coach.

Auburn made a statement in December when it decided to go with [autotag]Hugh Freeze [/autotag] as the next head coach of its football program.

The response has been divisive, but if Freeze can restore Auburn to being a perennial contender most fans of the Tigers will be on board.

Mike Farrell graded the first-year Power Five coach hires and Freeze was one of four coaches to earn an “A” grade.

Farrell’s take on Freeze: “Auburn needs someone who has experienced the SEC West battles from a recruiting standpoint and on the field and Freeze is perfect for that. He made Ole Miss very dangerous before he ran afoul of the NCAA and this time he’ll be wiser and more effective.”

The other hires to receive an A were Matt Rhule from Nebraska, Luke Fickell from Wisconsin, and Jeff Brohm from Louisville.

The only other new coach hire in the SEC was Zach Arnett from Mississippi State who earned a C.

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Auburn listed among most disappointing programs by Mike Farrell

Auburn football looks to get back to normal after a few disheartening seasons.

Football has not been the most significant source of happiness for Auburn fans over the last few years.

The resurgence of the baseball, gymnastics, and men’s basketball programs has caused football to be viewed as relatively insignificant compared to past years.

Mike Farrell listed his most disappointing Power Five programs and the Tigers came in fourth.

Farrell’s take on Auburn: “Are they a power program? They are to me with a natty in the last 15 years and another national title game appearance as well. But the Gus Malzahn days at the end were bad, and the Bryan Harsin hire was dumb. Hugh Freeze is a good hire, but it will take time and patience for them to get back to respectable.”

Apart from Auburn, the list from top-to-bottom included the Texas Longhorns, the Miami Hurricanes, and the Florida Gators ahead of the Tigers, with the Virginia Tech Hokies following Auburn.

Auburn will be on a mission to get back to prominence and [autotag]Hugh Freeze[/autotag] will lead the charge.

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Hugh Freeze ranked highly amongst new coaches by Mike Farrell Sports

The experts at Mike Farrell Sports continue to praise Auburn’s hire of Hugh Freeze.

[autotag]Hugh Freeze[/autotag] has been hired to return the Auburn Tigers to prominence.

Through vamped-up recruiting efforts, the results are already visible through the renewed energy and purpose surrounding the program and its fanbase.

In an article from Mike Farell Sports, JC Nevils ranked the top head coaching hires for the 2023 season. Neville placed Freeze at No. 2.

Nevils’ take on Freeze:

While many people have a love-hate relationship with Hugh Freeze, and with good reason, no one can deny that he can coach the best of them. While his overall record wasn’t great at Ole Miss, he has shown he can beat the big boys and develop players to go on to the NFL as well. Malik Willis at Liberty is a great example going into the third round of the 2022 draft. Winning against Alabama also helps, and that is exactly what Auburn wants. With his recruiting and development, he should do well so long as the ship can stay intact, along with the NIL.

The only coach ahead of Freeze was Luke Fickell of the Wisconsin Badgers.

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Mike Farrell reveals Top 10 coaching candidates for Nebraska

Who does the “godfather of recruiting” think should be on the sidelines for Nebraska next season?

The Nebraska coaching search is now closing in on the two-month mark since the firing of Scott Frost on September 11th. Questions remain on who athletic director Trev Alberts will hire to take over the program starting in 2023. Shortly after firing former coach Scott Frost, the athletic director said the following about the search for a new head coach,

“I will tell you a little bit about the process going forward and we’ll open it up to questions. Obviously, we’re going to do a national search. We’re going to engage some third-party help, mostly for logistics and other things. I want you to know as well and I would encourage our fans and everyone to recognize there will be a lot of rumors out there. There’s going to be a lot of innuendo. I want you to know that these sorts of decisions and processes are not made in a silo. I have a lot of great mentors and friends that we’ll be working with.”

“Ultimately, you know, in a prior life, I have relationships with a lot of coaches in this business, and I intend to reach out to a lot of people. So if you hear that Trev Alberts reached out to XYZ coach, it doesn’t mean that I’ve offered the job to XYZ coach. I think there’s some fabulous coaches out there that have a perspective about our job that I can benefit from so I’m going to reach out to a lot of people.”

The “Godfather of Recruiting” Mike Farrell has recently made his thoughts on the search known by listing the “10 Best Coaching Fits for Nebraska.” You can find that list of candidates below.