Paul Finebaum reveals what bothers him about Hugh Freeze, when Auburn hire could happen

Lane Kiffin will not be Auburn‘s next head football coach, and Hugh Freeze might be the odds-on favorite at this point. Freeze comes with baggage from his time at Ole Miss, and that could be resulting in pushback from the Tigers administration, but that’s not the most concerning part of his potential candidacy in the eyes of SEC Network analyst Paul Finebaum.

Finebaum joined McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning on Monday, where he went in depth on his thoughts about Freeze, who led Liberty to an 8-4 season in 2022. That 8-4 season ended on a rather disappointing note, with the Flames losing each of their final three games of the regular season.

“I think Hugh Freeze is an interesting situation, and I’m hearing all these things that are coming out about Hugh Freeze and Auburn is alarmed,” Finebaum said. “There’s nothing about Hugh Freeze that should be a mystery at this point in time. He’s an open book in terms of why he was fired at Ole Miss, why he was not hired immediately anywhere else as an assistant.

“The most disturbing part of Hugh Freeze I think is just how this season ended at Liberty. That bothers me just from a football standpoint. I know it’s easy to talk about what he did at Ole Miss. Let’s talk about what he did at Liberty. And again, I’m not vacillating, I’m not wavering. I’m just simply stating if it’s Hugh Freeze, let’s hear it.”

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Finebaum thinks that a hire is coming soon for Auburn, whether that’s Freeze or another potential candidate.

“I believe Auburn will have a head football coach very soon,” said Finebaum. “And I don’t know if it’s Hugh Freeze. … I really don’t know. If I did, I would indicate it.”

Finebaum on how Freeze could be different now at Auburn

Freeze’s past has been a hot topic of discussion as his name has emerged for the Auburn opening. While nobody can predict for sure whether or not Freeze is ready to take another job in the SEC, Finebaum believes that the Liberty headman at least feels different than he did back at Ole Miss.

“Well, I think the Hugh Freeze of 2022 is much different than the one we saw at Ole Miss,” added Finebaum. “That was a very thin-skinned, paranoid coach. The one thing I will say, when I sat down with him a couple years ago in Oxford, he seemed different. This was right before he took the Liberty job. He seemed like someone who had taken a very long walk in the wilderness and had taken stock of his life.

“The truth is, I don’t know. I know what he told me and I know what he’s told others. I got up from dinner that night – it was a very long dinner – and I’d say this guy doesn’t seem the same, paranoid coach. But then again you also have to factor in what happened to him. That’s a difficult thing to say for certain, but I can’t help but think that Hugh Freeze is a much different coach today than he was back then.”