Hugh Freeze calls Liberty contract extension 'humbling'

The college football coaching carousel is already spinning at full speed, with six Power 5 coaches already flying off the ride as centrifugal force has done them in. That means there will be movement with new coaches hopping into their places soon and Liberty coach Hugh Freeze is likely to be sought after, though a recent contract extension could keep him in place.

Freeze reportedly agreed to an extension that takes his contract out eight years and will pay him just less than $5 million annually.

“I don’t know what day that came out, but I assumed we’d already talked about it because the social media world’s already covered it,” Freeze said Monday. “(Director of athletics) Ian (McCaw) has been incredible to me here, along with Dr. (Jerry) Prevo and the Board of Trustees. Every single year I’ve been here I’ve never had to go to him to ask for anything. He always comes to me. It’s quite humbling, truthfully.”

Now in his fourth season with the Flames, Freeze has compiled a 33-12 record overall.

His high-water mark came in 2020, when Liberty went 10-1 in the COVID-19 impacted season. Liberty went 8-5 in both 2019 and 2021, but Freeze once again has the Flames in great shape in 2022.

Currently Liberty sports a 7-1 record, with a win over BYU. Its lone loss is to a very good Wake Forest team. A road trip to Arkansas this weekend will give Freeze and his team a chance to make a real statement.

Before that, Freeze expanded on what the contract extension means to him with at least one SEC job now open.

“You feel kind of guilty that you’re the beneficiary of so many people’s work that you know you couldn’t really do without, from the players, to the staff, to everybody,” Freeze said. “That’s kind of humbling because they don’t get to benefit quite to the same magnitude that my family and I do. So it’s quite humbling, and thankful again for this opportunity and for their vision for the future.”

Arkansas expecting key player back for Liberty game

Liberty is about to take on an SEC team, one that has suffered some serious injuries this season, particularly in the defensive backfield. But the Razorbacks could have one key player back for this week’s contest.

Head coach Sam Pittman believes star cornerback Malik Chavis could return from an injury he suffered weeks ago against BYU.

“I think this would be my third week in a row that I think he’ll be ready to play,” Pittman said. “Yesterday, he ran like his hair’s on fire. He was moving, and was happy and all those.

“I can tell you that he’s officially officially cleared. He’ll be able to play this week.”

In seven games this year, Chavis has eight total tackles. But it sounds like he’ll be back on the field this weekend when Arkansas and Liberty face off Saturday at 4 p.m. ET on the SEC Network.