What it's like to play for Hugh Freeze
Liberty’s Hugh Freeze will be Auburn’s next head football coach, sources tell Auburn Live.
What’s it like to play for him?
We asked a former offensive starter under Freeze at Ole Miss and here’s what he told us …
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-Overall thoughts on Freeze as a coach: “Great man, heck of a recruiter, heck of an offense guru. What he did at Ole Miss in his time was tremendous. He brought Ole Miss back to a national brand.”
-Although Freeze is known to be an offensive guy, he wasn’t a micromanager, according to our source. “He let the coordinator run (the offense). I’m sure he gave his opinion, but he let the team do their jobs. The (assistants) loved Freeze. He would let my position coach do his own thing. Let the position coaches do their jobs.”
-His thoughts on what Freeze’s strengths are as the leader of a program: “Being a players’ coach. The second thing was, he coached us hard and he was fair. He cared and wanted what was best for you. He was transparent with you. If you weren’t doing something right, he would sit you out. If you weren’t doing what you needed to do school wise, he would sit you out. He was very fair in what he did.”
-Freeze as a recruiter: “The head coach is a closer. Obviously, they’re the ones who come to dinner with you, go to your house. But he was involved the whole time. He laid out the vision for you, where you’d be on that team. He had a plan for you when you were there. He stayed true to it. And he made sure you stayed true to it.”
-How Freeze connected with our source’s family when he was a recruit: “He was great with parents. He was a Mississippi guy. My parents were, too. But he could connect with anybody from anywhere. He’s just a very likable guy. Very outgoing guy who could fit in with anyone.”
-What Freeze was like after a loss: “He was the family type of guy. Lose together, win together type of guy. When we got down, we’d go back to work.”
-What Freeze was like before a game: “Honestly, he was the same before any game. Sometimes, he’d say, ‘You can’t play down to your opponent.’ But he was the same for every game. He wasn’t (tight before a big game).”
-A rough estimate on the percentage of his teammates who thought highly of Freeze: “We loved him. He was great. I would give it about 90 percent. They all respected how he coached and we would win games because of that. He’s a great leader. A great motivational guy. He laid out that plan for you. He’ll teach you and he’ll coach you. People respected that.”
-One thing he wished Freeze had done differently: “There really weren’t any negatives. But he could have just been more upfront with the situation (that caused Freeze to resign) before it came up.” (Our source said it would have been better to hear about it via team meeting and not social media.)
