ESPN believes Hugh Freeze to be candidate to watch in Auburn head coaching search

ESPN's Adam Rittenberg believes Hugh Freeze to be the candidate to watch in Auburn's head coaching search.

Author:
Lance Dawe
Publish date:
Nov 3, 2022 6:53 PM EDT

In this story:

College football insider Adam Rittenberg recently released a ranking of all open Power Five jobs as well as their interim coaches.

According to Rittenberg, there is a 5% chance that Auburn interim coach Carnell Williams is retained as head coach for next season. Not so shocking, considering Williams would likely have to win out in order to get a look.

In more surprising news, not only did Rittenberg tab Auburn as the No. 1 open Power Five job on the market (over Wisconsin, Nebraska, Arizona State, Georgia Tech, and Colorado), but he believes that Liberty head coach Hugh Freeze is the candidate to watch over other potential hires, including Lane Kiffin.

"Although Ole Miss' Lane Kiffin is viewed as the frontrunner for the Auburn job, Freeze might be the better fit for the long run," Rittenberg wrote. "Freeze embraces the recruiting piece and would use Auburn's NIL program to his advantage. He has a known track record of producing exciting and effective offenses, first at Ole Miss and now at Liberty. Before Liberty, Freeze had spent his entire career in the SEC footprint."

Freeze is 33-12 overall in three and a half years at Liberty and was 39-25 in five years at Ole Miss (2012-16). Despite carrying some well-known baggage with him, it seems as though the SEC would be willing to let him back into the conference to coach.

Reports also indicate Freeze wants the job if Auburn comes calling.

"He has the personality to connect with Auburn fans and possibly bring together the power brokers around the program. His new contract at Liberty likely wouldn't prevent a move to Auburn. Freeze was unhirable in the SEC for a while after his downfall at Ole Miss, but more than five years after his resignation, a return makes more sense."

Auburn (3-5, 1-4 SEC) travels to take on Mississippi State (5-3, 2-3 SEC) in Starkville this Saturday. Kickoff is at 6:30 p.m. central on ESPN2.