Hugh Freeze
Hugh Freeze went 118–66 on the field as a head coach, 2008–2025, at Lambuth, Arkansas State, Ole Miss, Liberty and Auburn; 91–66 officially, after the NCAA vacated 27 wins (2012, 2013, 2014 and 2016). Share
Two seasons our game records don’t credit to him come from the coach’s Wikipedia article: 2008–09 at Lambuth. They’re marked in the table.
- Record
- 91–66 official; 118–66 on the field
- Seasons
- 15
- Schools
- 5
- Final AP top 10
- 1 season
- Born
- Sep 27, 1969
- Alma mater
- Southern Miss 1992
- Best season
- 2015 10–3, No. 10
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Lambuth * | 8–4 | T–1st | |||
| 2009 | Lambuth * | 12–1 | 1st | NAIA Quarterfinal L | ||
| 2010: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 2011 | Arkansas State | 10–2 | 1st | GoDaddy.com (not coached) | ||
| 2012 | Ole Miss | 7–6 (0–6 official) | 5th | BBVA Compass W (vacated) | ||
| 2013 | Ole Miss | 8–5 (1–5 official) | T–5th | Music City Bowl W | ||
| 2014 | Ole Miss | 9–4 (1–4 official) | 3rd | Peach Bowl L | 17 | |
| 2015 | Ole Miss | 10–3 | 2nd | Sugar Bowl W | 10 | |
| 2016 | Ole Miss | 5–7 (0–7 official) | 7th | |||
| 2017–18: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 2019 | Liberty | 8–5 | Cure Bowl W | |||
| 2020 | Liberty | 10–1 | Cure Bowl W | 17 | ||
| 2021 | Liberty | 8–5 | LendingTree Bowl W | |||
| 2022 | Liberty | 8–4 | Boca Raton (not coached) | |||
| 2023 | Auburn | 6–7 | 5th | Music City Bowl L | ||
| 2024 | Auburn | 5–7 | T–13th | |||
| 2025 | Auburn coached nine of 12 games | 4–5 | ||||
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table. * A season our game records don’t credit to him; its record is the article’s.
Players he coached
Senquez GolsonConsensus All‑American, 2014- Deterrian Shackelford2014 Wuerffel Trophy
Every player from his seasons with a Heisman top-five finish, a national award, consensus All-America honors or a first-round pick. Photos: Wikimedia Commons, free licenses; credits on each player’s page.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 47 | 14–33 | 30% |
| Against top-10 teams | 21 | 6–15 | 29% |
| Against rivals | 47 | 22–25 | 47% |
| Conference games | 70 | 33–37 | 47% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 8 | 6–2 | 75% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 52 | 24–28 | 46% |
| At home | 85 | 59–26 | 69% |
| On the road | 64 | 32–32 | 50% |
| At neutral sites | 10 | 7–3 | 70% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 91 | 68–23 | 75% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 68 | 30–38 | 44% |
His own 159 games on file, 2011–2025, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Against other head coaches
| Coach | Record | Their schools | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nick Saban 2012–2023 | 2–4 | Alabama | 6 | |
| Dan Mullen 2012–2016 | 3–2 | Mississippi State | 5 | |
| Kevin Sumlin 2012–2016 | 3–2 | Texas A&M | 5 | |
| Les Miles 2012–2015 | 2–2 | LSU | 4 | |
| Bret Bielema 2013–2016 | 1–3 | Arkansas | 4 | |
| Gus Malzahn 2013–2016 | 1–3 | Auburn | 4 | |
| Kirby Smart 2016–2025 | 1–3 | Georgia | 4 | |
| Doug Martin 2015–2019 | 3–0 | New Mexico State | 3 | |
| Walt Bell 2019–2021 | 3–0 | Massachusetts | 3 | |
| Derek Mason 2014–2016 | 2–1 | Vanderbilt | 3 |
Hugh Freeze’s record against the head coaches he met three or more times, from the games on file, as played.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Arkansasseries | 9 | 5–4 |
| Texas A&Mseries | 8 | 4–4 |
| Vanderbiltseries | 7 | 4–3 |
| Alabamaseries | 7 | 2–5 |
| Mississippi Stateseries | 6 | 4–2 |
| LSUseries | 6 | 2–4 |
| Massachusettsseries | 5 | 5–0 |
| New Mexico Stateseries | 5 | 3–2 |
How he was hired
Power-conference head-coaching hires since 2010, with each coach’s previous job and ties to the school as collected by hand from Wikipedia: Hiring facts: M. Schuckers, cfb_coach_analytics.
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992–94 | Briarcrest HS (TN) high school | Offensive coordinator and defensive backs coach | |
| 1995–2004 | Briarcrest HS (TN) high school | Head coach | |
| 2006–07 | Ole Miss | Tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator | |
| 2008–09 | Lambuth | Head coach | |
| 2010 | Arkansas State | Offensive coordinator | |
| 2011 | Arkansas State | Head coach | |
| 2012–16 | Ole Miss | Head coach | |
| 2019–22 | Liberty | Head coach | |
| 2023–25 | Auburn | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Ed OrgeronOle Miss
- Steve RobertsArkansas State
Assistants who became head coaches
- Tom AllenIndiana
- Kane WommackSouth Alabama
- Matt LukeOle Miss
- Chris RipponWestern Connecticut
- Josh AldridgeLiberty
- Kent AustinSaskatchewan Roughriders, Cornell, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
- Cadillac WilliamsAuburn
- Philip MontgomeryTulsa, Virginia Tech
- Ron RobertsDelta State, SE Louisiana
- Charles KellyJacksonville State
- D. J. DurkinMaryland
- D.J. DurkinFlorida, Maryland, Auburn
- and 1 more
Worked under (2)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ed Orgeron | Ole Miss | 2006–07 | Tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator | |
| Steve Roberts | Arkansas State | 2010 | Offensive coordinator |
Coached under him, later head coaches (13)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tom Allen | Lambuth, 2008–09: assistant head coach, defensive coordinator and linebackers coach; Arkansas State, 2011: assistant head coach; Ole Miss, 2012–14: special teams and linebackers coach | Indiana | |
| Kane Wommack | Ole Miss, 2012–13: graduate assistant | South Alabama | |
| Matt Luke | Ole Miss, 2012–16: co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach | Ole Miss | |
| Chris Rippon | Ole Miss, 2015–16: special teams coach | Western Connecticut | |
| Josh Aldridge | Liberty, 2019–21: defensive line coach; 2022: co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach; Auburn, 2023: linebackers coach; 2024: defensive ends coach | Liberty | |
| Kent Austin | Liberty, 2019–22: co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach; Auburn, 2023: offensive analyst; 2024–25: quarterbacks coach | Saskatchewan Roughriders, Cornell, Hamilton Tiger-Cats | |
| Cadillac Williams | Auburn, 2023: assistant head coach and running backs coach | Auburn | |
| Philip Montgomery | Auburn, 2023: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | Tulsa, Virginia Tech | |
| Ron Roberts | Auburn, 2023: defensive coordinator | Delta State, SE Louisiana | |
| Charles Kelly | Auburn, 2024: co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach | Jacksonville State | |
| D. J. Durkin | Auburn, 2024–25: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | Maryland | |
| D.J. Durkin | Auburn, 2024–25: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | Florida, Maryland, Auburn | |
| Chad Lunsford | Auburn, 2025: special teams coach | Georgia Southern, Florida Atlantic |
Other assistants under him (15)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Grant Heard | Lambuth, 2008–09: offensive coordinator; Arkansas State, 2011: passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach; Ole Miss, 2012–16: wide receivers coach | |
| Chris Kiffin | Arkansas State, 2011: defensive line coach; Ole Miss, 2012–16: defensive line coach and defensive recruiting coordinator | |
| Corey Batoon | Arkansas State, 2011: defensive backs and special teams coach; Ole Miss, 2012: assistant AD for player development; 2013–14: assistant AD for recruiting operations and defensive assistant; 2015–16: special teams coordinator and safeties coach; Liberty, 2020: safeties coach | |
| Dave Wommack | Arkansas State, 2011: defensive coordinator and safeties coach; Ole Miss, 2012–14: defensive coordinator and safeties coach; 2015–16: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| Jon Bradley | Arkansas State, 2011: graduate assistant | |
| Dan Werner | Ole Miss, 2012–16: co-offensive coordinator | |
| Derrick Nix | Ole Miss, 2012–16: running backs coach; Auburn, 2024–25: offensive coordinator and running backs coach | |
| Wesley McGriff | Ole Miss, 2012: co-defensive coordinator | |
| DeMarcus Covington | Ole Miss, 2013–14: defensive graduate assistant | |
| Jason Jones | Ole Miss, 2013–16: co-defensive coordinator | |
| Ryan Aplin | Ole Miss, 2013: intern | |
| Maurice Harris | Liberty, 2019–22: co-offensive coordinator | |
| Scott Symons | Liberty, 2019–21: defensive coordinator | |
| Jack Curtis | Liberty, 2021–22: co-defensive coordinator | |
| Robert Bala | Liberty, 2022: analyst |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
Pay
| Year | School | Job | Contract pay | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Ole Miss | head coachbonuses up to $1,225,000; $300,000 in bonuses paid | $4,703,500 USA Today | |
| 2015 | Ole Miss | head coachbonuses up to $975,000; $125,000 in bonuses paid | $4,310,000 USA Today | |
| 2014 | Ole Miss | head coachbonuses up to $825,000 | $3,018,000 USA Today | |
| 2013 | Ole Miss | head coachbonuses up to $1,575,000 | $2,005,500 USA Today via Leeds | |
| 2012 | Ole Miss | head coachbonuses up to $1,475,000 | $1,505,500 USA Today via Leeds |
USA Today’s coaches salary database (2014–17, from public-records requests to the schools; Rachel Ehlers’ copy): the season’s contract pay, school pay plus outside money, before bonuses.
The same USA Today database for 2006–16, from Michael Leeds’ replication data on Harvard Dataverse (CC0): the season’s contract pay.
Pay of public employees in their public job only: head coaches, and assistants in the seasons our records name them a coordinator, at public universities.
How he coached
Freeze’s teams went for it on 24% of fourth downs and on 41% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 50% of plays and took 23.6 seconds a play, 2011–2024.
| Season | School | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 13 g | Arkansas State | 27 of 104 26% | 42% | 52% | 19.3 | −0.01 | |
| 2012 12 g | Ole Miss | 18 of 95 19% | 44% | 47% | 22.7 | +0.01 | |
| 2013 13 g | Ole Miss | 27 of 97 28% | 33% | 49% | 22.3 | +0.11 | |
| 2014 13 g | Ole Miss | 20 of 102 20% | 39% | 51% | 23.9 | −0.02 | |
| 2015 13 g | Ole Miss | 15 of 90 17% | 24% | 54% | 21.2 | +0.16 | |
| 2016 12 g | Ole Miss | 16 of 91 18% | 33% | 56% | 20.0 | +0.05 | |
| 2019 13 g | Liberty | 16 of 90 18% | 29% | 55% | 23.2 | +0.11 | |
| 2020 11 g | Liberty | 23 of 67 34% | 60% | 41% | 26.5 | +0.16 | |
| 2021 13 g | Liberty | 29 of 85 34% | 68% | 49% | 26.1 | +0.10 | |
| 2022 13 g | Liberty | 24 of 102 24% | 50% | 50% | 25.3 | −0.05 | |
| 2023 13 g | Auburn | 26 of 100 26% | 44% | 43% | 26.7 | +0.02 | |
| 2024 12 g | Auburn | 19 of 77 25% | 43% | 52% | 25.6 | +0.06 | |
| All 151 g | 260 of 1100 24% | 41% | 50% | 23.6 | +0.06 |
His seasons as a head coach from 2004 on, from ESPN’s play by play: fourth downs where he went for it out of every fourth-down decision; how often he went when SportsDataverse’s fourth-down model said going for it was the better call; the share of his offense’s plays that were passes; seconds of game clock per offensive play (lower is faster); and expected points added per offensive play (EPA, a measure of how much each play moved the offense toward points). The season in progress counts its games so far. SportsDataverse’s coach tendencies, from ESPN’s play by play; the EPA and the fourth-down model are SportsDataverse’s.