It Sure Looked Like Liberty Flat-Out Quit On Hugh Freeze In An Embarrassing Loss To 24-Point Underdog New Mexico State
Rumors are flying around that Hugh Freeze will soon be the next head coach at Auburn. I don't know how you snub current interim and former Tigers tailback Cadillac Williams from taking on the full-time gig. Hard to imagine a more popular hire than him.
But that's neither here nor there. What we're focused on is how Freeze likely ended his tenure at Liberty with one of the biggest fucking flops in recent college football history.
I understand that there's a business side to coaching hiring cycles. Especially now with the NCAA transfer portal, things move fast. You have to assemble a staff, get your ass on the recruiting trail FAST and do all you can to lure established talent from other programs to yours. It's an arms race, even further complicated and layered by the new NIL deals.
Bearing all that in mind, holy shit — what the hell happened to Liberty today!? Did Freeze not even bother to game plan? This was basically it for a senior class he shot a touching tribute video for, which was posted less than 24 hours ago:
Some of the notable quotes from Freeze are as follows:
"Thank you for buying in."
"Chase the standard...trust your commitment more than your feelings."
Fast forward to Freeze's presser after Saturday's defeat:
Things feel more personal at the collegiate level in general as opposed to the pros. College coaches or staffers on their behalf are recruiting these young men. They're visiting their family homes, helping them make a pivotal decision for their futures at such an impressionable, pivotal time in their lives. Everyone is still maturing along the way. Passions are high!! Whereas in the NFL, I feel like there's more of an understanding for, say, top coordinators taking head coaching interviews while in the midst of a playoff run. Just a different energy all around in those cases.
So in the case of the Flames' spectacular flameout on Saturday, I don't know who's to blame. I'm on the edge of my seat for any insight into what's happened during Freeze's postgame presser, or if any Liberty players speak to the media. I think it's more likely for college players to check out as opposed to professionals.
I guess you blame the players more in this situation since they did such a poor job execution-wise. Then again, if you were all those guys, you'd feel a certain type of way about Freeze openly admitting to his Auburn flirtation. In any event I'd pin this on the head coach for not having his guys ready. Can only imagine what the weird vibes were like prior to kickoff. New Mexico State ROLLED this Liberty team. Wild to see.
Rough finish for the 8-4 Flames, as they dropped three straight to end the regular season. Seriously, if you ever wanted a case study on an (in all likelihood) outgoing head coach to dissect, this is Exhibit A.
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