Liberty University signs lucrative deal with football coach Hugh Freeze, sources say



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Hugh Freeze, who led the Liberty football team to the best start in program history this season, agreed to a new deal that sources said would place him among the top 5 non-Power 5 head coaches. the highest paid in college football.

“All aspects of our program are on the rise under Hugh’s leadership, and we are putting the infrastructure in place to make it one of the best Group of 5 programs in the country,” the director told ESPN on Wednesday. Liberty sportsman, Ian McCaw.

Liberty, as a private institution, does not publish the financial details of coaches contracts. But placing in the top five highest paid trainers in the non-Power 5 ranks would put Freeze’s average salary at over $ 3 million per year.

This is Freeze’s second season at Liberty, who have won nine straight games since last season, most recently a 38-35 road victory over Virginia Tech on Saturday.

“It was without a doubt the biggest win in our school’s history,” said McCaw, who added that both sides had been working on an extension for several weeks.

The Flames (7-0) are ranked No.22 in the latest Associated Press poll just their second full season at the FBS level after being a tentative schedule in 2018. They have two wins over ACC opponents after beating Syracuse 38-21 on the road earlier in the year and take on a third ACC enemy on November 21 when they travel to NC State.

Liberty ends the regular season with an unbeaten and No.15-ranked game in Coastal Carolina on December 5.

Freeze, one of the best offensive minds in varsity game, was also mentioned in connection with Southern Miss’s head coach position. He spoke to Alabama, Auburn and Tennessee about various coordinator / assistant roles two years ago before taking the Liberty job.

Liberty is tied for 19th nationally in scoring the offense this season and averaging 39 points per game. Quarterback Malik Willis, in his first season after transferring from Auburn, is ranked 14th nationally in all-out offense. He is averaging 323.7 yards per game and has accounted for 19 touchdowns.

Freeze also got a contract extension from Liberty last December. At the time, he expressed his gratitude to the fans, players and administration of Liberty after crippling back problems kept him away from preseason training. He trained the first matches from a hospital bed, then a dental examination chair in the press room.

In August last year, Freeze underwent surgery after a strand of potentially fatal staph infection entered his bloodstream and complicated severe pain he was already feeling from a herniated disc. in the back.

Freeze, 51, quit coaching for two years after quitting at Ole Miss ahead of the 2017 season, when school officials discovered what they called an inappropriate calling pattern on the school’s cell phone. University of Freeze. Freeze won nine games in 2014 and 10 games in 2015 at Ole Miss and beat Alabama both seasons. The Rebels won the Sugar Bowl to cap off the 2015 season, but Ole Miss faced stiff NCAA penalties, including a two-year bowl ban, which took place under Freeze’s watch. Freeze has been cited by the NCAA for failing to monitor its staff.

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