After conducting one of the most non-leaky coaching searches in the history of coaching searches, Archie Manning and Mike Glenn, co-chairs of the search committee, arrived at the conclusion that Arkansas State head coach Hugh Freeze was the “best fit” for Ole Miss and offered him the job. Freeze, as you know by now, accepted the job and was introduced yesterday afternoon at a press conference that, when Freeze gave his opening remarks, had the feeling of a Joel Osteen sermon (all that was missing was a plexiglass podium and a Garth Brooks microphone, which should become part of every press conference of his from now on).
Most Ole Miss fans remember Freeze from his assistant days during the Shrimp Boat Captain era at Ole Miss, where he earned the reputation of being one of Ole Miss’ top recruiters. Since then, he’s been to Lambuth, San Jose State, and Arkansas State either as the offensive coordinator or head coach.
So what do we make of a guy who has, not counting high school, three years experience as a head coach, with only one of those at a D-I level? While not completely overwhelmed with joy at his hiring, I think Freeze is and will turn out to be a pretty good hire. He’s organized, recruits well, runs and believes in a type of offense Ole Miss has to run to have a chance, and, most importantly, everywhere he’s been the guy in charge, he’s won, which is what he’s paid to do.
His record as a head coach on a collegiate level is 30-7, which includes setting the mark for best record in school history at Lambuth, and leading Arkansas State from a 4-8 season to a 10-2 season that was the best record the school has had in 25 years. Obviously, the SEC offers more challenges than those two conferences, but he has shown the ability to dominate a pair of conferences at schools that have not always had much success, and done it in a very short amount of time.
I don’t believe we’ll be seeing the same quick turnaround at Ole Miss, mainly because OH MY ARE WE SO SO SO BAD, but this isn’t the first rebuilding project he’s come across, so I am able to generate some hope that 0-8 or 1-7 seasons in the SEC won’t remain the norm. And, while I’m having this glass of kool-aid, I’d like to point out that when Freeze was given control of the Ole Miss offense in the 2007 LSU game, he rolled up 466 total yards on the Tigers, which included a career-high 208 passing yards from Brent Schaeffer, who was, for lack of better words, NOT GOOD.
While it’s frustrating we seemingly ignored two proven winners in Rich Rodriguez and Mike Leach and waited 28 days to hire someone we could have had on the Monday afternoon of Houston Nutt’s firing, we avoided a total disaster, like a Tony Dungy (or any out-of-touch NFL guy) or a career defensive line coach who can recruit well. And that, given how poorly Ole Miss is run, is all you can really ask for out of Ole Miss, which is an excellent piece of commentary on how bad things are right now.
So here’s to a turnaround of 6-6, spending late December in Memphis, and dozens upon dozens of variations of “Freeze” for advertising/marketing purposes from the good folks at Rebel Sports Marketing. And if you think Vaught-Hemingway Stadium is not going to be called “The Freezer” on a t-shirt sold by Ole Miss, you have been asleep for the past 15 years.
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