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Hugh Freeze has agreed to a deal to turn into Auburn’s subsequent head soccer coach, sources advised ESPN.
An official announcement is anticipated later Monday.
Freeze has spent the final 4 seasons at Liberty, the place he took the Flames to unprecedented heights. He is extensively thought to be one of many prime offensive minds within the sport. This shall be Freeze’s second head teaching stint within the SEC after main Ole Miss’ program from 2012-2016. He beat Alabama and Nick Saban in back-to-back seasons in 2014 and 2015 and capped the 2015 season with the Rebels’ first Sugar Bowl victory since 1970.
However within the weeks main as much as the beginning of preseason observe in 2017, Freeze resigned after Ole Miss officers found that he had made a sequence of calls to a quantity related to a feminine escort service. Ole Miss was positioned on NCAA probation in 2017 for violations that occurred partially underneath Freeze, and the sanctions included a two-year bowl ban.
Freeze, whereas cited by the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions for failure to watch his assistant coaches and the varsity’s boosters, didn’t obtain a show-cause penalty and “promoted an environment of compliance,” in keeping with the NCAA report.
New Auburn athletic director John Cohen, who was employed on Oct. 31, had narrowed his search to Ole Miss’ Lane Kiffin and Freeze. Kiffin stated on Saturday he was staying at Ole Miss and signing a brand new deal price $9 million per 12 months.
Freeze, 53, replaces Bryan Harsin, who was fired on Oct. 31, two days after Auburn’s 41-27 loss to Arkansas at residence. Harsin was 9-12 total in lower than two seasons at Auburn, which skilled repeated struggles on offense underneath Harsin and had issue sustaining success on the recruiting path. Former Auburn athletic director Allen Greene, who employed Harsin, negotiated a settlement with the college to go away in August. Greene was coming into the ultimate 5 months of his contract, and sources advised ESPN that his contract was not going to be renewed after the season.
Harsin seemed like he may be out after 12 months 1 and survived a university-directed investigation in January following a mass exodus of gamers and assistant coaches. He was retained after then-school president Jay Gogue stated the method “didn’t yield info that ought to change the standing of our teaching employees or soccer program.” Harsin got here to Auburn from Boise State and had by no means beforehand coached within the SEC. He completed 4-11 towards Energy 5 opponents at Auburn.
Auburn owes Harsin a $15.5 million buyout, and 50 p.c of that’s due inside 30 days of his termination.
Freeze agreed to a brand new eight-year deal at Liberty in October with a mean wage of just below $5 million per 12 months, making him one of many highest-paid Group of 5 coaches within the nation. Liberty achieved a number of firsts on Freeze’s watch, together with the primary AP nationwide rating in class historical past and this system’s first wins over an ACC and SEC college.
Freeze turns into Auburn’s third totally different head coach within the final 4 years. Gus Malzahn, at the moment at UCF, was fired on the finish of the 2020 season. Harsin lasted components of two seasons earlier than being fired. The Tigers final received an SEC championship in 2013, Malzahn’s first season as head coach, and likewise performed within the BCS nationwide championship sport that season and misplaced to Florida State.
During the last 12 seasons, Auburn has both received a nationwide championship (2010) or performed for a nationwide championship (2013). Solely 5 different colleges in school soccer could make that declare throughout that span — Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, LSU and Ohio State.
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