Auburn football: Hugh Freeze and 5 replacements for Gus Malzahn as Tigers head coach
By John Buhler
If he can win big at Ole Miss and Liberty, he can win big at Auburn
Let’s be real. The reason Auburn fired Malzahn is because it believes it can get Hugh Freeze to be its next head coach. Interestingly enough, Freeze was the head coach of the Arkansas State Red Wolves before Malzahn briefly took over in 2012. Freeze had great success while leading the Ole Miss Rebels from 2012 to 2016, but was fired amidst great controversy and scandal in Oxford.
His reputation took a massive hit after what went down at Ole Miss in 2016. He would resurface in 2019 to lead the national independent Liberty Flames as they transition from being an FCS-level program into an FBS-level one. Freeze has made Liberty one of the best and most well-coached teams in the Group of 5 in the last two years. He would leave for a job like Auburn.
What people forget about Freeze at Ole Miss is he beat Alabama twice and played in two New Year’s Six bowls. Ole Miss had not been this dominant since the glory days under the iconic Johnny Vaught back in the late 1950s and early 1960s. That is not to say Freeze is the next Pat Dye for Auburn, but we know he can coach and compete on a big stage in the SEC West.
Other SEC teams would love to hire Freeze in this cycle. Teams like the South Carolina Gamecocks, the Tennessee Volunteers and Vanderbilt Commodores would hope he would consider them. While Tennessee may be a dream job for him personally, Auburn is the infinitely better job of the two. Auburn is without question the best job he can get and he is easily the best candidate.
Who will be the next head coach of Auburn football to replace Dancing Gus down on The Plains?
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