Blown away

So, here’s today’s question.

Alabama is hiring Liberty linebackers coach Robert Bala as its new inside linebackers coach, program sources confirmed to The Athletic on Saturday…

Bala, who came to Liberty after being the defensive coordinator at Southern Utah, had blown Hugh Freeze away in the interview process with his knowledge and demeanor. Bala obviously did something similar when he met with Saban earlier this week.

So, this guy blew Freeze away so strongly… that Freeze didn’t bring him to Auburn, but Saban’s grabbing him now?  I know he’s the GOAT and all, but that seems like I’m missing something.

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Sanctimony

Auburn hired Hugh Freeze so the rest of us can be punished with pseudo-inspirational garbage like this during his tenure there?

Committed to each other, for Auburn 🦅 pic.twitter.com/8ExbWpaToy

— Auburn Football (@AuburnFootball) December 6, 2022

Gag me with a spoon.

Football gods, I hope you know what to do.

They can’t help themselves.

The least surprising thing about Hugh Freeze’s new Auburn contract?  This, easily.

While the full contract has yet to be made public by Auburn, Freeze’s deal also includes a considerable buyout should he be terminated without cause prior to the end of the contract. In the event that happens, Freeze would be owed 75 percent of the remaining money on his contract, the official confirmed.

It’s Auburn.  That’s how Auburn rolls.  Hell, for all I know, Sexton offered a 50 percent buyout and Auburn insisted on the higher percentage.

If at first you don’t succeed, spend, spend again.

Via Erik Evans (!), this is one helluva data point.

Auburn has now paid more money in buyouts to football coaches than Nick Saban has earned at the University of Alabama.

On the Plains, ROI is just a myth.

Outsourcing, Auburn style

You sort of have to admire the efficiency of this:

Freeze is asked about assistant coaches, and he says he has his own list of candidates and his agent Jimmy Sexton had a list for him this morning.

Freeze gets choked up thanking Sexton for sticking with him.

— Justin Lee (@ByJustinLee) November 29, 2022

Although, they could just go all in and name Sexton an assistant AD for football matters and be done with it.

Praise the Lord!

Cadillac Williams announces he has accepted Hugh Freeze's offer to be Auburn's Associate Head Coach. Williams on Freeze: "He is a man of faith and we share many of the same values when it comes to coaching."

— Brandon Zimmerman (@BZSEC) November 29, 2022

Man, the SEC recruiting trail is gonna be something over the next few years, ain’t it?

Auburn: the next hire

Let’s get to work, ⁦@CoachHughFreeze⁩… Excited for the future on the Plains!!! #AuburnFamily #WarEagle pic.twitter.com/1BN7cl3tim

— Cadillac Williams (@CoachCaddy24) November 29, 2022

Now that Cadillac’s in the fold, I have a suggestion for the next addition to Freeze’s staff.  This guy:

He’s perfect.  I mean, consider this:

• From a recruiting perspective, Pruitt would fit seamlessly into the culture Freeze will establish at Auburn.
• He’s a Saban guy.  Barners will lap that shit up.
• You already know how he looks in orange.
• Best of all, you don’t have to worry about a pesky show cause order if you hire the guy before the NCAA slaps a show cause order on him.

They can probably get him pretty cheaply, too.  Like I said, perfect.

Freak control

This seems totally normal.

Multiple sources say Freeze has agreed to relinquish control of his social media accounts when he becomes the Auburn coach. The background check on Freeze was extensive, and the school hired a P.R. consultant to handle the expected blowback in bringing him aboard. They are jumping through a lot of hoops for Freeze.

As one source with Auburn ties said Sunday, “If he’s contractually obligated to stay off social media and they had to hire an ‘Oh S—’ firm before he even started, is hiring him really a good idea?”

Auburn knows whom they’re getting into bed with.  (And, yes, that analogy seems entirely appropriate here.)  Freeze’s coaching resume ain’t bad, but it’s not on the level, say, of an Urban Meyer, who, while also a man with serious character flaws, at least has a few championship rings to flash.

Can’t wait to see the job that P.R. consultant does.

When “due diligence” doesn’t mean what you think it means

Auburn, please.

Although he’s been courted for bigger jobs in the recent past—even at Auburn in 2020—Freeze’s off-the-field issues at Ole Miss kept many programs from hiring him. While in Oxford, Miss., Freeze presided over a program sanctioned for NCAA rule-breaking and embarrassed over an extramarital scandal that emerged in the summer of ’17.

In fact, the issues delayed his hiring at Auburn, multiple sources told SI. Though he emerged as the Tigers’ primary target Friday after weeks of negotiations with the school, Auburn did not officially hire him until Monday, as the university conducted a deep background check.  [Emphasis added.]

What, the published media reports didn’t give you enough of a clue?

The football gods still love me.

Those idiots on the Plains just can’t help themselves.

Auburn is finalizing a deal to hire Liberty coach Hugh Freeze, sources tell @SINow.

Freeze would return to the SEC, where in 2017 Ole Miss fired him amid NCAA and personal scandal. In 12 years as a college head coach, he’s had one losing season.

— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) November 28, 2022

They’re buying him because he notched two wins over Nick Saban.  (One less than Malzahn, by the way.)  His recruiting advantage then — paying players when that was against the rules — has vanished in the NIL era.  His overall record in the SEC in his five years with Ole Miss was 19-18, with winning records in 2014 (5-3) and in 2015 (6-2) and 8-11 overall in conference action in the others.

It’s quite the consolation prize for not getting Junior, that’s for sure.  Not that I’m complaining.

What’s the over/under on the number of times Auburn folks will reassure themselves that it’s worth it?

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UPDATE:

The same Auburn boosters who yammered rumors about Bryan Harsin having an affair in an attempt to get him fired are now welcoming Hugh Freeze.

— Dayne Young (@dayneyoung) November 28, 2022