Multiple outlets are reporting that Hugh Freeze has agreed to a contract extension at Liberty.
The contract extension takes Freeze through the 2026 season with the Flames.
Dating back to last season, Freeze has led the Liberty program to nine straight wins and they’re coming off arguable the biggest win in program history – a 38-35 win over Virginia Tech last weekend.
“All aspects of our program are on the rise under Hugh’s leadership, and we are putting the infrastructure in place to make this one of the top Group of Five programs in the country,” Liberty AD Ian McCaw shared with ESPN.
This marks the second contract extension Freeze has signed with the school over the last 11 months, as he signed an extension last December as well.
Liberty is sitting at 7-0 currently and are ranked in the AP’s top 25. They beat Syracuse by double digits on the road earlier this year and have an opportunity to go 3-0 against ACC schools with a date against NC State later this month.
Their regular season finale against Coastal Carolina – a fellow Group of Five unbeaten and AP top 15 team, is scheduled for December 5th and that’s a game that a lot of folks have circled.
Freeze is 15-5 overall at Liberty, and what makes that even more impressive is you may recall images of him coaching from a hospital bed (and dentist’s chair) in the press box last year as he battled a life-threatening staph infection. He led the Flames to an 8-5 record last year, their first as a full-fledged FBS member and is off to a 7-0 start to 2020.
If Liberty is serious about making Freeze’s contract one of the best in the Group of Five that would take an annual commitment of about $3 million, based on what guys like Houston’s Dana Holgorsen ($3.8 million) and Cincinnati’s Luke Fickell ($3.4 million) are currently making.
The details, most notably the buyout structure, is what is going to be of most interest in the contract extension. Freeze’s quick success, and his track record of building a winner that can go toe-to-toe with the nation’s elite programs while at Ole Miss will all but assure the fact that schools that have a head coaching opening, or are considering making one, will check about Freeze’s interest and availability.
Stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.