Hugh Freeze cancer update: Status for 2025 season, timeline for surgery revealed

In February, Auburn head football coach Hugh Freeze was diagnosed with prostate cancer. During an appearance on The Paul Finebaum Show on Friday, ESPN’s Chris Low provided an update on Freeze’s condition and his plans to address the disease moving forward.

“He’s talked to his doctors at UAB, and he said, ‘Listen, I couldn’t be more pleased with the care and advice I’ve gotten,'” Low said. “They had consulted with the Mayo Clinic about his cancer. He is 55 years old. It’s prostate cancer. He just feels like with the most recent tests that have come back, that it was a slow-aggressive form, that he’s willing to wait instead of having the surgery, because really, the only two times he could have the surgery would be January or June.

“He’s a man of faith, his family, he and his wife, Jill, have talked a ton about it, and he’s gonna wait. He’s gonna wait until the review and have it monitored, see where he is come January. And that’s sort of the plan right now. He said, ‘I’m at a peace with it. I feel great.’ I asked him, I said, ‘Are you having issues?’ He said, ‘No, I’m really not.’ And I just don’t think he’s ready to go under the knife right now.”

Thankfully, the doctors caught the cancer in its early stages and it is expected to be “very treatable and curable.” Freeze has the option to have surgery to have the cancer removed in June — the month before Auburn’s season starts — or next January.

According to Low, Hugh Freeze is currently planning on holding off on the surgery until next year. On Thursday, Freeze discussed his plans directly with the media.

“In consultation with the doctors that we’re dealing with, they think that if mentally I can handle waking up at night knowing you have something in you that you don’t want in you, they don’t feel like I have to be in a hurry to do something,” Freeze said.

“… I can handle the mental side of it. Doc’ called me the other day and he’s been awesome, Doctor Bugg out of Birmingham. He doesn’t think it’s a big difference in June or January, other than can I handle it, the mental side of it? And, I said, ‘Really, Doc, the only time I think about it is when you call me.”

Freeze is entering his third season at the helm of Auburn. He posted a combined 11-14 record and a 5-11 mark in conference play through his first two years. The Tigers will look to a major step forward this season under Freeze.