Hugh Freeze opens up on where his battle with cancer stands

In February, Auburn head football coach Hugh Freeze revealed that he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. In the past, Freeze has said in the past that he struggles to believe he’s living with such a condition.

During a recent appearance on See Ball Get Ball with David Pollack, Freeze opened up about his battle with cancer and where his diagnosis stands heading into the 2025 college football season. Freeze gave a rather positive update on his diagnosis.

“We’re still kind of processing that,” Freeze said of his diagnosis. “I’ve got a great team of doctors. They feel like they caught it early enough that I’m fine to wait until January to really start, which would be a better month for me than right now before the season.

“And so we’re doing regular blood checks to make sure nothing’s spiking. Actually, my last blood test, my PSA (Prostate-Specific Antigen) went down. We’re praying, and who knows what’s going to happen, but that’ll be part of our story one day, when we see how it plays out. But we’re going to revisit that in January, we’re monitoring it, don’t get me wrong. we’re not ignoring it. We’re monitoring it and then January, we really think is when we kind of will attack it.”

According to ESPN’s Chris Low, he reported in April that Freeze had the option to have surgery to have the cancer removed in June, which was the month before Auburn’s season starts in January. It appears they have gone with the latter option.

Low spoke to his doctors at UAB and said that it’s a “slow-aggressive form” of cancer, and that his team of doctors are willing to wait instead of having the surgery immediately. In the interim, it is expected to be “very treatable and curable.” A man of faith, Freeze will leave the rest up to prayer.

“You don’t want to hear that word,” Freeze said. And when you get that word and you feel healthy and you’re enjoying the life with your, I can truly say that Jill is like my best friend, like we’re closer than I’ve ever been, and we’re enjoying doing life together. I’ve got grand-babies now and another one on the way, and then you get this report, and you’re like, ‘Whoa. Are you sure, now? Because I feel good, my weights good. I’m in shape right now, and and are. Are you sure on this?’

“I don’t have a seat. This is not a negotiation on how my story goes. It’s I’ve submitted that and surrendered that to my faith in God through Jesus Christ. He writes the story, and it’s part of the story, and so I’ve got to walk through that faithfully, whatever that looks like.”

Auburn will begin its 2025 college football season against Baylor on the road. The game is slated for a special Friday kickoff on Aug. 29.