Hugh Freeze details talks with Nick Saban about joining Alabama staff

Hugh Freeze is back in the SEC, taking over an Auburn program desperate to get back to winning ways. After a successful tenure at Ole Miss had a tumultuous ending, Freeze rebuilt himself at Liberty. He has returned to the conference seven years later and is expected to have an immediate impact.

Auburn is happy to have Freeze but he nearly ended up on the other side of the state. Nick Saban reportedly was looking to hire Freeze on a couple of different occasions. Plenty of Alabama offensive coordinators have left the program and Freeze was viewed as a potential candidate.

Throughout his tenure at Liberty, there were multiple reports connecting Freeze to Alabama’s then-open offensive coordinator position. But each opening came and went with Freeze deciding to remain at Liberty. There were reports the SEC offices played a factor in that decision.

Eventually, Freeze settled in at Liberty and told Saban making the move was too difficult.

“I wouldn’t say (the SEC blocked it),” Freeze said during Wednesday’s SEC Coaches Teleconference. “How real it was, that’s probably a question for Coach Saban. But he was so good to me in my two years out. Truthfully, it was when I got to Liberty that there were a couple of occasions that Coach Saban and I had great conversations about that. They just seemed to never work out for one reason or another.

“The most real was after I got to Liberty and his coordinator left. That was very, very hard on me there. But I had already gotten there and hired a few people. That would have been very difficult for me to leave. I think Coach understood that.”

Alabama had an opening following the 2020 season when Steve Sarkisian left in favor of the Texas head coaching job. Saban was fresh off a national championship but somehow, still needed to hire an offensive coordinator.

Bill O’Brien wound up being hired, a move fans turned out to not really enjoy. Freeze would have been a great football hire for Alabama and Saban clearly wanted him. How Alabama and Auburn look heading into the 2023 season could look significantly different had Saban ever brought Freeze on. It could be a huge game of ‘What if?’

Either way, Freeze is grateful for what Saban has done for him over the years. Freeze fought through hard times following his Ole Miss tenure but knew Saban would always be there for him and his family. The rivalry will be there moving forward but the two coaches will look out for one another.

“I’ve said it before — I know I’m at Auburn and he’s at Alabama but he and Miss Terry have been very, very good to Jill and I,” Freeze said. “I appreciate him even entertaining the thought that that could happen during those times.”