Hugh Freeze answers questions regarding his past, backlash from Auburn fans
AUBURN — Nobody has to remind Hugh Freeze of his past transgressions, how they cost him the Ole Miss head coaching job, tarnished his reputation, and made his hire at Auburn a controversial one.
Freeze was asked questions regarding his past and understanding Auburn some fans’ frustrations on Tuesday during his introductory press conference.
Here were his answers:
Freeze was asked about rewriting his story…
“It’s humbling. I don’t believe in deserving something. I believe in earning something. And I do believe we fought to earn this. It’s been rocky at times. You can become overcome with emotion because truthfully, I feel like – and this is no offense to another school or anything – but I feel like I’ve leapfrogged where I was at that time by being in this family and in this culture here. And I loved my time there, but I see this as one of the top 10 football programs in the nation. I believe that. I don’t want to get emotional. We had that cry last night. We’ve celebrated that. I don’t know if rewriting the story is exactly the right word, but it’s going to make for a good ending. I couldn’t win any more in life. Look over there (points to family). Look at my friends and my family. I can’t win any bigger than that. I’m the most competitive dude I know, and I want to win football games. But I’ve already won in life, and that matters a lot more.”
RELATED: FREEZE’S FULL TRANSPARENCY IMPRESSES COHEN
Freeze on reports of Greg Sankey previously prohibiting him to be hired within the league…
“I’m not sure that’s accurate about Commissioner Sankey. I’ve had a really good, honest relationship with him through all of it. He’s never done anything but shoot me dead straight and tell me what he thought was best, not only for the conference, but for me. I appreciate a man that treats you like that, and I’m thankful for all of his leadership. I think it was the right move for me.”
On why second chances are important…
“As far as second chances, I don’t know anybody in this room who doesn’t deserve a second chance. Truthfully, if everybody’s life was documented as mine it would probably be uncomfortable for a lot of people. I don’t know if deserve is the word, but I sure am thankful for grace and that I do get to keep fighting every day for another chance.”
On winning the fans over…
“The thing that I’ve kind of said is please give me a chance to earn your trust. Give me some time to get to know us, get to know our family, get to know the truth of our story. I think that the ones who have done that have said, ‘Man, I kind of like this guy.’ That’s all you can ask is give us a chance to earn your trust, and I think you’ll like the end result.”
Freeze on what he needs to work on as a head coach…
“I’m really trying to be a better listener. I’m not great at that, but I’m better now. The last couple of years I’ve had to really make myself work at that. And I think that’s what players really need today. This head coach will listen and hear the whole story. And it helps me understand them more so that I can coach them better. I think that’s the number one thing that I’m continuing to try and develop in myself. To be a really good listener to our young men and their families. So that after I complete my listening and understand them better and I shoot them straight, I think they accept it. We feel like we’re in a relationship. It’s not just to stay eligible, stay out of trouble and make that scoreboard work out for me so that we can get everything that all the Auburn Family wants and they sing our praises. That’s all great. We want that. But, I think we really win their heart when we are in a relationship with them and that’s why I’m considering even backing off some of the offense so I don’t miss that.”
On understanding the backlash from fans…
“Truthfully, I really don’t know the magnitude of the backlash because, believe it or not, I just hadn’t been on any social media in the last three or four weeks. I have an account and someone else has been running it, but I really don’t know. I’ve come to grips with it. Everybody doesn’t know me. Everybody doesn’t care to get to know me and everybody has an opinion and they’re entitled to that. All I would ask is the ones I care about are the Auburn Family, the players, the administration and my family. That’s the ones that matter and those are the ones that I’m saying to take the time to get to know us. And as with anyone, all of us have made a mistake before and I think of how we have handled it as a family. And now I’ve handled it as owning it and moving forward and playing the next play and working to get better and learn from it. You know, that’s all I can do. And I’ll continue to do that every single day. What I did is what I did, but it’s not who I am. I know that. They know that. And hopefully everyone else will get to know that. But, I can’t really spend my time worrying about whatever it is that is catching the attention of the backlash. I just want to move forward and continue to do what I’ve done the last six years, put my hand to the plow and go to work.”
