Hugh Freeze coaching career: Exploring Auburn's HC coaching history

Auburn football head coach Hugh Freeze is a veteran in every single sense of the word. He’s coached at the high level from high school to the college game, and he’s found success in all kinds. But just how successful has his head coaching career been?

We’re going to answer that question here. In this article, we’ll cover his records at the different schools where he’s coached–as well as his all-time and year-by-year win-loss records. We’ll also see how well he’s fared against one of the greatest college football coaches ever, among other achievements. So read on!

Hugh Freeze's coaching career

Hugh Freeze’s coaching career started with him coaching high school football at Briarcrest Christian School in Memphis from 1992 to 2004. There, he coached the former Baltimore Raven and well-known Super Bowl XLVII champion Michael Oher (of The Blind Side fame), alongside another ex-NFL player, Greg Hardy.

After his time at Briarcrest, he was hired by Ole Miss in 2006 where he stayed until the following year. He also had a brief stop at Lambuth and Arkansas State, before eventually returning to the Rebels in 2012. He stayed with Ole Miss until 2016 and then moved to Liberty from 2019-2022. As of the 2023 season, he is currently the head coach of the Auburn Tigers.

Hugh Freeze Record by year

Coach Freeze’s year-by-year win-loss record as a head coach technically starts with Briarcrest, but yearly records are not immediately available. Nevertheless, he was stellar as an HC at the high school, compiling a 94-30 record (.785 win PCT%) while there.

That said, we’re going to break down his win-loss records, starting with his stint at Lambuth. Then we move on to Arkansas State, Ole Miss, Liberty, and currently Auburn.

• 2008 (Lambuth): 8-4
• 2009 (Lambuth): 12-1
• 2011 (Arkansas State): 10-2
• 2012 (Ole Miss): 7-6
• 2013 (Ole Miss): 8-5
• 2014 (Ole Miss): 9-4
• 2015 (Ole Miss): 10-3
• 2016 (Ole Miss): 5-7
• 2019 (Liberty): 8-5
• 2020 (Liberty): 10-1
• 2021 (Liberty): 8-5
• 2022 (Liberty): 8-4
• 2023 (Auburn): 3-0

Hugh Freeze’s record at Ole Miss (2012-2017)

As the head coach of the Ole Miss Rebels, Freeze didn’t see a lot of success in terms of wins. Overall, he compiled a 39-25 mark for the Rebels. Despite starting slow during his first few years, he did manage to help the Rebels log back-to-back nine-win regular seasons and four straight bowl games (via OleMissSports).

Hugh Freeze’s record at Liberty (2018-2022)

His time at Liberty was relatively better compared to Ole Miss–if not drastically improved. Freeze compiled a 26-15 record (via SaturdayDownSouth) while there.

Hugh Freeze Record vs. Nick Saban

Despite his not-so-impressive college football record, Freeze actually earned a reputation for pulling off upsets against highly ranked teams. Specifically, he’s been almost even against Nick Saban’s mighty Alabama Crimson Tide. He is currently 2-3 against Saban.

Barely anyone wins against Saban and Alabama, but Freeze managed to steal two games against the legendary coach. The first victory came in 2014, which also broke Ole Miss’ 10-game losing skid against ‘Bama.

The second one came roughly a year later when the Rebels visited Tuscaloosa and beat the then-no. 2 Crimson Tide as a No. 15-ranked team (via AL.com).

Hugh Freeze Record vs. Auburn

What about Auburn? He likewise had a 2-3 record against the Tigers before he was hired by them. Auburn had a good start to the season but lost their last game 27-10 against Texas A&M Aggies.