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Pete ThamelESPN
Hugh Freeze has agreed to a new eight-year contract at Liberty that will put him among the highest-paid coaches in the Group of Five.
The contract is eight seasons and averages just under $5 million per year, according to ESPN sources. It is fully guaranteed through the 2030 season, per the sources, and the annual salary will make Freeze the highest-paid Group of Five coach in 2023 after Cincinnati transitions to the Big 12.
Freeze has gone 33-12 at Liberty in four seasons, which includes three bowl wins. The Flames are 7-1 this season despite playing much of the year with a quarterback who began at fourth on the depth chart.
If Freeze were to leave Liberty, it’s unknown how much he’d have to pay to exit his new deal. His success with the Flames has made him a candidate for higher-profile jobs, and he’s expected to be linked to the Auburn post if it opens later this year.
Freeze went 39-25 over five years at Ole Miss from 2012 to 2016 and didn’t coach for two seasons after his controversial firing. Freeze went 10-3 in 2011 as the head coach at Arkansas State.
Freeze has given Liberty’s nascent FBS program an adrenaline shot during his time there. Turner Gill went 6-6 in Liberty’s first full-time season in the FBS during 2018.
Since then, Freeze has gone 8-5, 10-1 and 8-5, including a memorable Cure Bowl victory over No. 9 Coastal Carolina in 2020. Last week, Liberty had one of the best regular-season wins in school history when it beat BYU 41-14 in front of its largest-ever crowds.
“We are grateful for Coach Freeze’s outstanding leadership of Liberty Football and the positive influence he has on our student-athletes,” Liberty athletic director Ian McCaw said in a statement Friday. “Liberty Football is realizing the vision that was cast for it decades ago and we are excited that Coach Freeze will lead the program into the future.”