Auburn football head coach Hugh Freeze has many skeletons in his closet from his past at Briarcrest Christian in Memphis, Ole Miss, and Liberty — some of which have come to life and made the hiring process to get him onto the Plains a PR nightmare.
There was one controversy that largely went unnoticed until January 27, the day of a court appearance for Liberty tight end Jerome Jackson. Jackson was accused of stalking an ex-girlfriend that worked in the Flames athletic department.
Inside Higher Ed reporter Josh Moody pushed the story into focus Friday morning when he ripped Auburn University over several tweets for not commenting on the matter after he reached out:
Former Liberty University football player Jerome Jackson will be in a Lynchburg court today on stalking charges that were filed during the 2022 season. He missed no playing time under Coach Hugh Freeze.
— Josh Moody (@byJoshMoody) January 27, 2023
Neither @LibertyU or @AuburnU will talk about it.
I reached out to Liberty to ask if they were aware Jackson had been charged with stalking and if LU took any disciplinary action. Liberty won’t answer. But Jackson played in every game of the 2022 season: (https://t.co/KQOVEnepTm)
— Josh Moody (@byJoshMoody) January 27, 2023
I also reached out to Auburn to ask if they were aware of this stalking charge and if Freeze’s handling of the matter was considered in their vetting process. But Auburn is unwilling to answer my questions about Freeze or its vetting process.
— Josh Moody (@byJoshMoody) January 27, 2023
Critics of the Liberty football program and of Hugh Freeze have also tried to initiate conversations about incidents at Liberty under Freeze’s leadership. But Auburn is unwilling to have those conversations.
— Josh Moody (@byJoshMoody) January 27, 2023
Jackson is getting his day in court. He is presumed innocent until proven guilty, of course. But the incident raises a lot of hard questions about Hugh Freeze, Liberty, and Auburn. Questions no one will answer.
— Josh Moody (@byJoshMoody) January 27, 2023
Notably, though, the ruling went in Jackson’s favor. Questions about what Freeze ignored about his player’s conduct for the sake of competition at Liberty will most certainly linger still, though, due to his notorious DMs with a sexual assault victim at LU.
What would make Hugh Freeze a public enemy of Auburn football
Hugh Freeze has earned himself a great deal of goodwill from his recruiting success, but his past risky behaviors need to be tabled if he wants to avoid being a public enemy of Auburn football fans.
AU is offering redemption to Freeze. If he blows it and exhibits any behaviors that justify the backlash to his hiring in November, he’ll lose plenty of Tiger fans that take the Auburn Creed seriously.