Prior to becoming the Auburn Tigers' head football coach, Hugh Freeze spent four seasons at Liberty, where he ended his time as head coach with a 34-15 record, a ranked season in 2020, and three consecutive bowl game wins. Freeze was successful at Liberty, and the Auburn football program was spiraling under Bryan Harsin.
Despite a highly optimistic start on the Plains and major improvements to recruiting, Freeze's Auburn story did not have a happy ending, and he was ultimately fired halfway through his third season with the Tigers. He ended with a 15-19 overall record, a 6-16 record in the conference, and zero winning seasons.
Amid all the coaching search drama taking place in the world of college football right now, there's no doubt that Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin is the top candidate for several programs. But ESPN's Rece Davis cautioned Kiffin to think carefully before he decides to leave Ole Miss, and to not repeat Freeze's mistake when it comes to "messing with happy."
“I went and visited with Hugh Freeze for about an hour before he coached a game at Auburn – and, I want to be clear, he didn’t say this – but I remember having a conversation with Pete (Thamel) shortly thereafter, and I said: ‘Man, I get the feeling he messed with happy," Davis said, per On3. "I get the feeling that something made him feel like he had to come back to the SEC because of the way he exited and what had happened, that he sort of had to face (his) demons. But that he was happy at Liberty, and enjoyed himself.
"The situations are wildly different, and certainly the circumstances are different, but that principle remains the same. If Lane Kiffin is happy in Oxford, and he certainly seems so, he should take that into consideration."