He was hired as the offensive coordinator at San Jose State, but left after three months to take the same job at Arkansas State.įreeze had been a finalist for that job and was brought in after Clay Helton, who had originally gotten the job, left to join USC’s staff.Īfter one season as offensive coordinator at Arkansas State, Freeze was named head coach - and won Sun Belt Coach of the Year honors - before he found his way back to Ole Miss, inheriting a program in decay.Īfter going a combined 15-13 in Freeze’s first two seasons, each capped by minor bowl victories, the Rebels have emerged as a national title contender. He was basically making magic,” said Sean Tuohy, Leigh Anne’s husband, Freeze’s good friend and former assistant coach at the high school level. His staff wasn’t paid for the last five months they were there, he said, because of declining funds that nearly forced the school’s closure.
He won 20 of 25 games and reached the NAIA quarterfinals despite a nonexistent budget. Freeze figured his dream - the one he shared with his wife Jill on their honeymoon - was over.Īfter leaving Ole Miss, he spent two years at NAIA school Lambuth University in Jackson, Tenn. The next year, he was promoted to an official assistant coach and the following year he was coaching the wide receivers and serving as a recruiting coordinator.īut when Orgeron was fired, the new staff didn’t retain him. Basically, he was a glorified gopher, taking a pay cut at that. Head coach Ed Orgeron hired him in 2005, after a dozen years of coaching high school football, as an assistant athletic director of football external affairs. If he would’ve made Hugh Hugh, it would’ve been the Hugh Freeze story.”įreeze figured he caught his big break months after Oher signed to play at Ole Miss. Or, as Tuohy said: “ had to dial down Hugh’s character. At the end of the day, that’s what I want my coaching to be about.” It changed a person’s trajectory in life.
#Hugh freeze movie
“I don’t think I needed so much guidance in coaching, but at the end of the day the movie is about a young man who receives a chance and a family who puts their faith into action. “I sure hope I’m not as goofy as this guy - that was my reaction,” Freeze said, referring to his character in the blockbuster flick. They describe him as thoughtful, passionate, caring and devoted, spending as much time with the guys who cut the grass at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium and his bench warmers as he does with his coaching staff and his star players. It couldn’t have been further from the truth, those close to Freeze say, reciting his records and achievements as if it’s their gospel: his two football state championships at the high school level at Briarcrest Christian in Memphis, Tenn., his five winning seasons in as many years as a collegiate head coach. The character received instruction from Oher’s adoptive mother, Leigh Anne Tuohy, played by Sandra Bullock, such as an in-game phone call for the proper way to motivate Oher. The character representing Freeze in the movie, named Coach Cotton and played by Ray McKinnon, was that of a bumbling coach who needed the help of a parent to get the most out of his star player. “I don’t think anyone could script it this way,” the 45-year-old, third-year coach said Friday in a phone interview in advance of Saturday night’s showdown in Death Valley between the 7-0 Rebels and No.
In nine years, Hugh Freeze has gone from coaching high school sports to leading the third-ranked college football program in the country, guiding Ole Miss to its best start since 1962, less than three years after one of its worst, a 2-10 disaster. His high school football coach’s journey should be next.
Michael Oher’s underdog story, from homeless teenager to millionaire NFL lineman, was chronicled in the Hollywood hit “The Blind Side.” Tim Tebow's Ole Miss worry feels like Eli Manning dig Lane Kiffin reveals bizarre place he found new Ole Miss punter NFL star breaks silence on brother's deathĬollege football linebacker, brother of Bills star dead at 22
0 kommentar(er)
