[Tnobes]

A coach that goes 10-1 doesn't leave to be an offensive coordinator, a fired head coach might but not on their own accord.

[phoenix]

I have, fortunately, been proven wrong.

Ballcoach is never wrong. If another team wins, he just says they were "lucky."

And the refs were crooked.

So ballcoach is a Coastal fan?!

[Purple Haize]

I never would’ve thought McKay would leave a HC position to be an assistant when he left for UVA.

Saban and HCHF are really good friends. He wanted him when no one else did. I think if Saban came calling about him to be the OC, he’s more than likely to accept. I think he’ll get bigger offers if he goes that route too.

I wasn’t aware that Saban and Freeze were tight. That certainly adds a different dynamic to it
RMK wasn’t that big of a shock considering they were friends.

[Racenut]

It seems obvious to me that all those on this board that seem to think that Coach Freeze is gone at the first "Great" job offer have never worked for a crappy boss, or have never worked where the pressure to produce was so great that it negated any joy that you achieved. Most of the jobs in the SEC or BIG 10 or BIG 12 for that matter come with the tremendous pressure where anything short of a National Championship is unacceptable. On top of that, the elite top 10 programs also come with the caveat of having to measure up to some former coach whose faults have been long forgotten. In my mind Coach Freeze has the ultimate job. With all due respect to former LU coaches, the level of success he has already achieved after only two years on the job is attributed to him and him alone. What he builds from here on out will only add to his legacy. The pressure to succeed will only be what he puts on himself. A NY6 Bowl Game is completely within the realm of possibility the way things are set up now and who knows what changes will happen in the coming years. $15 Million over five years, a place where an off year is not going to get you fired (ask 7-3 Tom Herman), a place you and your family are respected and encouraged and the unique mission of LU makes it the perfect fit. Looking at the success and the recruiting classes of the last two years leads me to believe that there is nothing that he can't accomplish here and I hope he feels the same.

[FlamesHighontheTide]

I agree that he doesn't leave just to be an OC at Bama, but and it is a big but if Saban were to tell him he would be the guaranteed head coaching in waiting then that might be the icing on the cake for him to leave. The other hypothetical is Saban retires in 2 or 3 years

[Purple Haize]

It seems obvious to me that all those on this board that seem to think that Coach Freeze is gone at the first "Great" job offer have never worked for a crappy boss, or have never worked where the pressure to produce was so great that it negated any joy that you achieved. Most of the jobs in the SEC or BIG 10 or BIG 12 for that matter come with the tremendous pressure where anything short of a National Championship is unacceptable. On top of that, the elite top 10 programs also come with the caveat of having to measure up to some former coach whose faults have been long forgotten. In my mind Coach Freeze has the ultimate job. With all due respect to former LU coaches, the level of success he has already achieved after only two years on the job is attributed to him and him alone. What he builds from here on out will only add to his legacy. The pressure to succeed will only be what he puts on himself. A NY6 Bowl Game is completely within the realm of possibility the way things are set up now and who knows what changes will happen in the coming years. $15 Million over five years, a place where an off year is not going to get you fired (ask 7-3 Tom Herman), a place you and your family are respected and encouraged and the unique mission of LU makes it the perfect fit. Looking at the success and the recruiting classes of the last two years leads me to believe that there is nothing that he can't accomplish here and I hope he feels the same.

Absolutely spot on. I’m not sure why he’d want to leave for any place unless he’s got a legitimate shot to win a National Title. He’s already experienced the pressure cooker that is SEC football and we know what happened. That’s why only a handful of jobs IMO would be appealing to him. This past year that would have been Auburn. Texas too, but Sark appears to have been a foregone conclusion there.
But why not stay and build your own thing while making millions in Central VA? It’s a great gig quite frankly

[olldflame]

There is no doubt that high level coaches like HF tend to be a special breed, and are more driven and focused on career goals than most of us. On the other hand, I believe being in a place where you are valued for both what you do and who you are and know you will not be kicked to the curb based on short term failures is something that has an appeal to almost anyone.

[LUGrad2000]

If he stays a few years, University Blvd will be renamed Hugh Freeze Blvd. If he gets us an invite to the AAC, he will have a statue out in front of the stadium. If he gets us a NY6 bowl, the field will be renamed Williams Stadium at Hugh Freeze field.

[tyndal23]

@Kricket LU should be (and IMO is) positioning themselves to find a landing spot when the next big realignment shake up happens. No one knows what that’s gonna look like but I would wager being an Independent is going to be impossible. I brought up ND because EVERYONE brings up ND when talking about what LU is going to be, as if that’s easy. No one mentions Army. No one mentions New Mexico St. UMASS. Those are also possible scenarios for LU’s future. I don’t THINK that will happen. As long as LU continues to pour money into the football program and good coaching hired they should be fine. But the margin for error is slim
The next step is winning signature games, and that’s going to get more difficult. I can see VT buying out the rest of the contract. Maybe even UVA. Other schools will be reluctant to schedule LU. (There is a partial remedy for that but that’s a different topic maybe) And I wasn’t being snarky. Beating VT was great. I’d say long term bigger than Cure Bowl 2. But how many teams with winning records has LU beaten in the FBS era? You’re not going to make the NY6 beating NMSU 2x’s every year.
As for you snipe about my FCS position I stand by it. I have, fortunately, been proven wrong. Given the information at the time and with back history it made sense. No One knew the amount of money LU was willing to burn to upgrade the program. No one knew they would threaten to sue the NCAA to become FBS Independent. No one knew LU would catch lightning in a bottle with Freeze. Who, as an aside, will pay dividends for years because he showed the non athletic folks who make the decisions what “Big Boy Football “ actually looks like, not what they “think” it looks like. That’s a Hug(h)e piece. I’m not afraid to admit they broke with past performance and so far have had a good result.

Congrats PH on your annual post of more than one sentence and making a point vs your normal one sentence response criticizing or approving of other posts. ( I say that with much love and respect ) As for LU “ willing to burn” $ suddenly, I will argue the complete opposite. From day 1 LU was putting $ they didn’t have in to sports. From 88-93 ( yes it took me 5 to play 4 ) SR was begging for $ to keep the lights on and make payroll while building Vines and Williams and bringing in ex pro coaches with sports at the forefront. As an FCS program we always had top facilities and typically top coaches - now that we actually have $ to “burn” the question is, how to most effectively burn it - striving for a G5 Conference invite with a hard cap ceiling and revenue share OR a P5 Independent football program with a higher ceiling ( but still a ceiling ) with no tv $ rev share - which option gets us to being the “ND,BYU,USC and Bama” ( Jerry’s quote aka vision ) quicker? I say emphatically P5 Independent. Still waiting on a realistic
argument that somehow gets us a P5 conference invite by going the independent “hybrid 3-4 P5 game route” or G5 “ invite” route and then waiting behind 7 -10 other G5 schools that don’t have political religious baggage to get a P5 invite ( that won’t come) to a P5 conference with decent geographical....

[rtb72]

@Kricket LU should be (and IMO is) positioning themselves to find a landing spot when the next big realignment shake up happens. No one knows what that’s gonna look like but I would wager being an Independent is going to be impossible. I brought up ND because EVERYONE brings up ND when talking about what LU is going to be, as if that’s easy. No one mentions Army. No one mentions New Mexico St. UMASS. Those are also possible scenarios for LU’s future. I don’t THINK that will happen. As long as LU continues to pour money into the football program and good coaching hired they should be fine. But the margin for error is slim
The next step is winning signature games, and that’s going to get more difficult. I can see VT buying out the rest of the contract. Maybe even UVA. Other schools will be reluctant to schedule LU. (There is a partial remedy for that but that’s a different topic maybe) And I wasn’t being snarky. Beating VT was great. I’d say long term bigger than Cure Bowl 2. But how many teams with winning records has LU beaten in the FBS era? You’re not going to make the NY6 beating NMSU 2x’s every year.
As for you snipe about my FCS position I stand by it. I have, fortunately, been proven wrong. Given the information at the time and with back history it made sense. No One knew the amount of money LU was willing to burn to upgrade the program. No one knew they would threaten to sue the NCAA to become FBS Independent. No one knew LU would catch lightning in a bottle with Freeze. Who, as an aside, will pay dividends for years because he showed the non athletic folks who make the decisions what “Big Boy Football “ actually looks like, not what they “think” it looks like. That’s a Hug(h)e piece. I’m not afraid to admit they broke with past performance and so far have had a good result.

Congrats PH on your annual post of more than one sentence and making a point vs your normal one sentence response criticizing or approving of other posts. ( I say that with much love and respect ) As for LU “ willing to burn” $ suddenly, I will argue the complete opposite. From day 1 LU was putting $ they didn’t have in to sports. From 88-93 ( yes it took me 5 to play 4 ) SR was begging for $ to keep the lights on and make payroll while building Vines and Williams and bringing in ex pro coaches with sports at the forefront. As an FCS program we always had top facilities and typically top coaches - now that we actually have $ to “burn” the question is, how to most effectively burn it - striving for a G5 Conference invite with a hard cap ceiling and revenue share OR a P5 Independent football program with a higher ceiling ( but still a ceiling ) with no tv $ rev share - which option gets us to being the “ND,BYU,USC and Bama” ( Jerry’s quote aka vision ) quicker? I say emphatically P5 Independent. Still waiting on a realistic
argument that somehow gets us a P5 conference invite by going the independent “hybrid 3-4 P5 game route” or G5 “ invite” route and then waiting behind 7 -10 other G5 schools that don’t have political religious baggage to get a P5 invite ( that won’t come) to a P5 conference with decent geographical....

Okay...magic wand here....we are now "P5 Independent". How do we "make" teams play us. PH's argument is not unrealistic. We are P5 Indy....and we work toward scheduling 5,6,7,9....P5s, but as we become more and more successful there will be less takers. "Build it and they will come" doesn't work here. And I was all for going FBS, so me and PH differ there, but he has over and over established he was wrong. Let's move on from that. Also, I can't provide a reference, but I even thought I saw where HCHF say the number of P5s we are presently scheduling is prudent for where we are.

[Purple Haize]

@rtb72 I guess LU could threaten to sue schools to play them. There’s always a WIFM component and right now that means an FBS win without a lot of effort playing LU. When that dynamic changes so does the WIFM. You are 100% correct that the “if you build it they will come” mentality doesn’t work. Like most fans, die hard LU fans over value the influence of their team. Hugh Freeze is an absolute game changer for the FB program but to say LU now belongs in the Big 12 or an ACC affiliate similar to the deal ND has is just silly talk. Case in point, I’m still waiting for someone to tell the group how many wins against FBS schools with >.500 does LU have in their FBS career.

[alabama24]

Congrats PH on your annual post of more than one sentence

Congrats to tydnal23 on his daily "power 5" equivalent rambling post. Well done!

[Purple Haize]

Congrats PH on your annual post of more than one sentence

Congrats to tydnal23 on his daily "power 5" equivalent rambling post. Well done!

Must have gotten is Internet privileges restored for good behavior

[Tnobes]

@Kricket LU should be (and IMO is) positioning themselves to find a landing spot when the next big realignment shake up happens. No one knows what that’s gonna look like but I would wager being an Independent is going to be impossible. I brought up ND because EVERYONE brings up ND when talking about what LU is going to be, as if that’s easy. No one mentions Army. No one mentions New Mexico St. UMASS. Those are also possible scenarios for LU’s future. I don’t THINK that will happen. As long as LU continues to pour money into the football program and good coaching hired they should be fine. But the margin for error is slim
The next step is winning signature games, and that’s going to get more difficult. I can see VT buying out the rest of the contract. Maybe even UVA. Other schools will be reluctant to schedule LU. (There is a partial remedy for that but that’s a different topic maybe) And I wasn’t being snarky. Beating VT was great. I’d say long term bigger than Cure Bowl 2. But how many teams with winning records has LU beaten in the FBS era? You’re not going to make the NY6 beating NMSU 2x’s every year.
As for you snipe about my FCS position I stand by it. I have, fortunately, been proven wrong. Given the information at the time and with back history it made sense. No One knew the amount of money LU was willing to burn to upgrade the program. No one knew they would threaten to sue the NCAA to become FBS Independent. No one knew LU would catch lightning in a bottle with Freeze. Who, as an aside, will pay dividends for years because he showed the non athletic folks who make the decisions what “Big Boy Football “ actually looks like, not what they “think” it looks like. That’s a Hug(h)e piece. I’m not afraid to admit they broke with past performance and so far have had a good result.

Congrats PH on your annual post of more than one sentence and making a point vs your normal one sentence response criticizing or approving of other posts. ( I say that with much love and respect ) As for LU “ willing to burn” $ suddenly, I will argue the complete opposite. From day 1 LU was putting $ they didn’t have in to sports. From 88-93 ( yes it took me 5 to play 4 ) SR was begging for $ to keep the lights on and make payroll while building Vines and Williams and bringing in ex pro coaches with sports at the forefront. As an FCS program we always had top facilities and typically top coaches - now that we actually have $ to “burn” the question is, how to most effectively burn it - striving for a G5 Conference invite with a hard cap ceiling and revenue share OR a P5 Independent football program with a higher ceiling ( but still a ceiling ) with no tv $ rev share - which option gets us to being the “ND,BYU,USC and Bama” ( Jerry’s quote aka vision ) quicker? I say emphatically P5 Independent. Still waiting on a realistic
argument that somehow gets us a P5 conference invite by going the independent “hybrid 3-4 P5 game route” or G5 “ invite” route and then waiting behind 7 -10 other G5 schools that don’t have political religious baggage to get a P5 invite ( that won’t come) to a P5 conference with decent geographical....

I don't disagree with your post but every state school is also political and religious, we accept their false claim that they are "non religious and apolitical" and we should not let them get away with it. Just my opinion, not personal against your post just if someone says "liberty and BYU are religious and the schools in the Big10 aren't" we should call them out on it

[Recon-32]

Will Jeremy Pruitt make it?
@Clowespn
tells #3HL: "looking at it from where we are right now, talking to some people, I think its going to be difficult... you never say never... it will be difficult for him to be the Head Football coach."

[Recon-32]

Chris Low also said during an interview this morning that Hugh Freeze made the most sense to be the next coach. Or something similar to that. It was on the "Swain Event" show this morning.

[Recon-32]

https://post.futurimedia.com/wgfx/playl ... 13571.html

Start at about 9 minutes left in the interview

[ballcoach15]

Sources tell me that Coach Freeze will be one of the "Coach Commentators or Analysts ", for National Championship game, ESPN'S Film Room.
This will be great PR for Liberty.

[Purple Haize]

Sources tell me that Coach Freeze will be one of the "Coach Commentators or Analysts ", for National Championship game, ESPN'S Film Room.
This will be great PR for Liberty.

I’ve loved watching that broadcast feed over the years

[thepostman]

It is nice listening to real coaches talk about the game as opposed to the frauds around these parts

[tyndal23]

@Kricket LU should be (and IMO is) positioning themselves to find a landing spot when the next big realignment shake up happens. No one knows what that’s gonna look like but I would wager being an Independent is going to be impossible. I brought up ND because EVERYONE brings up ND when talking about what LU is going to be, as if that’s easy. No one mentions Army. No one mentions New Mexico St. UMASS. Those are also possible scenarios for LU’s future. I don’t THINK that will happen. As long as LU continues to pour money into the football program and good coaching hired they should be fine. But the margin for error is slim
The next step is winning signature games, and that’s going to get more difficult. I can see VT buying out the rest of the contract. Maybe even UVA. Other schools will be reluctant to schedule LU. (There is a partial remedy for that but that’s a different topic maybe) And I wasn’t being snarky. Beating VT was great. I’d say long term bigger than Cure Bowl 2. But how many teams with winning records has LU beaten in the FBS era? You’re not going to make the NY6 beating NMSU 2x’s every year.
As for you snipe about my FCS position I stand by it. I have, fortunately, been proven wrong. Given the information at the time and with back history it made sense. No One knew the amount of money LU was willing to burn to upgrade the program. No one knew they would threaten to sue the NCAA to become FBS Independent. No one knew LU would catch lightning in a bottle with Freeze. Who, as an aside, will pay dividends for years because he showed the non athletic folks who make the decisions what “Big Boy Football “ actually looks like, not what they “think” it looks like. That’s a Hug(h)e piece. I’m not afraid to admit they broke with past performance and so far have had a good result.

Congrats PH on your annual post of more than one sentence and making a point vs your normal one sentence response criticizing or approving of other posts. ( I say that with much love and respect ) As for LU “ willing to burn” $ suddenly, I will argue the complete opposite. From day 1 LU was putting $ they didn’t have in to sports. From 88-93 ( yes it took me 5 to play 4 ) SR was begging for $ to keep the lights on and make payroll while building Vines and Williams and bringing in ex pro coaches with sports at the forefront. As an FCS program we always had top facilities and typically top coaches - now that we actually have $ to “burn” the question is, how to most effectively burn it - striving for a G5 Conference invite with a hard cap ceiling and revenue share OR a P5 Independent football program with a higher ceiling ( but still a ceiling ) with no tv $ rev share - which option gets us to being the “ND,BYU,USC and Bama” ( Jerry’s quote aka vision ) quicker? I say emphatically P5 Independent. Still waiting on a realistic
argument that somehow gets us a P5 conference invite by going the independent “hybrid 3-4 P5 game route” or G5 “ invite” route and then waiting behind 7 -10 other G5 schools that don’t have political religious baggage to get a P5 invite ( that won’t come) to a P5 conference with decent geographical....

Okay...magic wand here....we are now "P5 Independent". How do we "make" teams play us. PH's argument is not unrealistic. We are P5 Indy....and we work toward scheduling 5,6,7,9....P5s, but as we become more and more successful there will be less takers. "Build it and they will come" doesn't work here. And I was all for going FBS, so me and PH differ there, but he has over and over established he was wrong. Let's move on from that. Also, I can't provide a reference, but I even thought I saw where HCHF say the number of P5s we are presently scheduling is prudent for where we are.

HF actually thinks any more than 2 is one too many P5 for where we are and I agree with him, if the goal is to be top G5 team. My argument is that should not be the goal ( we are already there temporarily ) people refer to Boise, Cinci, Memphis, ( where has sustained success gotten them other than a pat on the back ? ) As for scheduling - I have dozens of posts on it and it can’t start before 2027 due to current scheduling contracts. Pretty sure most of you will be bored with G5 and Cure Bowls by 2027...but by then you will have to wait until 2032 to get to my plan due to scheduling 5 years out minimum...scheduling as a really good “g5 “ is much harder than scheduling as a team that conferences consider P5 equivalent and I have laid out the map numerous times how to bust through. 5 home games, 7 road games and paying big $ for home P5 and taking little for road games against bottom 1/3 of P5 teams plus P5 budget and coaching contract for a HF talent to take it on, knowing he isn’t getting judged on W-L during that 5 year stretch.

[JK37]

I hear you, I really do.

Two goals:
1. P5
2. Top G5

Are the two mutually exclusive? Can #2 not be the stepping stone to #1?

[Jonathan Carone]

This thread makes my head hurt.

[alabama24]

Sources tell me that Coach Freeze will be one of the "Coach Commentators or Analysts ", for National Championship game, ESPN'S Film Room.
This will be great PR for Liberty.

You mean good PR for Tennessee, right?

(Just joking, just joking!)

[ballcoach15]

P5, G5 or any other 5, I am confident there's "secret work", taking place pertaining to getting LU into a conference that plays all sports.