Freeze The Right Hire

Monday afternoon the Ole Miss Rebels introduced us to their new football coach Hugh Freeze. Freeze replaces Houston Nutt who coached his last game as a Rebel two weeks ago against Mississippi State. While this hire isn't going to be talked about much nationally and it isn't going to send SEC fans into a frenzy, it was the perfect hire for Ole Miss. With Freeze the Rebels get a man that knows the area, has a high octane offensive approach, can recruit, and really wants to be in Oxford.

The last two hires by the Rebels have been questionable at best. Ed Oregeron was an unproven position coach who wasn't ready to become a head coach yet. Sure, Orgeron was a great recruiter, but he didn't have the organization skills or management abilities to lead the Rebels to success. Houston Nutt was a quick fix. It was obvious by the talent Orgeron left behind that Nutt could win right away, but with a rah rah type coach with Nutt long term success is rare. Nutt had been a mediocre coach his 10 years at Arkansas and that wasn't going to change in Oxford. Still, he did come in and improve the program temporarily and gave some fans false hope. Unlike these two, Freeze will be a program builder and makes more sense for the Rebel Football program.

In many ways Freeze's career is similar to that of Art Briles at Baylor.  Briles was a fantastic high school coach in Texas, became an assistant under Mike Leach at Texas Tech, and then built the programs of Houston and Baylor to the success they have today.  Personally, I think Freeze is the same kind of coach as Briles and could exceed the success Briles has.

Freeze is most known for being the coach of Michael Oher in the movie Blind Side by those outside of the Mid South. Those located near the Mississippi River know that this man has been successful at every stop he's ever had. Unlike many head coaches in the industry, Freeze wasn't handed anything to him as a coach, he earned it all. Freeze worked his way through the high school scene for many years before landing the head coaching job at Briarcrest High School in Memphis, TN. It was there he started to make a name for himself by winning the State Championships twice with his outstanding spread attack.

Freeze's fantastic work as a high school coach earned him a position on Ed Orgeron's staff as a tight end coach and recruiting coordinator. It was Hugh Freeze that was responsible in bringing future Ole Miss stars like Dexter McCluster, Greg Hardy, and Shay Hodge. Quickly Freeze had established himself as one of the top recruiters in the South.

After Orgeron was fired Freeze took his first job as a college head coach. This first job was at NAIA school Lambuth where he compiled a 20-5 record in 2 seasons that included the school's first playoff birth in 12 seasons. It was here that Freeze was named the AFCA Southeastern Region's Coach of the Year in 2009.

Freeze then was able to land a job as offensive coordinator on Steve Roberts staff at Arkansas State University. His first year in Jonesboro saw the Red Wovles offense explode. The school set 9 school records in 2010 on offense. An impressive stat is that the year prior to Freeze, the Red Wolves only scored 272 points, but in his first year at ASU Freeze's offense scored 360 points. The Red Wolves went from 95th nationally in total offense to 43rd in just one season. Unfortunately for Steve Roberts the team didn't perform well on defense and ASU decided it was time for a change. The administration at ASU did something rare when it hired an assistant off a staff where the head coach was just fired, but they were impressed enough with Freeze to promote him to head the ASU program.

This past season Freeze did as good of a job coaching as anyone nationally. Arkansas State not only won the Sun Belt Conference, but they dominated it. The Red Wolves were the first ever SBC team to win 10 games in a regular season and also the first to win all their conference games. ASU outscored their opponents 33-19 on average and had by far their best year since moving up from 1-AA over 20 years ago. This ASU team even started to get votes in the AP and Coaches Polls, something that is unheard of for Sun Belt schools. Freeze dramatically improved the team he took over from Steve Roberts, something that typically defines a good coach.

Freeze will bring to Ole Miss Ed Orgeron's 12 month recruiting philosophy. This will be important as this way of recruiting has been proven to work for Orgeron. The talent in the Memphis area and in Mississippi is enough for Freeze to run his spread effectively, but the talent must be kept away from Mississippi State and any instate invaders. With a large facility upgrade coming to Oxford, this should certainly help Freeze in recruiting. He has a passion for Ole Miss and Memphis/Northern Mississippi area that will show when speaking with recruits. This is a dream job for Freeze and that pride is what is needed in Oxford.

Freeze also understands the Mississipppi State-Ole Miss rivalry. Having spent much of his life in the area, Freeze knows that if you win the Egg Bowl then you will win over the fans. Dan Mullen has done a great job promoting this rivalry at Mississippi State and his 3 straight wins over Houston Nutt is proof of that. Freeze isn't going to sit back and let Mullen take jabs at Ole Miss though. He will make it known that beating Mississippi State is something that is critical for the Rebels to survive in the SEC West.

This is a man that has a love for the Ole Miss family.  At times in his presser yesterday he almost sounded like a church pastor, but what you heard in his voice was a man that was ready to lead the Ole Miss program in a new direction.  Nutt and Orgeron were just men making stops in their coaching career, Freeze is in Oxford for the long run.  This kind of love an passion for the Rebel program is something that Ole Miss fans need to attach themselves to.  Through the long SEC losing streak, the nickname change, and negative publicity off the field the University of Mississippi has had its pride hurt in the last couple years.  Freeze is in Oxford to restor that pride.

Ole Miss fans need to realize that this is not a quick fix like Houston Nutt. Freeze isn't going to come in next year and proceed to win back to back Cotton Bowls. The first couple years are going to be tough for Freeze because the offensive personnel just isn't there right now. Only the Croom offenses and the one seen in Columbia, SC in 1999 were worst than the Rebels were in 2011. Freeze will need time and patience from the Rebel fans to get things going. If he's afforded that time then fans will start to see a program being built as Freeze will bring one of the more exciting styles to the SEC in his spread attack. This is a hire for the future and not a hire that is going to send Rebel fans to a top tier bowl in 2012.

Today Rebel fans should be happy. For the first time in over a decade the long term future of the program seems to be headed in the right direction. Hugh Freeze wants to be in Oxford and is the leader that Ole Miss fans have needed for a long time. In an age where the SEC West is loaded with great coaches, the Rebels did their part to add to the strength of that division. Good job Rebels, this time you got it right.

Matt Barber
Dixiefriedsports@gmail.com
http://twitter.com/#!/dixiefriedsport