Hugh Freeze Auburn Tigers football coach Hugh Freeze becomes emotional as he talks about is family as he is introduced at the Woltosz Football Performance Center in Auburn, Ala., on Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2022
College FootballNCAABy Sean Keeley on

When Auburn announced that it was hiring Hugh Freeze as its next football coach, the former Liberty and Ole Miss coach might have brought a lot of wins with him but he also brought a lot of baggage with him as well, including one particularly disturbing instance that he had never publicly apologized for.

Freeze oversaw Ole Miss from 2012 to 2016, leading the Rebels to a 10-3 season in 2015 and going 39-25 in that span. However, a massive NCAA violation scandal ended up costing him not only his job but most of those wins after it was revealed that Ole Miss committed numerous recruiting violations and Freeze himself had used a school phone to communicate with an escort service on multiple occasions.

After some time away, Freeze was hired at Liberty where he was given a second chance. He took advantage of it by turning the Flames into a perennial bowl team, though he courted controversy by DMing Chelsea Andrews, a sexual assault victim suing the school, to chastise her for criticizing his AD. Still, he’s won enough football games for his off-the-field actions to be forgiven, it seems.

When the news broke on Monday, ESPN reporter Chris Low caught flak for a tweet about Freeze in which he seemed to downplay the coach’s past transgressions, with many assuming this meant he was getting access and playing nice. That appears to be the case as Low spoke with Freeze on Tuesday and the topic of the DMs came up, especially in light of the fact that the person he messaged said that Auburn never reached out to her as part of their vetting process.

https://twitter.com/chelsandrews/status/1597348188385857536

“I learned from this situation that I should totally understand other people’s circumstances first before communicating or commenting on someone’s situation,” Freeze told ESPN. “It was an inadvertent misstep with no ill intent, and I am sorry.”

It doesn’t sound like Freeze or anyone from Auburn plans on contacting Andrews directly with an apology, however.

https://twitter.com/chelsandrews/status/1597820591267987456

There were plenty of other people around the CFB world who had some thoughts about Freeze’s belated apology as well.

[Chris Low]

About Sean Keeley

Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Editorial Strategy Director for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.

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