Goal:Met. Prayer: Answered.

In honor of the beginning of the college football season, I figured I would post a previously published story that I wrote regarding Hugh Freeze, a Tate County native now entering his first season as head coach of the Ole Miss Rebels.

(As published in The Democrat on December 20, 2011.)

Goal: Met. Prayer: Answered.

 Tate County’s Hugh Freeze lands dream job

 

Senatobia native Hugh Freeze has been named the University of Mississippi’s 37th head football coach.

Archie Manning, a former Ole Miss and NFL quarterback, who was chosen to co-lead a search committee along with Fed Ex Executive Vice President of Market Development and Corporate Communications Mike Glenn, announced the decision via video on www.olemisssports.com last week.

Freeze, who served as the head football coach at Arkansas State University this season, led the Red Wolves to a 10-2 record and the Sun Belt Conference Championship. Prior to 2011, Freeze’s first season as head coach, the Red Wolves had never finished a season with a winning record since the team moved to the Football Bowl Championship Subdivision.

Football: ministry?

In his public introduction press conference, held in front of a capacity-plus crowd on campus at the Gertrude Castellow Ford Center for the Performing Arts, Freeze thanked those responsible for his hiring, and said he was especially thankful for his family.

“I’d like to thank my family,” an emotional Freeze said, “I’ve taken them all around the nation to get back to one place, and that’s right here at THE University of Mississippi.”

At the end of a fiery opening speech, one reporter asked Freeze, jokingly, if he’d ever considered getting into ministry.

“Absolutely, I feel blessed by God, and I think this is the ministry,” Freeze said. “All joking aside, I’m so far from perfect, but I know where my forgiveness comes from and I’m blessed to be here. I wake up every morning knowing God’s goodness to me.”

“This is home”

Freeze also told the crowd that the job is the one he had always wanted and that he never wants to leave.

“This is a destination place for me. It is not a stop along the path. It’s where I want to live. It’s where I want to be. It’s where I want to retire. This is home to me,” Freeze said.

It’s difficult to doubt his sincerity when he talks of “home,” as Freeze grew up in Independence and graduated from Senatobia High School in 1988 before attending Northwest and later graduating from the University of Southern Mississippi. He is the son of Danny and Rita (Walker) Freeze.

In a recent story for The Democrat, Freeze said that he felt blessed to have grown up in Tate County.

“I’m blessed to be a Tate County boy. That’s home to me. My parents and grandparents and so many friends are there, and when I was growing up, they all raised you,” Freeze said.  “I’m very blessed to have so many good friends there and to be raised there in Tate County and to go to High School in Senatobia.”

“Some of my dearest friends are still the friends that I had from those days,” Freeze said.

Influencing an influence

Oakley

Phil Oakley, currently the head coach of the Senatobia High School football team, coached Freeze in high school, and is a person Freeze said he considered one of his early influences. Oakley was thrilled to hear that Freeze had gotten the Ole Miss job.

“I am proud to say that I happened to be just a small portion of his life.  He has always been a blessing to me and now some other young people, who choose to attend Ole Miss, will receive that same blessing.  As we like to say at Senatobia High  ‘It is a great day to be a Warrior’ and this is especially true when former students represent your school the way Hugh Freeze has and will,” Oakley said, “Hugh Freeze will represent himself, his family, Senatobia High School and the University of Mississippi like no other. “

Faith and family

Former Independence High School and Senatobia High School football coach Jerry Barrett has been a close friend of the Freeze family for years, and is another person Freeze said he considers an influence. Barrett has had the opportunity to watch Hugh grow up, both in the game and in life.

“His dad helped me coach out at Independence for a long time. We went to church with Hugh and his family and they were all churchgoing people, Christian people, and in my opinion, none of that has changed. He’s still who he is,” Barrett said. “I think he’ll always be who he really is. I don’t think anything like this will change him. Internally, I don’t think any of this fame and fortune, this great job, will ever change any of that. I think his head is screwed on right and I think it will stay that way, simply because of the way his mother and father have raised him.”

Mission accomplished

Barrett said that to become the head coach at Ole Miss is the goal that Hugh has always wanted to accomplish.

“This is something that is a goal that he always wanted to pursue, and I think he’s pursued it the right way, putting things in perspective and in the right order. I think people who go about things in the right way usually reach those goals and, to me, that’s what it’s all about,” Barrett said.

Winning.

Freeze is known throughout the football community for his offensive prowess. He’s widely regarded as one of the best young minds in the game, and his tendency to think outside of the proverbial box has proven very successful at every stop he has made on his coaching journey.

As head coach at Briarcrest Christian School in Memphis, Freeze’s football teams won state championships in 2002 and 2004, as well as regional championships in 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001 and 2002. Freeze was named Region 8-AA Coach of the year five times as well as Associated Press Coach of the Year four times. It was at Briarcrest that Freeze coached Michael Oher of The Blind Side fame and now starting offensive lineman for the Baltimore Ravens, and Greg Hardy who would also go on to Ole Miss and is a starting defensive lineman for the Carolina Panthers.

Freeze joined Coach Ed Orgeron’s staff at Ole Miss in 2005 as Assistant Athletics Director for Football External Affairs and became an assistant coach the next year, coaching wide receivers, which included future NFL stars Dexter McCluster of the Kansas City Chiefs and Mike Wallace of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Following Orgeron’s dismissal in 2007, Freeze landed as head coach at Lambuth University, where his teams compiled a 20-5 record over two seasons, leading to Freeze being named the American Football Coaches Association’s Southeast Region Coach of the year in 2009.

Freeze spent the next season as Offensive Coordinator at Arkansas State, before being named Head Coach of the Red Wolves prior to the 2011 season. As coordinator, Freeze’s offense improved from 95th in the nation in total offensive production and 90th in scoring offense the year before Freeze arrived, to 43rd and 45th, respectively.

This season, in his first as head coach, the Red Wolves improved further, currently ranked 25th in total offense, as well as 20th in total defense.

‘A learning process’

Barrett

Barrett said he doesn’t think that Freeze has reached his ceiling yet, so to speak, and that he will continue to improve as a coach.

“I think he is in a learning process. He hasn’t maxed out by any means. He’s just 42 years old. He’s still learning and will continue to learn. He changes with the game,” Barrett said.

“He’s been around football all his life. Not necessarily with Coach David Fly who started football out at Independence, but Danny Freeze played for Coach Fly and learned a lot of football from him and then when Hugh was born, he stayed in football,” Barrett said. “Danny and I started coaching (at Independence) together and Hugh was a manager when he was really little. He started playing when he got older.”

Barrett said that he believes that it’s not only the amount of time Freeze has spent around football, but his flexibility and adaptability that makes him successful.

“He has learned, but then again he hasn’t been entranced in ‘This is the way it’s got to be.’ He’s learned to change and has been able to evolve with the game. I think that’s a real key to his success, because he knows how to modify, but yet he knows the basics of the game, which are blocking, tackling, the kicking game and things like that. He’s able to realize what is important in the game, but he is also able to affect the game to the point where he uses the kids’ abilities to the best of his ability and makes it all work as a team effort,” Barrett said.

Barrett said that he was proud, but apprehensive when he learned that Freeze had gotten the job at Ole Miss. He said that he was proud because he knew how hard Freeze had worked his entire career to get to that point, but apprehensive because he knew that taking a job of that magnitude comes with a tremendous responsibility.

The pride of Tate County

The community reaction has been, almost unanimously positive, from supporters of Ole Miss and Mississippi State alike, according to Barrett.

“I haven’t heard anything but good things in the community. You may hear a negative vibe here and there, but overall it’s been really positive and really good. The people of Senatobia are real proud for him. They’re proud for themselves to know that somebody from the University of Mississippi thinks that highly of someone from Mississippi and from Tate County,” Barrett said. “I think we all had a part in this situation because he went to school at Independence and at Senatobia, and a lot of people have had an influence on his life and have helped mold some of his beliefs. I think that’s an important factor in all of this. I think it helps us as Mississippians to know that he is a true Mississippian at the University of Mississippi. I think that will help a lot in recruiting and in people wanting to go to the games.”

Brewer

Jerry Brewer, a local business owner and 1970 graduate of Mississippi State University, said that despite his allegiance to the Bulldogs, Freeze, as a fellow Senatobian, has his support. Brewer welcomed Freeze back to Mississippi with a congratulatory message on his business’ marquee.

"We should all feel good that a Senatobian has achieved so much in such a relatively little time.  Hugh is no doubt a successful coach but more than that he is a successful human being because he puts Christ first and isn't ashamed to say so," Brewer said. “Mississippi did well to hire Hugh Freeze and the SEC cadre of head coaches will be elevated by his addition.  I don't think he'll ever do anything that will embarrass the school or the state or his hometown.  He is just a first class person.  Even though I hope State continues its Egg Bowl win streak, I nonetheless wish him success at the school up north!"

Oakley knows first-hand the effect that Freeze’s hiring could have on recruiting in the state of Mississippi. His quarterback, Quintavius Burdette, committed to play for Freeze at Arkansas State. Since the coaching change, however, Burdette may be looking at a change of plans.

“We had a player verbally commit to Arkansas State back in the summer and when all of this happened I spoke to him about his commitment and he said, ‘Coach, I want to go to wherever Coach Freeze is, no matter how.’  If Hugh Freeze can do this with one recruit, what can he do to others?“ Oakley said.

When asked why he committed to Freeze, Burdette made mention of Freeze’s character as well as his prowess on the offensive side of the football.

“He is a Christian man and if you like offense there's no better man to play for than Coach Freeze,” Burdette said. “I want to play for Coach Freeze.”

Work hard and dream big

In an earlier story for The Democrat, Freeze was asked if he had any advice for others growing up in Tate County as he did, his message was direct.

“Dream big. Refuse to believe that because of your background or your circumstances, whatever the status of your life is at this point, you can’t change that. Have tremendous faith in God and work extremely hard and dream big dreams,” Freeze said.

A new era is dawning for the University of Mississippi. Only time will tell whether or not Freeze’s Rebels will be successful, but for one county in North Mississippi, confidence has never been higher, and for one Tate County man, it’s time to start living a dream.