Hugh Freeze can't wait to play the Alabama Crimson Tide again. Freeze was formally introduced as the new head coach of the Auburn Tigers Tuesday, and in his speech, he mentioned that he is looking forward to Auburn football playing the Iron Bowl while dropping a harmless warning to Nick Saban (via Nathan King of 247 Sports).
“You don’t take this job if you’re not built to want that,” Freeze said of Saban and Alabama. “I welcome that. I want it. I want to be in that arena. I want to — I just really, really, really enjoy that type of game, and I have a great respect for Nick. He and Ms. Terry have been really good friends to us, too. But I hope they’re a little nervous today.”
Auburn football chose Freeze to lead the program after searching for a permanent replacement for Bryan Harsin, who was fired by the Tigers last October. Running backs coach Cadillac Williams was promoted to an interim head coach role following the dismissal of Harsin, with the Tigers going 2-2 the rest of the season, a span that included a 49-27 loss in Tuscaloosa to the Crimson Tide last Saturday.
Freeze arrives at Auburn after coaching the Liberty Flames for seasons from 2019 to 2022, during which the Flames managed to win at least eight games each year.
Auburn football is hoping that Freeze still has the anti-dote for Saban and Alabama. Freeze has multiple wins against the Crimson Tide, as he could be remembered leading the Ole Miss Rebels to consecutive victories against Alabama in 2014 and 2015.