![]() Two months later, in February of 2017, the two participated in a couples’ retreat, overcame the issue together and began a new, stronger relationship, he says. The winter after Hugh Freeze endured the first losing season in his eight years as a head college coach, he approached his wife with a hard truth: He’d cheated on her. “If they’re taking this away, we know the answer.” The Past “We know when we face a problem how to fix it,” Harris says. The quarterback has the option to hand off, run it or throw.Īnd when defenses adjust, so does Freeze. His units strike fear into opposing defenses with what Neuheisel calls the modern-day triple option: an RPO on the move. He calls all of the plays, except for the third-and-longs, which he leaves for co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Kent Austin, a longtime Canadian Football League coach and former Ole Miss quarterback.įreeze’s ability to shape his system around his athletes is why he’s presided over some of the nation’s most successful offenses in college football and a reason for his ability to quickly have success at his stops, says Rick Neuheisel, a longtime friend of Freeze who is now a college football analyst.įreeze has operated out of an RPO scheme well before it became the latest offensive crave in the sport. Freeze has changed very little of his scheme, aside from contorting the system to benefit from Willis’s running ability. Willis is operating out of the same offense that Kelly did. “Can’t tell you how many third-and-longs he’s gotten us out of just with his natural play-making ability,” says Maurice Harris, a longtime member of Freeze’s staffs who serves as co-offensive coordinator and receivers coach. In Liberty’s two closest games, he secured the victories with long runs in the fourth quarter-an 18-yard touchdown scamper against Western Kentucky and a 67-yard run against FIU. Willis leads the nation in QB rushing with 99 yards a game, has scored six touchdowns on the ground and is averaging seven yards a carry. He is Freeze’s new Chad Kelly, a statistically productive player who creates most of his big plays with his feet and has an arm that’s even surprising coaches. Quarterback Malik Willis transferred last year from Auburn, where he sat behind the likes of Bo Nix and Joey Gatewood. This year, despite having roughly 50% of an FCS roster, the Flames are cruising, specifically leaning on one player whose talents are suited for the highest level of college football. While he’s captained similarly quick turnarounds in the past (Lambuth, Arkansas State and Ole Miss), this one came with a different wrinkle-the transition of an FCS program to FBS. He did it with a roster mostly of players who signed to play in the FCS. They enter this weekend’s match at Virginia Tech having won eight consecutive games, only bested by Notre Dame’s 12.įreeze’s first Liberty team last season won eight games, advanced to the school’s first bowl game and won it. The 25th-ranked Flames are 6–0, ranked in the AP top 25 for the first time in school history, have already beaten one Power 5 team this season (Syracuse) and hold the nation’s second-longest active win streak. He’s well on his way to accomplishing that. “This sounds selfish, but because of what they did for me and my family,” Freeze says after gesturing toward the mountain’s slopes, “it’s rewarding to give back to them or to make good on their investment.” You can almost see it from his office window if not for the fall foliage splendidly blocking the view. It’s also why the school could build Hugh Freeze and his family a brand new home atop a mountain that overlooks campus. The school’s endowment is $1.6 billion, top 70 nationally, and it generates enough revenue from tuition alone that it annually has a surplus of hundreds of millions of dollars-part of the reason that its facilities are glamorous and its new head football coach has one of the best contracts (around $2 million in salary) among those not in the Power 5.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |