Report: Hugh Freeze, Liberty Agree to New Contract Worth More Than $4M Annually

Liberty Flames head coach Hugh Freeze is set to become one of the highest-paid non-Power 5 college football coaches in the nation. 

Freeze and Liberty have reportedly reached a new deal that will pay him more than $4 million annually, per ESPN's Chris Low. The contract will run through the 2028 season. 

The new contract is expected to be officially announced Wednesday, Low adds, and it will be comparable to what five SEC coaches are making. 

It's a well-earned deal for Freeze, who has been at Liberty since 2019. The Flames went 8-5 during his first season at the helm and 10-1 last season. Liberty also won the Cure Bowl during Freeze's first two seasons as head coach. 

The 52-year-old has led the Flames to a 7-4 record this season. Liberty's final game of the 2021 regular season is against Army on Nov. 27. 

Freeze's new deal is also an important one for Liberty as the program is set to transition from a FBS independent program to Conference USA beginning with the 2023 season.

Freeze has also coached at Arkansas State and Ole Miss. He went 10-3 at Arkansas State in 2011 and 39-25 in five seasons at Ole Miss from 2012-16. He also led the Rebels to wins in the BBVA Compass Bowl, Music City Bowl and Sugar Bowl. 

Freeze is 5-2 overall in Bowl games, losing just the GoDaddy.com Bowl in 2011 and the Peach Bowl in 2014. 

Freeze resigned as head coach of the Rebels in July 2017 after a "pattern of inappropriate conduct" that included a "one-minute call made from Freeze's University-issued phone to a number associated with a female escort service," according to USA Today's Dan Wolken.

Before joining Liberty, Low adds that Freeze talked to Alabama, Auburn and Tennessee about coordinator and assistant positions.