I have never bought into the "Freeze is a great, visionary coach" narrative. He may be a good recruiter, but I've got a feeling that the NCAA is going to show us a big part of the reason why he has been a good recruiter when their investigation is finalized in a few months. This guy had almost zero experience coaching college football when he was named the head coach in Oxford. He was a former high school coach who was put on the staff of Ed Orgeron-- the worst coach in the history of the Ole Miss program-- because he could deliver a talented offensive lineman. He was a position coach on that staff for two years. He then went to coach at Lambeth. Was an offensive co-ordinator at Arkansas State and then spent ONE YEAR as a head coach in a crappy conference before taking a job as the head coach of a team in the best division of the best conference in all of college football.
He is in WAY over his head and it is beginning to show.
He has made terrible staff hires (Luke) and his promotions (Batoon) are even worse. Though it makes sense because he hasn't spent time in the typical coaching carousel being a head coach or coordinator and moving around the country learning from different coaches, making relationships, and coaching in different environments. He has a very short list of coaching contacts that he has worked with. The Ole Miss coaching staff-- from top to bottom-- is probably the weakest, BY FAR, of all SEC schools. That is a direct reflection of their leader.
Sure he beat Alabama twice, but Sylvester Croom beat Alabama twice (a weaker Bama, yes, but they are still wins on the resume, and Bama didn't commit five turnovers in either of those games). Ole Miss is currently fielding the best recruiting class in the history of their program. This is the group that we were told would take them to the national championship game-- at the least the SEC title game. They have not been developed and have won games on sheer talent. Give those 4* and 5* players to Mullen-- or any other coach in the conference, Derrick Mason included-- and they bring the rest of their squad up.
Mullen has finished ahead of Freeze in the SEC standings every year. That is not because of talent. That is 100% development. It's COACHING.
Freeze is an embodiment of the university that employs him. It is all image. Smoke and mirrors. Win the temporary PR battle and worry about the future later. It's all short-term thinking, and there's no way to build a long-lasting program making short-term decisions. They might please your fanbase on signing day, but prima donna players take special coaching skills to handle. It's better to develop players, which takes long-term commitments to redshirting and teaching and disregards the quick-hit PR moments.
It said a lot to me when Freeze put Nkemdiche in the backfield and ran him against us in the Egg Bowl two years ago. Two things occurred to me that night: 1.) Freeze wanted to rub the recruiting win in MSU's face. That's something Mullen would never do, not because he doesn't mind taking a poke at his rival, but it's just bad, gimmicky coaching. 2.) He probably listens to his fanbase too much. That play reeked of the old guys at the coffee shop telling the head coach to put his prized recruit back there to run the ball. That shows lack of confidence and leadership-- two key components in a head coach's resume and makeup. For the next two years he kept putting Nkemdiche in the backfield (probably because Nkemdiche asked) until he received a concussion and missed two games.
He has four first-round draft choices on his current team and possibly 8-9 more players who will see significant playing time in the NFL and he and his staff can't coach them up to even get them to Atlanta. We were told that "once we get all of the four all-stars on the field together this year, we will dominate." A mediocre Arkansas team didn't agree with that statement.
A good coach will supplement and develop his role players around and among his superstars. Freeze has no running back, no offensive line (other than Tunsil) that is producing, no linebacker core, and huge problems in his secondary. How can we call him a "great recruiter" when there are so many glaring holes on his team?
Ultimately, do you want a nice guy preacher-type coach who is all touchy-feely with his players and takes care of his coaching friends giving them non-merit-based promotions or do you want Nick Saban? Do you want the coach who coddles his all-star players, or do you want Jim McElwain who will get red-faced in a players face when they screw up and send a signal to his entire team that "this is a different day and time." I'll take the two coaches that will likely be coaching against each other in Atlanta in a few weeks over the pseudo-preacher in Oxford every time.
During games Freeze looks baffled and lost. In every interview he is monotone and melancholy. It's almost like the child who thinks others will take him seriously if he acts "serious." Mullen looks like he's having fun, because he is. Mullen is not in over his head. He smiles, he jokes, and then he gets laser focused when the time comes. Mullen, Saban, McElwain and the like are leaders that have crafted their programs to be exactly as they planned from day one. They would never take coaching advice from an alumnus. Ever.
When Freeze's players DO succeed it is off of pure talent, not from well-coached technique and development. Look at any of his all-star players (or non-all stars for that matter), are they any better than when you saw them play their first down for Ole Miss? A majority of the time, the answer to that question is, "no."
Hugh Freeze is the 10th highest paid coach in the country and, nine weeks in to the 2015 season and four years into his tenure, his team isn't even in the Top 25. That is a terrible ROI. Ultimately, I hope he stays in Oxford for another decade.
He is in WAY over his head and it is beginning to show.
He has made terrible staff hires (Luke) and his promotions (Batoon) are even worse. Though it makes sense because he hasn't spent time in the typical coaching carousel being a head coach or coordinator and moving around the country learning from different coaches, making relationships, and coaching in different environments. He has a very short list of coaching contacts that he has worked with. The Ole Miss coaching staff-- from top to bottom-- is probably the weakest, BY FAR, of all SEC schools. That is a direct reflection of their leader.
Sure he beat Alabama twice, but Sylvester Croom beat Alabama twice (a weaker Bama, yes, but they are still wins on the resume, and Bama didn't commit five turnovers in either of those games). Ole Miss is currently fielding the best recruiting class in the history of their program. This is the group that we were told would take them to the national championship game-- at the least the SEC title game. They have not been developed and have won games on sheer talent. Give those 4* and 5* players to Mullen-- or any other coach in the conference, Derrick Mason included-- and they bring the rest of their squad up.
Mullen has finished ahead of Freeze in the SEC standings every year. That is not because of talent. That is 100% development. It's COACHING.
Freeze is an embodiment of the university that employs him. It is all image. Smoke and mirrors. Win the temporary PR battle and worry about the future later. It's all short-term thinking, and there's no way to build a long-lasting program making short-term decisions. They might please your fanbase on signing day, but prima donna players take special coaching skills to handle. It's better to develop players, which takes long-term commitments to redshirting and teaching and disregards the quick-hit PR moments.
It said a lot to me when Freeze put Nkemdiche in the backfield and ran him against us in the Egg Bowl two years ago. Two things occurred to me that night: 1.) Freeze wanted to rub the recruiting win in MSU's face. That's something Mullen would never do, not because he doesn't mind taking a poke at his rival, but it's just bad, gimmicky coaching. 2.) He probably listens to his fanbase too much. That play reeked of the old guys at the coffee shop telling the head coach to put his prized recruit back there to run the ball. That shows lack of confidence and leadership-- two key components in a head coach's resume and makeup. For the next two years he kept putting Nkemdiche in the backfield (probably because Nkemdiche asked) until he received a concussion and missed two games.
He has four first-round draft choices on his current team and possibly 8-9 more players who will see significant playing time in the NFL and he and his staff can't coach them up to even get them to Atlanta. We were told that "once we get all of the four all-stars on the field together this year, we will dominate." A mediocre Arkansas team didn't agree with that statement.
A good coach will supplement and develop his role players around and among his superstars. Freeze has no running back, no offensive line (other than Tunsil) that is producing, no linebacker core, and huge problems in his secondary. How can we call him a "great recruiter" when there are so many glaring holes on his team?
Ultimately, do you want a nice guy preacher-type coach who is all touchy-feely with his players and takes care of his coaching friends giving them non-merit-based promotions or do you want Nick Saban? Do you want the coach who coddles his all-star players, or do you want Jim McElwain who will get red-faced in a players face when they screw up and send a signal to his entire team that "this is a different day and time." I'll take the two coaches that will likely be coaching against each other in Atlanta in a few weeks over the pseudo-preacher in Oxford every time.
During games Freeze looks baffled and lost. In every interview he is monotone and melancholy. It's almost like the child who thinks others will take him seriously if he acts "serious." Mullen looks like he's having fun, because he is. Mullen is not in over his head. He smiles, he jokes, and then he gets laser focused when the time comes. Mullen, Saban, McElwain and the like are leaders that have crafted their programs to be exactly as they planned from day one. They would never take coaching advice from an alumnus. Ever.
When Freeze's players DO succeed it is off of pure talent, not from well-coached technique and development. Look at any of his all-star players (or non-all stars for that matter), are they any better than when you saw them play their first down for Ole Miss? A majority of the time, the answer to that question is, "no."
Hugh Freeze is the 10th highest paid coach in the country and, nine weeks in to the 2015 season and four years into his tenure, his team isn't even in the Top 25. That is a terrible ROI. Ultimately, I hope he stays in Oxford for another decade.
