Hugh Freeze will soon be back on the sidelines.
The former Ole Miss head coach has signed on as the offensive coordinator of the Arizona Hotshots, one of 8 teams in the Alliance of American Football league which will launch in February 2019.
This will be Freeze’s first job in football since his resignation from Ole Miss in July 2017 following what the university called a “pattern of personal misconduct”. Freeze went 5-7 in his final season with the Rebels but launched the team back into relevance after taking over following the 2011 season. Despite his success in Oxford, his tenure is marred by the looming cloud of sanctions that hung over the program following the lengthy NCAA investigation that took place.
The NCAA concluded that Freeze failed to maintain control of the program, but he avoided any major personal penalty while the program is in the midst of their two-year bowl ban.
As for Freeze’s new job, head coach of the Hotshots Rick Neuheisel comes in with experience of his own and wanted to fill his staff up with prior big-time coaches.
“When I began curating my coaching staff to join me here in Arizona, I was looking for experienced, dynamic coaches who can help us be the team I’ve envisioned — fast, high-powered and efficient on both sides of the ball,” Neuheisel said. “We’re building something special here in Arizona and we want to make this state proud by excelling on and off the field come first snap.”
Neuheisel coached at UCLA, defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti spent 15 years at Oregon, and Freeze’s play-calling abilities were put on display here in Mississippi.
The AAFL was founded back in March by former NFL GM Bill Polian and Charlie Ebersol, the son of Dick Ebersol who was the co-founder of the original XFL.
