Allegedly, he contacted her multiple times. That's harassment of a victim. Such actions damage the good name and reputation of the University that he is a representative of, and potentially put that institution in legal jeopardy.
Keep in mind that this was his "second chance" after his well documented previous indiscretions and failures. This makes him a non-starter for many of your fellow AU fans; however, I understand full well that there are plenty of fans like you that don't seem to care. So let me take a few moments to address you and those fans.
My premise: Hugh Freeze is being considered by some, and presented as a "can't miss"/"sure thing" hire. This is false. Freeze would be just as risky, if not more so, than many other names that have been brought up as potential replacements for Harsin.
The Freeze Mythos:
1. He's a great recruiter! He built up Ole Miss in a short period of time by quickly bringing in big time recruits!
2. He beat Alabama/Saban twice!
The reality:
1. Hugh Freeze CHEATED to get the recruiting classes that he got at Ole Miss. With NIL, even if we wanted to, this tactic no longer applies. Hugh Freeze has no other track record recruiting in the SEC that would demonstrate strong recruiting prowess (see enumeration of his coaching experience, below). In other words, there is no way to say that if he were back as Ole Miss, he would be recruiting better than Lane Kiffen. He might be worse. There is simply no way to know.
2. Hugh Freeze's mentor as an offensive mastermind, Gus Malzhan, beat Alabama/Saban three times, including as recently as the year before he was fired by Auburn. We paid Gus $21 million to leave anyway. There is no "secret code" that only a few people have decoded to beat Saban: You either field a better team than him, or play better than his team on that particular day (perhaps with a bit of luck). If beating Saban is your only criteria, your logical next step would be to call for Gus to come back.
Hugh Freeze's Record as a Head Coach at the College level (based on wikipedia):
1. 2011: Arkansas State. 10-2.
2. 2012 - 2016: Ole Miss. 39-25 on the field; 12-25 once the NCAA got done with him. Never won his division.
3. 2019 - Present: Liberty. 8-5 in 2019 and 2021, with an outlier of 10-1 in the Covid year of 2020.
There is nothing in the above record, when viewed objectively, that makes Hugh Freeze a "can't miss" choice. There is no way to know whether he would be a great recruiter in the current NIL environment. With equivalent talent, is his offense superior to Lane Kiffin's, Jeff Grimes, etc.? Not clear.
