AD John Cohen goes into detail on Freeze hiring process

[TitanTiger 20,538]

Auburn AD John Cohen ‘very comfortable’ with process that led to hiring of Hugh Freeze
By Tom Green | tgreen@al.com

 

The Tigers’ new athletics director was tasked with making a major hire — arguably the most important personnel choice his position entails — immediately upon taking over the reins of Auburn’s athletic department. Cohen was hired Oct. 31, just hours after Auburn fired then-coach Bryan Harsin and named Cadillac Williams as interim coach for the remainder of the season.

What followed was a four-week long search by Cohen, aided by the search firm TurnkeyZRG, a pair of analytics firms in Matrix Analytical Solutions and SportSource Analytics and a bevy of industry experts, that led Auburn to hiring Hugh Freeze as its next head coach.

“You have to be comfortable with the process,” Cohen told AL.com this week. “And I’m very, very comfortable with the process we went through.”

Auburn’s hiring of Freeze came with its share of backlash from fans and outsiders alike. Freeze has a well-documented and complicated past that included his resignation at Ole Miss amid personal and professional controversy in July 2017, which led to a two-season exile from coaching before he resurfaced at Liberty and spent the last four seasons working to rehabilitate his career and image.

After not fielding questions at Freeze’s introductory press conference Nov. 29, delivering only a prepared statement that lasted nearly five minutes, Cohen discussed with AL.com the search process that ultimately led Auburn to Freeze, and why despite Freeze’s checkered past, the Tigers’ new athletics director is at peace with how the search unfolded and the hire he made.

“Every athletic director has this very long list of things, criteria that is very important to them,” Cohen said. “Well, as you go through that criteria, it was really important to me that, you know, we dove into Coach Freeze’s history as much as we possibly could.”

Cohen’s criteria included a detailed list of 58 traits — which he held up on a sheet of paper during his own introductory press conference in early November — that he wanted to identify in a candidate. Among those characteristics and qualifications Cohen sought were SEC experience, quarterback development, recruiting prowess, community involvement, family background, relationships and social media presence.

According to Cohen, Auburn identified Freeze as a viable candidate “very early” in the search, even as interviews were conducted with 18 different coaches. The interest was mutual; Freeze has not shied from the fact that he coveted the Auburn job if and when it came open.

Freeze checked many of the boxes for Cohen off the bat: He had SEC experience at Ole Miss, where he had a 10-win season in 2015, made two New Year’s Six bowl games, twice defeated Nick Saban’s Alabama teams and got the most out of his quarterbacks. The advanced data from the two analytics firms Auburn enlisted only backed that up.

“He was the highest-ranked coach, analytically, on our board,” Cohen said. “That was a factor. It was not the factor. But statistically, he was the highest-ranked coach on our board.”

Of course, Auburn still needed to do a background check and its due diligence when it came to Freeze, who’s a polarizing figure in college football given his past. While Freeze has had success at every stop of his career, including a 34-15 mark at Liberty while winning at least eight games a season, controversy has often followed him.

He resigned at Ole Miss during just a couple months before the start of the 2017 season after program administrators and then-AD Ross Bjork became aware of a pattern of concerning behavior. Not long after Freeze’s resignation at Ole Miss, it was discovered that he made at least a dozen calls to escort services from his university-issued cell phone. Following his resignation, which came during NCAA investigations into the Ole Miss program, USA Today published a story reporting alleged inappropriate behavior by Freeze during his time as a high school coach at Briarcrest Christian in the Memphis area. Freeze vehemently denied those allegations.

After spending two seasons away from coaching, Freeze was hired at Liberty in December 2018 following a very brief stint with the AAF’s Arizona Hotshots. Freeze again found himself involved in controversy last July, when he sent unsolicited direct messages to a former Liberty student. The student was an outspoken critic of Flames athletics director Ian McCaw — who hired Freeze — and other university leadership, and she was among the plaintiffs in a lawsuit against Liberty for its handling of sexual assault claims and Title IX cases.

Freeze was not involved in that lawsuit, which has since been settled, but his unsolicited messages in defense of McCaw, whom he described as “the most Jesus-like leader” he’d been around, sparked discourse. Freeze issued an apology for the messages during a one-on-one interview with ESPN on the day he was introduced at Auburn, calling them “an inadvertent misstep with no ill intent.”

“One of the most important things was our investigation,” Cohen said. “Our research showed that his transparency — these two things are happening at the same time: Tell us what happened; he tells you, you research it, it’s identical to what he’s saying. So, there’s some trust involved there. There’s some integrity. I find it interesting that — and I’m not talking about Hugh’s situation here, but in life — a lot of folks who might criticize, who want to come up with their own set of facts, then you do the actual work, and you ask all the questions, and you dive into the history and you get to find out the actual facts — some of the very people who might want to cast stones are the same people who have some things that they might want to cover up themselves.

“So, when you’re talking to people, this person over here, and you say, ‘I want to know the answer these 20 questions about Hugh Freeze,’ and then you go 500 miles away 30 minutes later, when these two people don’t know each other, and you get the same set of answers — you’re onto something.”

Cohen has said he approached the search with the “utmost seriousness” and classified it as a thoroughly vetted process that included a deep dive into Freeze’s past and his background — not just from his time at Ole Miss, but every stop throughout his career: Briarcrest Christian, Lambuth, Arkansas State and Liberty. Cohen reached out to more than 100 sources for references and background on Freeze’s past “from all areas of life.” Among those interviews were some of Freeze’s former women’s basketball players at Briarcrest Christian — some of whom are now mothers and parents, Cohen noted — as well as law enforcement officers who have worked as part of Freeze’s security detail at different schools. He also spoke with administrators and former players from each of the institutions Freeze has been at. Cohen also made a point to reach out to “people who had nothing to do with athletics” and speak to them about their experiences and interactions with Freeze.

“We just kept following the trail, as you would with any hiring,” Cohen said. “And I’m accused of being a little bit more tedious about these things than others. You know, with some of the folks that were working with us on this, I’d asked the same question to 50 people, and I might ask it twice, and it’s like, ‘My God, John, we’ve been through this.’ You know, I just wanted to make sure. So, I feel very, very comfortable.”

In their discussions about the job prior to Cohen signing Freeze to a six-year contract worth $6.5 million annually, one aspect of Freeze’s past transgressions particularly stood out to the AD: Freeze told him he planned to be open and forthcoming with his players about his mistakes and try to use them as learning opportunities moving forward

It’s something Cohen, a former baseball coach and the former AD at Mississippi State, said he has not seen many coaches willing to do.

“I think it’s incredibly valuable to do that,” Cohen said. “And it took me a long time as a coach to realize I can admit to my players that I have failings, that I have transgressions, and that I make mistakes. I didn’t want to do that when I was 40 years old. I didn’t want to do it when I was 30 years old, but you get to a point in your life where you feel like this is valuable, because they’re going to make mistakes as well. All of them are. And when you do make a mistake, what’s the next step?

“That’s what’s incredibly important — trying to eliminate any issues that you have. But when you do make a mistake, what’s next? And what do we learn from that? I think I think Coach Freeze had a great relationship with his players at Liberty based on that, and I think he’ll have a great relationship with our student-athletes here based on that.”

In the two-plus months since he hired Freeze, Cohen has been impressed with the work the Tigers’ new coach has done, particularly on the recruiting and evaluation front. That hasn’t been a surprise to Cohen, but he believes it has validated the process that ultimately led to Freeze being hired on the Plains.

“Knowing what I knew, the amount of work that we put into our background check, the amount of work that we did into getting to know Hugh in every way, I felt very, very comfortable with the decision we made,” Cohen said. “…I’m not sure anybody did more work on Hugh Freeze than we did. In that way, I feel very comfortable with him as our head football coach at Auburn.”

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.

https://www.al.com/auburnfootball/2023/02/auburn-ad-john-cohen-very-comfortable-with-process-that-led-to-hiring-of-hugh-freeze.html

[W.E.D 11,070]

Hopefully it works out and his long run of almost always making bad decisions is behind him.

He was always the best candidate from a pure football related view point

[The Freak 2,529]

1 hour ago, W.E.D said:

his long run of almost always making bad decisions is behind him.

Cohen or Freeze?

[W.E.D 11,070]

11 minutes ago, The Freak said:

Cohen or Freeze?

tbqh I'm not sure what would be the detailed history of Cohen making bad decisions.

[The Freak 2,529]

Some hits, some misses. 

Baseball hired: Andy Cannizaro, Gary Henderson (temp), Chris Lemonis

Football: Joe Moorhead, Mike Leach

Basketball: Chris Jans

Womens Basketball: Nikki McCray-Penson, Sam Purcell

[aubiefifty 17,072]

i just believe in second chances and i believe in my heart freeze will reward us for our faith in him. i was kinda shocked that many religious folks were not big on giving him a second chance. i think freeze will do more than just recruit well and win ballgames. i think he will teach these kids how to be great people and to tackle life with a little swagger. from what i have read the players are super happy with him and with his staff as well. anyway i believe coach will behave and will take this chance and show folks how powerful forgiveness can be. and at the end of the day IF coach was to slip it would be on him and not us. we stood up and gave him a second chance. it is a feel good story to me. i am also smart enough to know if freeze was not a good coach we would have never reached out.

[tightendoverthemiddle 102]

HF was finishing his House on Lake Martin at the start of the season.

New AD opened desk drawer, Yellow Sticky with Jimmy Sexton's Number on it.

Jimmy (whose Client List is most of the SEC) has two used Car Salesmen to sell.

But HF was the choice from the beginning..

[Carnell 592]

Well it is obvious that character, integrity, and ethics were not part of that list of 58.

[Carnell 592]

On 2/13/2023 at 1:57 PM, aubiefifty said:

i just believe in second chances and i believe in my heart freeze will reward us for our faith in him. i was kinda shocked that many religious folks were not big on giving him a second chance. i think freeze will do more than just recruit well and win ballgames. i think he will teach these kids how to be great people and to tackle life with a little swagger. from what i have read the players are super happy with him and with his staff as well. anyway i believe coach will behave and will take this chance and show folks how powerful forgiveness can be. and at the end of the day IF coach was to slip it would be on him and not us. we stood up and gave him a second chance. it is a feel good story to me. i am also smart enough to know if freeze was not a good coach we would have never reached out.

Second chance this is his 4th chance and he already began to show he hasn't change by wearing a shirt with Auburn's NIL logo to meet with a recruit.

[aubiefifty 17,072]

7 hours ago, Carnell said:

Second chance this is his 4th chance and he already began to show he hasn't change by wearing a shirt with Auburn's NIL logo to meet with a recruit.

and how is this wrong? NIL is legal right? i do not understand.

[Carnell 592]

8 hours ago, aubiefifty said:

and how is this wrong? NIL is legal right? i do not understand.

It is not absolute.  The Supreme Court did not address the recruiting side NIL.  In fact, the Supreme Court stated that it did not address the recruiting aspect.  And the NCAA made specific rules in which addressed NIL.  One was it made the NIL collective a booster of the school and that schools could not mention the NIL to recruits and he is already out there antongizing the NCAA.

 

[DAG 34,034]

53 minutes ago, Carnell said:

It is not absolute.  The Supreme Court did not address the recruiting side NIL.  In fact, the Supreme Court stated that it did not address the recruiting aspect.  And the NCAA made specific rules in which addressed NIL.  One was it made the NIL collective a booster of the school and that schools could not mention the NIL to recruits and he is already out there antongizing the NCAA.

 

Okay skip bayless 

[aubiefifty 17,072]

1 hour ago, Carnell said:

It is not absolute.  The Supreme Court did not address the recruiting side NIL.  In fact, the Supreme Court stated that it did not address the recruiting aspect.  And the NCAA made specific rules in which addressed NIL.  One was it made the NIL collective a booster of the school and that schools could not mention the NIL to recruits and he is already out there antongizing the NCAA.

 

so you are saying he is cheating? you think with all eyes on him he is already breaking the rules? ok stretch armstrong. and with our compliance guy? come on off the ledge carnell you always seemed like a great guy. lets see if someone can come up with an explanation because i do not see it.

[Carnell 592]

1 hour ago, aubiefifty said:

so you are saying he is cheating? you think with all eyes on him he is already breaking the rules? ok stretch armstrong. and with our compliance guy? come on off the ledge carnell you always seemed like a great guy. lets see if someone can come up with an explanation because i do not see it.

No I am not saying he is cheating.  I am saying with his history he doesn't need to try to rub the NCAA nose in it.  With him we are low hanging fruit and Ihe needs to be doing it better than anyone else yet he tries to provoke the NCAA.

[aubiefifty 17,072]

3 minutes ago, Carnell said:

No I am not saying he is cheating.  I am saying with his history he doesn't need to try to rub the NCAA nose in it.  With him we are low hanging fruit and Ihe needs to be doing it better than anyone else yet he tries to provoke the NCAA.

i have only seen the opposite of this carnell. cohen raving about the process and raving about what he has done so far. all i have read is rave reviews on what he has done so far. and i search articles every day for the board so i see quite a few and i have not seen it. anyway i think we will be fine. he knows this is his chance for redemption and if he does something stupid he is toast probably for the rest of his career other than small schools. i feel good about him. i think we have a cat that actually likes the team instead of working on his tan. and make no mistake freeze dug us a long way out of a deep hole. he has a lot to do and i think he gets it done. i will support him like all past coaches until i cannot for some reason. i say lets sit back and enjoy the ride because it is going to be fun again. i understand you want what is best for auburn. right now it seems all the different factions are pulling together as one which has not happened in a long time. here is something i love. our oc guy we have on staff is a stud and many folks wanted him. that is why we got the qb from arkie. and if freeze does screw up it is on him. and i believe in second chances. shrugs

[Carnell 592]

41 minutes ago, aubiefifty said:

i have only seen the opposite of this carnell. cohen raving about the process and raving about what he has done so far. all i have read is rave reviews on what he has done so far. and i search articles every day for the board so i see quite a few and i have not seen it. anyway i think we will be fine. he knows this is his chance for redemption and if he does something stupid he is toast probably for the rest of his career other than small schools. i feel good about him. i think we have a cat that actually likes the team instead of working on his tan. and make no mistake freeze dug us a long way out of a deep hole. he has a lot to do and i think he gets it done. i will support him like all past coaches until i cannot for some reason. i say lets sit back and enjoy the ride because it is going to be fun again. i understand you want what is best for auburn. right now it seems all the different factions are pulling together as one which has not happened in a long time. here is something i love. our oc guy we have on staff is a stud and many folks wanted him. that is why we got the qb from arkie. and if freeze does screw up it is on him. and i believe in second chances. shrugs

Well I sure hope you are right but Cohen assurance really doesn't make me rest easy.  He is going to say that considering he hired him.  Freeze has do nothing at Auburn that other coaches have not done.  He has not won a game.  I am saying we went sewer fishing and all we caught was a mediocre minnow.

[Quietmaninthecorner 1,949]

28 minutes ago, Carnell said:

Well I sure hope you are right but Cohen assurance really doesn't make me rest easy.  He is going to say that considering he hired him.  Freeze has do nothing at Auburn that other coaches have not done.  He has not won a game.  I am saying we went sewer fishing and all we caught was a mediocre minnow.

that's a mighty high horse you ride. 

[aubiefifty 17,072]

31 minutes ago, Carnell said:

Well I sure hope you are right but Cohen assurance really doesn't make me rest easy.  He is going to say that considering he hired him.  Freeze has do nothing at Auburn that other coaches have not done.  He has not won a game.  I am saying we went sewer fishing and all we caught was a mediocre minnow.

i disagree but you are more than welcome to your opinion. we will find out soon enough. i refuse to throw him under the bus until he deserves it so i will be pulling hard for him. i personally think we will be well rewarded for taking a chance on him. and this man loves auburn and has said so over the years. i say lets give him a fair shot.

[Carnell 592]

51 minutes ago, Quietmaninthecorner said:

that's a mighty high horse you ride. 

Well I wish a lot more of you would ride horses also.

[slyinsocal 831]

22 hours ago, Carnell said:

Second chance this is his 4th chance and he already began to show he hasn't change by wearing a shirt with Auburn's NIL logo to meet with a recruit.

[AURex 2,051]

Okay, the media are going to have a field day with Auburn hiring cheater Hugh Freeze, just as they did with Auburn hiring cheater Bruce Pearl. Yep, Auburn is second, third, fourth chance U. The landing place for cheater coaches. Funny they never went crazy over Petrino or Eddie Sutton, and seem to be uninterested in Self at Kansas.

The only cure for media bias is winning, and staying clean while winning. CBP has done it, although the whole Parsons sh*t show certainly hasn't helped. Can CHF create a Mr Clean image to the football world? Welp, we don't know yet. I sure hope so.

But it really doesn't matter with some of the media pundits. They still rant about Auburn "buying" Cam Newton. Ancient history. Some of those media pundits will never quit on Auburn.

 

[Tiger 8,833]

Lol who the hell is scared of the NCAA? 

[CMRVHS 52]

11 hours ago, Carnell said:

Well I sure hope you are right but Cohen assurance really doesn't make me rest easy.  He is going to say that considering he hired him.  Freeze has do nothing at Auburn that other coaches have not done.  He has not won a game.  I am saying we went sewer fishing and all we caught was a mediocre minnow.

Yet you haven't let Coach Freeze coach a game yet?

[CMRVHS 52]

2 hours ago, AURex said:

Okay, the media are going to have a field day with Auburn hiring cheater Hugh Freeze, just as they did with Auburn hiring cheater Bruce Pearl. Yep, Auburn is second, third, fourth chance U. The landing place for cheater coaches. Funny they never went crazy over Petrino or Eddie Sutton, and seem to be uninterested in Self at Kansas.

The only cure for media bias is winning, and staying clean while winning. CBP has done it, although the whole Parsons sh*t show certainly hasn't helped. Can CHF create a Mr Clean image to the football world? Welp, we don't know yet. I sure hope so.

But it really doesn't matter with some of the media pundits. They still rant about Auburn "buying" Cam Newton. Ancient history. Some of those media pundits will never quit on Auburn.

 

You can't control the media; control your reactions to the media. Either Hugh Freeze is a changed man, or he isn't. He deserves the chance to prove he has changed,

 

//cast the first stone

[TeamZero77 1,786]

19 hours ago, AURex said:

Okay, the media are going to have a field day with Auburn hiring cheater Hugh Freeze, just as they did with Auburn hiring cheater Bruce Pearl. Yep, Auburn is second, third, fourth chance U. The landing place for cheater coaches. Funny they never went crazy over Petrino or Eddie Sutton, and seem to be uninterested in Self at Kansas.

The only cure for media bias is winning, and staying clean while winning. CBP has done it, although the whole Parsons sh*t show certainly hasn't helped. Can CHF create a Mr Clean image to the football world? Welp, we don't know yet. I sure hope so.

But it really doesn't matter with some of the media pundits. They still rant about Auburn "buying" Cam Newton. Ancient history. Some of those media pundits will never quit on Auburn.

 

I figured the media would drag Texas A&M and Jimbo through the mud for their hiring of Bobby Petrino as OC but they've seemed to give them a pass. It seems the worst they're saying is they don't think Jimbo and Petrino can put their ego's aside. Could you imagine if Auburn even considered to hire Petrino as an assistant coach? The media would never stop hating on us if we did that.