Sit down with Hugh Freeze

The Clarion Ledger's Hugh Kellenberger sat down with Hugh Freeze for the first time since his hiring on December 5th recently to talk about how things have progressed since his arrival on campus.

On the installation of the new offensive and defensive schemes, Freeze said “With the staff we’re starting and we can do everything. You can’t with the players right now. We’re going to start mat drills soon, where you’ll have some (individual work) and some meeting time. We’re going to do about eight days of that, coming up soon. I think the most important thing that is happening with them right now is the work ethic that’s being established by coach Jackson and the strength program. He’s doing a really nice job. I think their attitudes have been great. Every report I get from him is that he’s really pleased. I think we have a ways to go physically but he’s been pleased with their attitude.”

Freeze said that while at Arkansas State, he felt that 90% of the team had bought into the staff's vision for the program. Citing that he thought there were only a small handful who weren't completely invested, he gave much of the credit to Steve Roberts who was able to bring in 4 recruiting classes to Freeze's 1. A major part of their success last season was because they had so few guys who the coaching staff had to wonder "Oh gosh, what’s he going to do tonight?" and had a senior class that was focused on going out on a different note.

In the full interview, Freeze talks about recruiting, his relationship with the rest of the staff and their cohesiveness so far, and how they stack up to other SEC teams early on in the process.