Among the college football head coaches who have defeated Nick Saban on many occasions while at Alabama is Hugh Freeze. Twice during his tenures at Ole Miss and Auburn, Freeze overcame the legendary coach who is currently retired. Freeze maintains that he could have defeated Saban with even more success, though.
According to ESPN’s Marty & McGee, Freeze stated, “Nick is incredible, but I should have four wins against him.” “I may not have phrased that exactly (right), I don’t want everybody — but we easily could have beat him a few more times.”
With regard to the 2023 Iron Bowl, which Alabama won dramatically at Jordan-Hare Stadium 27–24, Freeze makes a strong case. Before Crimson Tide quarterback Jalen Milroe connected with receiver Isaiah Bond for the game-winning touchdown in the back corner of the end zone on a fourth-and-31 play, Auburn had a four-point lead in the last minute of the fourth quarter.
Freeze and the Tigers were left startled and defeated after the valiant effort, which almost toppled then-No. 8 Alabama. The next week, Saban and the Crimson Tide won the SEC Championship Game, securing their place in the College Football Playoffs.
In response to a question concerning the fourth-and-31 play, Freeze stated, “We gotta coach better.” “If you don’t take responsibility for the small things during the week, it will become apparent on third and fourth downs. Thus, coaching and culture both share some of the blame. Perhaps we didn’t give it enough coaching. It was awful not to win that game. It was awful. It was really disappointing. However, since we actually fought toe-to-toe with them and should have won the game, I didn’t think our roster was as strong as theirs, and it gave me even more faith that Auburn can quickly rise back to the top of the national rankings. Thus, it was a mixed bag—we can play with them, but this is terrible.”
From 2012 to 2016, Freeze led Ole Miss to victory in five of his games as head coach, including five against Alabama and Nick Saban. The Rebels shocked the Crimson Tide in back-to-back seasons after losing the prior two encounters by a combined 46 points.
“Well, at Ole Miss, it was certainly I think we were one of the first staffs to bring in the tempo RPO,” Freeze stated. “He attempted to get it changed and all of that because he didn’t like it at all, and then he started doing it. Indeed, he is a close buddy of mine, but I did comprehend the complexity of their calls. I wasn’t smart enough to slow it down, and we defeated them twice before defeating them 24-3 in the third year.”