Auburn football head coach Hugh Freeze was diagnosed with an “early form of prostate cancer,” the school announced on Friday.
“Thankfully, it was detected early and his doctors have advised that it is very treatable and curable,” Auburn said in its release. “He will continue his normal coaching duties and responsibilities, and with forthcoming proper treatment, is expected to make a full recovery.
Coach Freeze is incredibly appreciative of our medical professionals and has asked that we use his experience as a reminder of the importance of prioritizing and scheduling annual health screenings.”
Freeze is heading into his third season as the head coach at Auburn after being hired in November of 2022. The Tigers went 6-7 in Freeze’s first season and are coming off a 5-7 season in 2024, hoping to reverse fortunes in 2025 with a pair of top-10 recruiting classes in the building and a strong transfer portal class led by quarterback Jackson Arnold and wide receiver Eric Singleton Jr.
55 years old, Freeze has been coaching since 1992 when he got his start at Briarcrest high school in Tennessee. He got his start in the college game at Ole Miss in 2006 before getting his first head coaching job at Lambuth in 2008.
From there he worked as Arkansas State’s offensive coordinator then head coach before going back to Ole Miss as the head coach in 2012. Freeze spent four seasons as the head coach at Liberty before making his move to the Plains.
With Freeze continuing his normal coaching duties, Auburn will begin its spring practice on March 25th this year. It’s a later start for the Tigers, who didn’t want to start spring practice and pause for spring break and then resume after.
Auburn will practice 11 times and its 12th practice will be A-Day, which is set for April 12. It has not been determined yet if the remaining three practices that are allotted in spring ball will be used after A-Day.
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