The Hugh Freeze Hiring Is an Example of Why Some People Hate Sports

Nothing else matters if you can beat 'Bama.

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I get that there’s room for nuance in life. Hell, I dig it. That’s the sweet spot in life! I think most things are pretty nuanced and some of our biggest disconnects, as a society communicating with one another, come from our desire to oversimplify things. No room for shades of gray – things are only black or white. I can also certainly appreciate that things change and people evolve. And, I do generally believe that people can earn a second chance in life. But, when that second chance comes in an industry that faces millions upon millions of people, shouldn’t we at least slow down to consider the message we’re sending? That’s where I get hung up on the Auburn Tigers hiring Hugh Freeze.

I’m not going to spell everything out for you guys – I know that most people who read SoBros Network do so as a supplement to their sports news. And, you guys are smart! You know the deal. You know what Freeze’s track record looks like! Otherwise, we’d be here for a thousand words of shit you guys already know and I’m not going to do that to you guys. My commentary on the matter – it’s gross, and I’m not positive that Freeze should get another crack at a high profile job like Auburn, but I’m certain that this will be fodder for the “sports guys can get away with murder” crowd.

Honestly, full transparency and accountability here – I thought Freeze would, quite simply, suck for a few years at Liberty and then fade with the sunset, disappearing into the coaching abyss never to be heard from again. But, I was wrong. Freeze is a good ball coach…so good that Auburn is willing to overlook his past transgressions because he showed genuine remorse and “an accountability plan” that he’s been using to be better in the five years since. Forgive me if that induces a bit of an eye roll from me. I’d love to see what an accountability plan for gaslighting people in the DMs would look like.

But, all things considered, I get it from Auburn’s perspective. Freeze beat Alabama twice while at Ole Miss, and there’s nothing of more paramount importance at Auburn than beating Alabama. I’m not here to twist the knife and tell you what a piece of shit he is. Maybe I’m dead wrong and he has corrected his behavior. It’s still a bit of a black eye on the sport, and years removed from all of this stuff going down, we’re trotting this man out here as the savior of a program rewarded with a big money deal. That’s the type of thing that’s going to frustrate the people on the outside of football looking in. You can say that doesn’t matter, but little things add up to big ones, and the general public’s perception of the sports world is already littered with takes about why we pay athletes millions while teachers are struggling to make ends meet. You think stuff like Hugh Freeze helps us make people see the positive in the sports world? Nah….don’t think so.

Do you need everyone to love football for it to succeed? Obviously not. But, it would be nice to send a message to the outside world every once in awhile that character matters, there are consequences for your actions, and maybe we just shouldn’t let people who do gross things make millions of dollars after they lie low and keep quiet for awhile. Is that so crazy of me to think? Like, if I’m calling escorts from my job’s phone, harassing victims, and just generally being a creep, I’m definitely getting fired. But, I’m not getting published in every major news outlet in the country. That’s where I say “yeah….everyone deserves a second chance and all, but shouldn’t we think about the magnitude of it all? Shouldn’t we consider the type of message this is sending?”

Within the context of being a head coach in the SEC and the magnifying glass that puts people under, maybe we should hope our ADs and Presidents take more of a stand against this kind of thing. Character seems to be a fluid concept in the football world, but maybe it shouldn’t be.

Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley.

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