Fact or Fiction: Hugh Freeze deserves another Power Five job
National recruiting director Mike Farrell and national recruiting analyst Adam Gorney tackle three topics daily and determine whether they believe the statements or not.
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FACT OR FICTION: Georgia's offensive recruiting could decline
CLASS OF 2021 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State
CLASS OF 2022 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State
COVERAGE: Rivals Transfer Tracker | Rivals Camp Series
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1. Hugh Freeze deserves another Power Five job.
Farrell’s take: FICTION. He’s doing a great job at Liberty, but let’s not forget the recruiting scandals and off-the-field trouble that led him out of Ole Miss. I’m sure he will get a chance at the Power Five level, but deserve is another word. I’m not a sensitive flower, but what big program is going to take a chance on him? I’ll hang up and listen.
Gorney’s take: FACT. The recruiting violations and the escort service calls were egregious signs of someone clearly out of control. But as cliche as this sounds, I do believe people should get second chances in life and mistakes don’t define who people are for their entire lives. If we’re only hiring saints to be football coaches then we are fooling ourselves. And if we don’t think recruiting violations are going on all over the country, then we’re fooling ourselves as well. Freeze is a phenomenal coach who has worked miracles at Liberty and he deserves another opportunity at the highest level.
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2. Mike Norvell will last one season at FSU.
Farrell’s take: FICTION. He’ll get another season even though FSU is a complete nightmare of a program for a couple reasons. First, the school can’t give up on a coach earlier than it did Willie Taggart. That’s just a bad look and continues to set a bad precedent. And secondly he inherited a mess and everyone knows it. But I will say this, if he gets even one more game than Taggart with worse results, it will be an absolute joke and a potential talking point around college football.
Gorney’s take: FICTION. It probably won’t happen, but there is a possibility Florida State loses the rest of its games because it doesn’t seem like the Seminoles care all that much about football, as evidenced by getting blown out by Louisville and Pitt in back-to-back games. Quarterback is a mess, the skill players are average, the offensive line is bad and the defense can only do so much without getting completely discouraged.
Norvell has a real problem on his hands but he’s a fantastic coach, if given time. Florida State decision-makers need to realize this is a long process to rebuild something so broken and will take multiple recruiting classes and a lot of luck.
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3. The Vols will have a losing season.
Farrell’s take: FACT. The bloom is off the rose for Jeremy Pruitt and the Vols are headed to a losing season. Remember Butch Jones won nine games in his third year and the Vols appear to be going backward. Losses to Texas A&M, Florida are coming, and this is becoming an absolute disaster of a season. Who would have thought Kentucky and Arkansas would be thumping Tennessee right now?
Gorney’s take: FACT. In keeping with recent history, I expect another losing season for Tennessee and while fans remember the glory years of Phil Fulmer and long for their return, that’s just not in keeping what this program has been about for the last decade-plus. In the past 12 seasons, the Vols have had seven losing campaigns and it looks like another one is on the way. The schedule gets much tougher with Texas A&M, Auburn and Florida still on the way. Even still, Pruitt is recruiting very well and I would still give him a little rope to build this program in his vision.