Now that is some dedication.
Liberty University announced Aug. 22 that Hugh Freeze was released from the hospital the day before after a nearly one-week stay. The school had announced Aug. 13 that its head football coach was dealing with severe back spasms and had been unable to participate in practices since the previous Sunday. As it turns out, there was a significantly more serious underlying issue than simple back spasms as Freeze subsequently revealed that he underwent emergency surgery at the University of Virginia Medical Center Aug. 16 because a potentially life-threatening strand of staph infection entered his bloodstream.
Following his release from the hospital a little over a week ago, it was expected that Freeze would not be on the sidelines for the football independent’s opener against Syracuse this evening and would instead direct his Flames from the coach’s booth. That will indeed be the case, albeit with a twist as Freeze, who was taken into his home stadium via a wheelchair, will be in a hospital bed as he performs his game-day duties.
Liberty head coach Hugh Freeze will work from a hospital bed in the coach's booth tonight, per LU Athletics.
— Stephen Bailey (@Stephen_Bailey1) August 31, 2019
Freeze's staph infection is gone, but he's only two weeks into a 4-6 week recovery from surgery. He's most comfortable when reclined and plans to fly to ULL next week.
Hired by the Flames in December of last year, Freeze is entering his first season as the head coach at the football independent. Freeze had been out of coaching for two full seasons following his unceremonious ouster as the head coach at Ole Miss in July of 2017.
