Alabama coach Nick Saban was blocked from hiring former Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze as the Crimson Tide's co-offensive coordinator and position coach this offseason by SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, according to a report Monday by the AL.com's Matt Zenitz.
Sankey spoke to Saban and Freeze — who resigned at Ole Miss in July after several allegations of personal misconduct — a few days after the two met in mid-January and said it would look bad for the SEC if Freeze returned as a coach in the conference “while Ole Miss suffered from NCAA penalties incurred under his watch,” according to Zenitz.
Zenitz also reported the SEC preferred Freeze wait before attempting a return to coach in the SEC.
Georgia denied a report last fall that it had hired Freeze as a consultant.
Alabama eventually hired Penn State’s Josh Gattis to be their co-offensive coordinator with Mike Locksley.
