Would Hugh Freeze take the Auburn job if it was offered to him?

According to the Liberty coach, that all depends on if that job would make his “heart flutter” with excitement.

During his latest Liberty press conference to discuss his program’s latest signing class, Freeze — who does not appear to be a serious candidate to replace Gus Malzahn at Auburn — was asked about the speculation that the Tigers may be looking to hire him.

Before answering that question, Freeze shared his thoughts on Malzahn’s firing on The Plains and noted that he reached out to his friend following the news.

“First, I want to say, you never like to see people lose their jobs, ever,” Freeze said. “I don’t think, I’m not made that way to enjoy anyone doing that because when you are in this business, you know how much hurt is involved in that, how many families are involved in that. And then, you add to it when it is one of your dear friends. Obviously, unsettling and just hurt.

“I’ve been through that, and I know what it’s like to lose a job, and it’s not much fun. My initial call was to Gus and had a great conversation with him and he’s one of the best to do it now, he cares about his kids and he coaches it the right way. He’s the type of coach you want in this business. That was the initial thing and then is you won’t just make sure your friend is okay. He’ll be fine but you know there’s a lot of other families that are you know affected by it.”

Then Freeze addressed the speculation that he is a candidate to replace Malzahn at Auburn.

“And then you know get to what the national media starts saying and, you know, let me say there’s so many people here that that the reason that that is being said is twofold,” the Liberty coach added. “I was fortunate to beat people like Nick Saban and Kirby Smart and Dan Mullen that are in that league with probably a lesser roster than what they had.

“Then you come here and have success and all the people that pitch into that here deserve much of the credit, mostly our kids and our players. That’s a compliment, and it’s humbling, but there’s so many people that deserve credit for you being mentioned and it brings some notoriety to Liberty but it also brings the negative side of it also.”

Based on Freeze’s closing comments, it doesn’t appear Auburn has reached out to him, as he notes nothing’s made his “heart flutter” with excitement when it comes to a job offer.

“I was very clear, I was on ESPN GameDay, that Liberty has been so good to me and I love it here on the mountain, and my family loves it on the mountain, that it would take something really, really special for me to consider leaving here,” Freeze concluded. “I meant that and I meant it to this today and it’s going to take something that makes my heart flutter with great excitement, and to this point, to be very candid with you, I’m not saying the other places that have come open I don’t know if their heart flutters about me, that’s not for me to say, but to this point, nothing has made my heart flutter more than just staying on the mountain and building this program.”