Hugh Freeze will be bought out of his Liberty contract to be named the new head coach at Auburn.

According to Ross Dellenger of Sports Illustrated, Auburn will be paying $3 million to Liberty as part of the contract buyout.

Freeze, 53, returns to the SEC after 4 seasons at Liberty. The Flames posted a 34-15 record in 4 seasons with Freeze as head coach.

In 2019, Freeze’s first season, Liberty went 8-5 with a win in the Cure Bowl. The 2020 Liberty squad went 10-1, the best season of Freeze’s tenure, with another Cure Bowl victory that gave the Flames a No. 17 finish in the final AP Top 25 poll.

Last year’s Liberty squad went 8-5 and won the LendingTree Bowl. The 2022 Flames team is again bowl-eligible with an 8-4 record after completing regular-season play.