Hugh Freeze has been in discussion with Auburn about its coaching vacancy for weeks, per ESPN insider Pete Thamel. The college football analyst broke the news Saturday morning during College GameDay.

Most thought Lane Kiffin was the Tigers No. 1 coaching candidate; however, it appears that Freeze was the top candidate all along and discussions have been ongoing. Saturday morning, Kiffin reiterated that he’s staying at Ole Miss, per ESPN’s Chris Low.

So, at this point, it would be somewhat surprising if Freeze isn’t hired by Auburn. Discussions are down the road, and Kiffin apparently feels like it’ll be Freeze at Auburn, too, by his latest doubling-down comments.

Freeze, of course, is the head coach at Liberty and has compiled an impressive 34-14 record in 4 seasons. Freeze was formerly the head coach at Ole Miss from 2012-16. He resigned from Ole Miss in July of 2017 after it was discovered that there was a “concerning pattern” of phone calls to numbers associated with female escort services.

Freeze would certainly be a strong hire at Auburn, as he’s defeated Nick Saban multiple times during his career, and Thamel’s insider report certainly stirred up social media.