Hugh Freeze recalls Nick Saban calling him about former Liberty assistant: ‘I’m jealous that Nick got him’
By Keith Farner
Published:
Hugh Freeze knows quite a bit about a reported hire at Alabama, and the Auburn coach even received a call from Nick Saban about the move.
Robert Bala, who spent the 2022 season as a defensive analyst at Liberty, reportedly accepted a job last week as Alabama’s inside linebackers coach. Freeze reflected on the unique nature of this development.
“I’m jealous that Nick got him,” Freeze said on “McElroy and Cubelic In the morning” on WJOX. “I typically don’t go outside of my tree too much, but I had him highly recommend to me at Liberty. He was at Southern Utah. He was wanting to break into the FBS level, and I interviewed him, and was absolutely blown away by his knowledge, his demeanor for teaching, and he’s a rising star. The guy was incredibly valuable, a great evaluator and he’s a great human being. He and his wife, Demi, are just super people.”
New Flames coach Jamey Chadwell promoted Bala to linebackers coach in December.
“Obviously Nick and I are friends, and I know it’s hard for a lot of people to believe,” Freeze said. “When Nick called me, I just said, ‘I think he’s really, really good and you ought to interview him.’ Evidently he did. I haven’t talked to Nick since he interviewed him. But evidently he did well.”
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
