Liberty coach Hugh Freeze agreed to a multiyear contract extension, the school announced Tuesday.
The Flames, a provisional FBS program in 2018 that gained full membership this season, went 7-5 in Freeze’s first year, securing the school’s first bowl berth. Liberty will meet Georgia Southern (7-5) in the FBC Mortgage Cure Bowl on Dec. 21.
“We are looking forward to a long relationship that will continue to make Liberty football mega-successful as envisioned for the program decades ago,” Liberty president Jerry Falwell Jr. wrote on Twitter.
Freeze’s original deal, signed Dec. 2 of last year, was for five years.
In his Liberty debut, on Aug. 31, while recovering from back surgery, Freeze watched from a hospital bed in the coaching box as Syracuse defeated the Flames, 24-0. A week later, Liberty lost to Louisiana, 35-14, before the Flames mounted a five-game winning streak. Liberty topped 30 points in the final six games.
Freeze, 50, was coach at Ole Miss before resigning July 20, 2017, after the school found a pattern that included phone calls to a number associated with a female escort service.
Liberty, an independent program, has scheduled aggressively. The Flames played two ACC opponents (Syracuse, Virginia) and one Big Ten team (Rutgers) this year. Next season, the Flames will face three ACC programs: Virginia Tech, Syracuse and NC State.