Hugh Freeze (Strangely) Compares Mike Gundy to High School Coach

I realize he meant it as a compliment, but it still came off weird. On Thursday, Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze compared his Sugar Bowl counterpart to … a high school coach?

“I’m not sure of Mike’s (Gundy) total background but he reminds me of a great high school coach in regards to this guy can find ways to do great things with what he has,” said Freeze.

“And you know, the way he has smoke and mirrored his way to 10 games in regards to the run game, has been very impressive, and the way they create extra gaps, the way they are always creating new things with motion. It creates problems for you defense and he has done a nice job with him. Hats off to him. I have always admired the job ‑‑ I don’t know Mike well ‑‑ but the job they have done in being consistent, consistent over a course in time in this profession is very difficult to do and they managed to do that and I think this is just another example of how he took an area that many considered to be not a strength of the team and is doing well with it.”

All of these things are true of course. Nobody is arguing that they aren’t true. It just seems like a backhanded way of saying them. Especially if you’re the head coach of the other team.