Several times, Hugh Freeze seemed on the verge of making a comment Monday about the unceremonious and controversial end to his tenure as the Ole Miss head coach. Sometimes, it doesn’t take much translating or reading between the lines to figure out exactly what Freeze means. But he left a lot more in the air Monday.

“I have a lot of friends there and a lot of people that I think appreciate the good things that we did and certainly wish that some things were different at the ending, just like I do,” Freeze said. “But I think time, I mean time —”

And Freeze cut himself off. Based on his remark leading up to that point, it appeared as if Freeze would comment on if time had mended a bridge.

“We’re, what, 7-8 years now removed from my seasons there,” Freeze said instead.

Then, he cut himself off again in the next sentence.

“So I think most people have—,” Freeze stopped himself. “I don’t know, I’ve got a lot of friends there.”

Again, he seemed on the verge of saying something to the effect of people moving on. He cut himself off twice before potentially making a larger comment on his scandal-ridden end at Ole Miss.

Freeze’s resignation from Ole Miss in 2016 came on the heels of a report Freeze used a school-issued cellphone to call a phone number associated with an escort service. It was reported Freeze had a “pattern of misconduct.”

Freeze, understandably, has been very touchy on this subject. He wears an Auburn logo on his chest now and will face Ole Miss for the first time since he returned to the SEC when the team now led by head coach Lane Kiffin comes to Jordan-Hare Stadium for a 6 p.m. kickoff Saturday.

Back at SEC Media Days in July, Freeze referred to his time at Ole Miss and “the way it ended” with nothing more specific.

“As time passes and things tend to settle back in and you work through — I tell people all the time, I think that one of the greatest judges of people, and our players included and the people I come in contact with, are when you experience disappointment, failure, whether it was of your own doing or whether it was circumstances that come into your life,” Freeze said in July at SEC Media Days. “Those are tough circumstances, but how a person responds to those and reacts to those probably tells you more about them than the successes do.”

Freeze has been known to let out remarks he probably should not. Many times in press conferences, Freeze has said he is “too candid.” During Auburn’s bye week, Freeze’s presently unfounded comments about the future of the Auburn-Georgia rivalry caught some attention. He suggested the series’ annual matchups could be coming to an end with the future changes of the SEC schedule as the league expands.

The SEC has not yet made a decision on the format for the schedule after the 2024 season. Freeze later clarified his comments to say he had no inside information, but just hopes the league protects the rivalries that fans enjoy.

But on Monday when discussing his end at Ole Miss, he stopped himself before he could say anything.

Freez has never commented on whether this game means anything more to him. But it won’t be his first time facing Ole Miss since he left. Freeze played Ole Miss in Oxford, Mississippi in 2021 as Liberty’s head coach. Ole Miss won 27-14. He said he and is wife talked about that game in advance of this weekend’s matchup.

“Jill and I actually talked about that because that removes the hey, this is your first time playing Ole Miss since your departure from there,” Freeze said Monday. “And so I think it’s very helpful. That was an emotional day originally because I was truthfully overwhelmed by —. ”

Freeze cut himself off again.

Matt Cohen covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on Twitter at @Matt_Cohen_ or email him at [email protected]