Liberty’s Freeze game-day name for Sat. at ULL

Liberty coach Hugh Freeze will determine Saturday in session together with his medical doctors whether or not he’ll be capable of make the journey to Louisiana, however he advised ESPN on Friday that Liberty president Jerry Falwell Jr. has already bought a state-of-the-art examination chair and shipped it to the stadium in Lafayette.

“I will not know till someday tomorrow afternoon, and if I am having those self same [back] spasms, I will not go and need not go,” Freeze advised ESPN. “However I need to do all the things I can to be there for my crew and for this college that is been so good to me.”

Freeze coached Liberty’s season opener final week, a 28-Zero loss to Syracuse, from a hospital mattress that was crammed right into a radio/TV sales space within the press field at Liberty’s Arthur L. Williams Stadium.

“They’re setting the chair up as we converse [in the press box coaches’ booth at Louisiana’s Cajun Field], and it is a kind of examination chairs which you could tilt or increase any means you need,” Freeze mentioned Friday morning. “I used to be in a position to sit with my workers for 3 hours [Thursday] and felt good. I used to be additionally in a position to stroll some with my walker. After sitting for 3 hours, was my again a little bit tighter? Sure, however I have never had a single spasm for 4 days.”

The MediLuxe MD4-2000 Deluxe Remedy Chair that Falwell bought weighs 600 kilos and retails for greater than $5,000. Freeze mentioned Liberty would convey the chair again on the gear truck in case he wants to make use of it for future residence video games.

If Freeze is cleared to make the journey, he would fly by non-public aircraft to Lafayette, and the plan is to get him to the stadium about an hour earlier than the 7:30 p.m. kickoff.

“I am able to name this recreation, much more so than I used to be final week. I wasn’t a lot assist [against Syracuse] and was making an attempt to name it off of the TV monitor greater than something, and we simply could not block their defensive ends,” Freeze mentioned. “I’m going again to all the things Liberty has carried out for me, and I need to do all the things I can to present again.”

Liberty coach Hugh Freeze has struggled with lower-back points for years, and a probably life-threatening staph an infection final month difficult the already-severe ache he was experiencing from a herniated disk in his again. AP Photograph/Matt Bell

Freeze, who has struggled with lower-back points for years, underwent surgical procedure Aug. 16 on the College of Virginia Medical Heart after a probably life-threatening strand of staph an infection entered his bloodstream and sophisticated what was already extreme ache he was experiencing from a herniated disc.

Initially, he was confined to a hospital mattress in a resort suite and watching observe through an online digicam. He was in a position to transfer to a wheelchair just a few days in the past and was outdoors strolling with a walker by Friday morning.

“I acquired to sleep at residence [Thursday] evening for the primary time in 28 days, and that was a blessing,” Freeze mentioned. “So I am getting higher, however nonetheless do not need to do something that can set me again. That is why I’ll wait and make a name [Saturday].”

Freeze mentioned Louisiana coach Billy Napier and UL faculty officers have been particularly useful.

“Billy referred to as me and was superior. All of them deserve a number of credit score for making an attempt to make this occur and have been very sort,” Freeze mentioned.

Much like what he mentioned per week in the past after pictures of him teaching from a hospital mattress went viral, Freeze understands that some have accused him of making an attempt to attract consideration to himself and have made jokes concerning the state of affairs.

“It is exhausting for all of us, however I’ve realized to not care about different individuals’s opinions,” Freeze mentioned. “I simply need to do proper by Liberty College.”