OXFORD (AP) — Hugh Freeze choked up less than a minute after being introduced as Mississippi’s new football coach, acknowledging his wife and three daughters sitting on the stage behind him.

“I’ve taken them all around the country to bring them back to one place,” an emotional Freeze said. “And that’s the University of Mississippi.”

Freeze, 42, was named Ole Miss’ 37th football coach on Monday afternoon at a press conference on the university campus. He takes over for Houston Nutt, who was fired following one of the worst seasons in Ole Miss history. The Rebels finished with a 2-10 record, including a 0-8 mark in the Southeastern Conference.

Freeze could be a considered a risky hire considering his relative lack of experience. When Ole Miss started its search, names like Rich Rodriguez and Mike Leach were on the market, but the Rebels went with someone who’s coached on the college level for less than a decade.

Freeze, however, has capitalized on that short window of opportunity.

He comes to the Rebels from Arkansas State, where he led the Red Wolves to the 2011 Sun Belt Conference championship and 10-2 record in his first season as a coach at the Football Bowl Subdivision level. It was Arkansas State’s first 10-win season since 1986.

Freeze will not coach Arkansas State in the GoDaddy.com Bowl game Jan. 8 against Northern Illinois in Alabama.

Ole Miss Chancellor Dan Jones said Freeze has a four-year contract that pays a base salary of about $1.5 million per season. Jones said incentives could raise that salary to as much as $2.5 million per year. The Rebels already owe Nutt a $6 million buyout on top of the $2.7 million he was paid last season.