The Auburn football program is officially entering a new era. After the Bryan Harsin fiasco, the impressive healing conducted by Cadillac Williams, and a drama-filled coaching search, Athletics Director John Cohen has settled on Hugh Freeze as the next head coach on the Plains.
There was a lot of pushback from a portion of the fans once Freeze was hired, pointing fingers at his past discretions and arguing that he is not the man for the job. However, some of the Auburn football players who will now be working closely with Freeze are singing a different tune.
One of the players who undoubtedly showed the most heart and fight throughout the turbulent 2022 season was quarterback Robby Ashford. The redshirt sophomore was never supposed to be the starter, but he ultimately took on the job like a true competitor and never stopped fighting for the Tigers, even after it was revealed post-season that Ashford struggled with a lot of injuries and played through them.
Ashford was present for Freeze’s introductory press conference, and emphasized his excitement for the future on the Plains with the new head coach, per Auburn Undercover:
"“During the search just seeing his track record and what he has done, I was thinking this is the coach I want to play for. He can develop me into the type of quarterback I want to be. Me being close to Malik [Willis], just being able to see how he developed and what he is doing now, why would I not want to play for a guy like that? I think we will get along great,” Ashford added. “He is a winning coach along with a winning program–it’s just that we have to get back to that. I think this is a great hire and I am excited.”"
Whether or not you are a fan of Hugh Freeze, his words at his introductory press conference made it clear that he loves Auburn, and he is going to fight to put Auburn football back on top where it belongs. As long as Freeze supports our student-athletes on and off the field, it’s possible the Tigers do amazing things in the 2023 season.