Opelika-Auburn News deputy editor Justin Lee was not impressed with the latest Auburn football PR graphic on Twitter — one that featured a Hugh Freeze quote about committing to something greater than your own feelings and an acronym that’s a bit of a stretch spelling out the word ‘family.’
Certainly, it is a potential quagmire including the word ‘integrity’ in the graphic considering the media firestorm that occurred in the wake of Freeze’s hiring due to his problematic past at Ole Miss, but it didn’t go unpunished.
Lee joked that whoever was in charge of creating the graphic was collecting too much income for their services:
Whatever they're paying the PR firm, it's too much. https://t.co/wLlORn4cE3
— Justin Lee (@ByJustinLee) December 6, 2022
Hugh Freeze won’t hear the end of it from the Auburn football beat unless he wins
Auburn football beat writers have had a bad taste in their mouths from three straight years of sub-standard play, and with the last two head coaches being problematic in their own unique ways, they’ve had a field day.
Bryan Harsin presented obvious on-the-surface issues as head coach. Many of his players described him as an elitist who didn’t try to level with them on a personal level, and some had even worse descriptions. He was often rude to reporters for asking legitimate questions, and in general, didn’t appear to want to do the work necessary to dominate recruiting in the area.
Freeze’s issues are behind the scenes, and often times exclusively digital. The new Tigers head coach has the respect of his players and is networking with players and local coaches out of the gate.
If Freeze can get it done on the football field, the narrative will inevitably shift to what is happening on the field. So buckle in, because we have nine months until the next time the Tigers take to the gridiron for Freeze’s coaching debut on the Plains.