New Auburn football head coach Hugh Freeze has a lot of responsibility as someone inheriting a program that may not have even gotten 50% effort on the recruiting trail from the last person in his seat.
Thus far, Freeze has been showing face and making critical connections — most recently at an event with over 100 high school head coaches, giving each and every coach there a few minutes per Brian Stultz of Rivals.
Something else he has been doing is visiting the homes of recruits with his support staff, rocking an On To Victory button-down. As AL.com’s Joseph Goodman pointed out in his latest column, Freeze may be breaking ground in promoting his school’s NIL collective:
"“Can Freeze, or any other college football coach, talk about money with players on recruiting visits? No, they cannot, according to the rules of the NCAA. Can coaches wear the branded shirts of NIL collectives that can and will be paying the players? Apparently so.”“It’s a fine line to walk, but that’s the new path to maintaining a constant pursuit of conference and national championships year after year.”"
Auburn football head coach Hugh Freeze has a history of recruiting violations
One of the bigger black marks on new Auburn football head coach Hugh Freeze’s record was his recruiting violations at Ole Miss, which allegedly included a still-illegal pay-to-play set-up with Rebels recruits.
That he is already walking a fine line isn’t the most shocking piece of information ever consumed, but Auburn University has pledged to hold Freeze accountable for such issues. Bruce Pearl and his Auburn basketball program have not only been kept in check since his hiring in 2014 — with several university presidents and athletic directors overseeing him — but the hardwood Tigers have thrived in the NIL era.
Freeze talked about being like Pearl, so hopefully his redemption arc in Auburn plays out in a similar fashion. If it does, there could be unmatched prosperity on the Plains with college football being a bigger economic boon for a given market than it has ever been before.