Newly implemented Auburn football head coach Hugh Freeze has to navigate the balancing all new head coaches deal with when they become the leader of a new program — mainly, deciding which personnel from the old regime should be kept and what new pieces with the new HC stamp should be brought on.
Freeze has already kept interim head coach Carnell “Cadillac” Williams and appointed him associate head coach while returning him back to his running backs coach duties he had from 2019-2022. Elsewhere, though, he has made his impact, cutting offensive line coach Will Friend, wide receivers coach Ike Hillard, and defensive coordinator Jeff Schmedding.
When it comes to players, there haven’t been any signature additions yet, though there’s already been a key departure in the QB room— that being Zach Calzada, who didn’t find the field for a single snap on the Plains.
With that said, ESPN analyst Tom Luginbill projects Auburn football as the best landing spot for one of the biggest transfer portal quarterback names available, Oklahoma State quarterback Spencer Sanders, during the Next Round Live podcast:
"“When you marry Spencer Sanders and that skillset, and what we saw in the past from Hugh Freeze’s iterations with what we saw from Malik Willis and even though it’s a one and done-type scenario, what if it helps you get off the mat, right. What if it helps you accelerate the improvement of the program, generate momentum with the program? I like that marriage of the offensive identity and the skillset and a guy that’s played a lot of football, been highly successful.”"
Hugh Freeze must decide if Robby Ashford is the guy for Auburn football at QB
If Auburn football shows interest in a player like Spencer Sanders, there becomes a very interesting conundrum for new Tigers head coach Hugh Freeze. With Robby Ashford having proven himself over the last four games of the season, there could be controversy should the Hoover product be passed over as the preferred option under center.
Again, though, it’s up to Freeze to decide what his imprint is going to look like for his program. If he wants someone with more big-game experience in order to elevate AU out of the SEC West cellar, Sanders is the preferable choice.