Auburn football: Analyst says Hugh Freeze yet to make a splash in recruiting

Opelika-Auburn News deputy editor Justin Lee doesn’t think Auburn football head coach Hugh Freeze has quite made a splash in recruiting — despite raising the Tigers’ 2023 recruiting class to No. 18 overall and landing the No. 4 transfer class as of this writing.

Lee had a back-and-forth with a fan on Twitter who quote-tweeted one of Lee’s previous tweets questioning whether or not Freeze, ‘a G5 coach who is old news in the SEC,’ was capable of making a splash in recruiting and in hiring his support staff.

According to the OA News’ deputy editor, landing offensive linemen — he’s currently at seven total in his first cycle with that number expected to rise — is smart, but it is not the sizzle landing a quarterback would be:

🤨 It's linemen, which is very much not splash. It might be "smart" but it isn't splash. You're still waiting on that portal quarterback, aren't you?

The components are fine. Maryland, South Florida, Purdue — fills gaps. The UK and LSU guys are Ws. Still a long haul here.
— Justin Lee (@ByJustinLee) January 12, 2023

What Justin Lee would consider a splash for Auburn football in recruiting

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The Opelika-Auburn News editor was unwilling to budge when given a chance to rescind his prediction that Hugh Freeze wouldn’t make a splash, though he did concede on several occasions that what constitutes a splash is an eye of the beholder issue.

Two tweets in particular explained Lee’s criteria, and many Auburn football fans would likely agree considering the feelings Bryan Harsin elicited as a non-southerner trying to succeed in the Southeastern Conference:

Some puzzle pieces from Purdue, Maryland, Cincinnati, hasn't proved me wrong at all. They might be smart pickups in the long game but they aren't sizzle transfers from the sizzle schools.
— Justin Lee (@ByJustinLee) January 12, 2023

Absolutely yes. Everything you know about me should tell you I'm biased toward the SEC.
— Justin Lee (@ByJustinLee) January 12, 2023

The jury is out on whether or not Oklahoma State (Big 12) QB Spencer Sanders or Virginia (ACC) QB Brennan Armstrong would fit the bill of a splashy recruiting gain.

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