There doesn’t appear to be anything close to a consensus on what Auburn football head coach Hugh Freeze, offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Philip Montgomery, and the rest of the Tigers staff on who will be QB1 heading into the 2023 season.
With AU not even in a position to offer headline names in the transfer portal like Devin Leary, Spencer Sanders, and Grayson McCall for various reasons, it seemed as though incumbent starter Robby Ashford was being handed the baton again after starting for three-quarters of the 2022 season.
New intel from 247Sports’ Nathan King seems to indicate that’s not the case — with the opposite potentially being true since Freeze isn’t confident his starter is even on campus yet:
Hugh Freeze offered a candid assessment of Auburn's QB situation entering the spring, admitting he's not sure the 2023 starter is on campus yet.
— Nathan King (@NathanKing247) January 27, 2023
"I think that room's got to grow up."
(VIP) https://t.co/VPyL9wYSrc pic.twitter.com/tZOwHi7a0M
What Hugh Freeze’s comments mean about the Auburn football QB1 role
Given Freeze’s lack of an endorsement for Ashford or Holden Geriner, the forgotten man in the quarterback room, it appears as though the Tigers head coach is looking to implement someone he personally brought on as QB1 in his first season on the Plains.
That could mean he still has eyes on the quarterbacks still sitting in the portal, like Washington’s former 2018 5-star QB Sam Huard or Oregon State’s Chance Nolan. Either could provide solid competition to Ashford in the QB room, though neither would have the cache of a McCall or a Leary.
It may instead mean that Freeze is confident Lipscomb Academy prospect Hank Brown, a product of new UAB head coach Trent Dilfer during his final few seasons coaching high school football in Nashville, could step onto campus this summer and compete for snaps from day one.
Either way, Bryan Harsin’s QBs don’t seem to be doing it for Freeze and the new Auburn football coaching staff. Freeze appears to be looking to one of his own guys to manage the QB role moving forward.