Auburn football spring practice ‘has provided hope for the future’

Hugh Freeze’s first Auburn football spring practices were highly regarded by CBS Sports’ Barrett Sallee, who exalted the incoming coach’s short tenure at the expense of the slightly less short-lived tenure of his predecessor, Bryan Harsin.

“More than anything, this spring has provided — and will continue to provide — hope for the future,” Sallee prefaced before saying, “Auburn became stale under Harsin, but interim coach Carnell Williams generated hope when he took over during the final month of the season. With Freeze leading the way and Williams on staff, the future of Auburn football just needs a glimmer of hope. That seems to be shining bright so far.”

Thus far, Freeze has changed the rules of A-Day to prioritize progress over exhibition results, improve the team’s discipline, and most importantly, find leaders on the offensive line who can elevate the unit’s play following years of underperformance.

Analyst on Auburn football A-Day: ‘Don’t focus too much on results’

During the 2022 A-Day spring game, Holden Geriner led Team Auburn to drive resulting in a touchdown and then almost won the game on a two-point conversion. Geriner looked like a future star.

He still could be, but Geriner ended up throwing three passes throughout his entire redshirt 2022 season — showing that the results of the A-Day spring game are ultimately secondary to players understanding where they need to be on both sides of the ball.

Sallee echoed the sentiment that the more important thing for Auburn football fans to look out for than the results is what Freeze is asking of his offense.

“Auburn has kept things under wraps for the majority of spring practice, so it’s difficult to gauge how things are really going,” Sallee said. “When Freeze opens the doors for its spring game next month, however, don’t focus too much on results — especially on offense. Take a peek at what Freeze specifically asks of his offense, because that will give you an idea of what he feels could be the identity of this year’s team.”