Auburn football head coach Hugh Freeze took a break from serious matters on March 20 while speaking to reporters to speculate on which of Bruce Pearl’s Auburn basketball players he’d recruit if he had the chance.
Freeze even figured out which positions each hardwood Tiger would play on the gridiron and how they’d fit schematically on offense and defense.
Jaylin Williams and Dylan Cardwell would line up in the defensive trenches, with Williams also serving as a potential tight end on the offensive end, while Allen Flanigan would be a receiver. Oh, and actual Auburn football recruit Tre Donaldson would also have a spot on Freeze’s roster.
Auburn HC Hugh Freeze on what basketball players he'd recruit to play football:
— Justin Ferguson (@JFergusonAU) March 20, 2023
- Jaylin Williams at TE/EDGE
- Dylan Cardwell as a 4 technique
- Allen Flanigan as a "tall WR... I'd like to have that at the 10-yard line for a fade ball"
he also said Tre Donaldson, which, yeah
Could Tre Donaldson have played for Auburn football under a different regime?
When Donaldson was coming out of high school, his options were to play for Pearl or Bryan Harsin, with the slightest chance of playing in two consecutive athletic seasons as a dual-sport athlete also on the table.
Ultimately, Donaldson opted to stick with basketball, and that was probably a good thing for his career. Pearl’s Tigers ended up in March Madness while Harsin’s Tigers were 3-5 heading for a three or four-win season had he not been relieved of duties on October 31.
It’s unknown if a different football coach could’ve swayed Donaldson to put on a helmet sporting the orange and blue “AU,” but the Florida State Univ. School product was a 4-star safety who also played quarterback.
Who knows. Maybe Donaldson could’ve thrown his hat into the quarterback race both of the last two years. There’s not much the QB room could’ve lost in doing so.