Hugh Freeze reveals why he’s hesitant about speaking of Auburn QBs to press
Auburn football head coach Hugh Freeze wants to accurately assess his quarterbacks, but as the 53-year-old coaching veteran revealed, he is sometimes afraid to due to potentially coming off as being negative towards his players.
“I struggle with that,” Freeze told reporters on March 28 (h/t AL.com). “I really do. Because I want you guys to say, ‘Man, that guy, he’s straight and says it how he sees it.’ But I also worry sometimes that comes across that I’m being negative toward our current players, and I don’t want to be that because they’re ours, and Philip (Montgomery), myself, we have to own what’s out there and how we perform.”
Freeze revealed the internal struggle with balancing telling the truth and dealing with the barrage of question marks many have about the Tigers’ QB room. “It’s a joint deal, but there’s no secret that when I first came here, everybody was concerned about this position,” Freeze said. “For me to sit here and say, ‘Hey, you have no concerns,’ or I could be mum and just not answer your questions. So, I’ve got to decide what does that look like for me. I want to be very truthful.”
Hugh Freeze on Auburn football QB room: ‘There was a ways to go’
Freeze was forthcoming about the struggles the quarterback room is facing in their development following a season and a half of learning under former Auburn football head coach Bryan Harsin, and former AU offensive coordinators Mike Bobo and Eric Kiesau — but the head coach did speak optimistically about improving their games.
“I think we’re making improvement but there was a ways to go,” Freeze said. “It’s our job as coaches to get them to be the best that they can be. So, I’ve been excited about them wanting to be coached and them accepting our coaching. I think we’ve had to do a better job of coaching some and they’ve had to do a better job of owning what’s on the field. That’s the way it is. But I’m not down (on the quarterbacks); they all have done some good things. They all have had some inconsistencies. And it’s our job to improve that.”