Auburn football HC Hugh Freeze reveals he avoided handing QB1 role to interested transfer portal targets

Auburn football head coach Hugh Freeze revealed that he refused to give any QB1 assurances to any transfer portal quarterback targets interested in the Plains from the last transfer portal cycle to the Associated Press’ John Zenor.

“We might could have had one or two in the last portal had I told them certain words they wanted to hear,” Freeze said. “Like they’re the guy and all that. But I’m just not made that way. “We absolutely are going to look at every scenario that becomes an option. We’ll go down and look at, is that best for this program. And that’s ultimately what we have to do, is what’s best for the program.”

Was Freeze talking about NC State’s Devin Leary, who chose Kentucky? Or Oklahoma State’s Spencer Sanders, who chose Ole Miss? Freeze’s comments open the door for speculation on which QBs weren’t open to a QB competition with Robby Ashford, TJ Finley, and Holden Geriner on the Plains.

Hugh Freeze looking for leadership from Auburn football QB1

Freeze told the AP what he was looking for in a starting signal-caller, and from the sounds of it, a leader is what the 53-year-old Oxford native needs in his first QB1 as head coach of the Auburn football program.

“The interesting thing will be their response to the competition that has been created that will continue to go on,” Freeze said. “And being the quarterback to me at an SEC school, at a place like Auburn, carries a lot of weight to it. And that weight doesn’t end when spring practice 15 is over. How does that go through summer, what does that look like in the leadership of this team? That will all play into ultimately who gets that first nod. It will be interesting to see how all respond to that.”

Ashford has undergone a midseason coaching change and has come out on the other side, while Finley has endured heavy scrutiny while at Auburn and is still here for a third year. Geriner, meanwhile, led Savannah (Ga.) Benedictine Military School over Columbus Carver in Atlanta to win Georiga’s AAAA title game back in 2021 the last time he was a starter.

If any of the aforementioned quarterbacks don’t work out this spring, Freeze could take to the portal to find his QB1.