Auburn football head coach Hugh Freeze knew there was a lot to be done to elevate the program when he took the job, but the priority objective for the coaching staff was improving the roster. The staff began with solidifying the 2023 class before moving on to search for transfers and laying the foundations for the important classes of 2024 and 2025.
When it comes to adding transfers, Freeze has consistently maintained that the staff is open to any transfers that will fit the culture on the Plains and improve the roster, and that he knew they would be leaning heavily on the portal in his first year. With 18 transfers incoming, have they accomplished that goal?
According to Freeze, it’s too early to tell if the Tigers are going to start winning games like crazy and close the gap between Auburn football, Alabama, and Georgia in year one, but he does believe that the roster has been improved, per Auburn Live:
"“I know there’s a lot of excitement right now with what we’ve done recruiting and I’m thrilled for that. I’m excited, but it’s too early to tell how much have we closed the gap on the ones we have to close the gap on? How much? I don’t think we’ll know until we play some games. The one thing I’m confident on is we’ve improved our roster.”"
Freeze has also made it clear that players coming to Auburn football should expect to compete, especially when it comes to the quarterback position. The head coach said that it should be expected that there will be no fewer than 4 QBs on the roster competing to be QB1, and the same mentality is applied to the rest of the position groups, as well.
Whether or not the Tigers make the leap this season is still up for debate, but Freeze and the staff are clearly laying strong foundations for the future.