Hugh Freeze wasn’t hired by Auburn football due to success at Liberty
Hugh Freeze wasn’t hired to be the head Auburn football coach because of his 34-15 record at Liberty, according to Opelika-Auburn News editor Justin Lee, but instead, because the Plains gave the Oxford, Mississippi native the best chance the perennial winner ever had to succeed.
“Freeze wasn’t hired because he set the world on fire at Liberty,” Lee wrote, “Guys that go 8-4 at schools like Liberty don’t get hired at schools like Auburn. He got hired because of his potential to be the best Hugh Freeze of his career when placed in the best circumstances of his career.”
Freeze has thus far struggled to keep the Tigers competitive in conference play in road matchups, losing by a combined 47 points to Texas A&M and LSU in their two SEC games away from Jordan-Hare Stadium in 2023. Thus far, the results aren’t what many were hoping for, but they’ve been the results Freeze warned were likely…
Hugh Freeze predicted Auburn football losing streak
To be fair, Freeze didn’t mince his words when discussing his team’s expectations during what turned out to be a 0-3 SEC play-opening run — predicting that the talent gap could ultimately dictate the results of those games.
“I’m probably too candid and honest sometimes for some people, let’s just be really clear,” Freeze said (h/t AL.com). “You’re playing the best recruits in the nation. We’re going to be there soon, and that doesn’t mean you can’t compete and win the game, there’s a reason they are third in the nation on third down defense. They’ve got a bunch of 5-stars in the defensive line and at linebacker and at safety and at corner. They are really, really talented.
“It’s a tall, tall challenge for us in year one to stand toe-to-toe with A&M and Georgia next week and LSU the following week. It’s our goal to get there, but that’s what reality is. We’ve had about eight months to recruit a half a class. These others have been stacking it.”
Now that the Texas A&M, Georgia, and LSU games are over and done with, the mood needs to change immediately. Sure, Freeze needed patience at first, but now the fanbase needs results. Freeze wasn’t hired because of what he did at Liberty, but fans deserve to at least see eight-win seasons like the Flames fanbase did for four years.