Analyst on Auburn OC after Ole Miss loss: ‘No coming back from this’

Everyone around the Auburn football program — be it the fanbase, the media, personnel, you name it — is tired of the Tigers’ consistent losing in SEC play in 2023; with October 21’s 28-21 loss to Ole Miss the breaking point in many aspects. The most notable aspect is, unquestionably, the offensive coordinator role currently occupied by Philip Montgomery.

Opelika-Auburn News editor Justin Lee shared a column claiming that “there’s no coming back from this” for Montgomery and shared a condensed but still poignant take on Hugh Freeze’s play-caller — that he’s a sitting duck in the role as the losses continue to pile up.

“Let’s be real,” Lee prefaced before saying, “From here, it’s just a matter of time and a matter of charades. There’s no coming back from this for offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery.”

A fed-up Lee, who like the rest of us, deserves a better product than one that needed a backdoor touchdown to make this game look competitive, used satire to deliver a message on Freeze’s comments made before conference play that there was a talent gap between AU and the SEC.

“More boos from the students after another 3-and-out,” Lee prefaced before saying, “I’m sure the talent gap caused that illegal substitution.”

Philip Montgomery an easy Auburn football scapegoat

At this point, the Tigers need a shake-up. Freeze continues to be stubborn about executing a two-quarterback system, so if/when that remains a staple in the offense, the man scheming for it is the one to go.

Montgomery has undoubtedly had a hand in how predictable Auburn’s attack is, and expelling him is far easier to do than benching one of the QBs; since neither Payton Thorne nor Robby Ashford have strung together enough consecutive drives in any given Power Five game to definitively earn the starting role under center fur AU.

Unfortunately, Montgomery is an easy scapegoat for the Tigers. It may cost him big soon enough.