Auburn Tigers football coach Hugh Freeze goofed, or rather, golfed, when he needed to be serious about recruiting.
As has been found out, Freeze has been hitting the links and shirking responsibilities on the recruiting trail. A lot. Excessively, even. 10 out of the first 20 days in June, Freeze recorded results on the United States Golf Association’s database of golf scores.
To say it's a bad look for Freeze is an understatement. It got to the point where many believed Freeze could step down. That needed to be addressed by a beat reporter, Rivals' Brian Stultz, who, coincidentally, regularly golfs with Freeze.
JABA. Things are officially embarrassing on the Plains.
That embarrassment is one Ole Miss Rebel fans know well, given his infamous impermissible phone calls on a university cell phone that led to Freeze's ouster from Oxford and a six-year exile from the SEC.
AL.com's Michael Casagrande referenced that incident in a snarky comment that speaks to how far behind Auburn is, narrative-wise, from where they should be heading into Freeze's third season on the Plains.
"It’s impossible to say how Freeze’s golf rounds line up with this calendar because the USGA’s site only includes the month of the rounds and not the exact dates," Casagrande prefaced before saying, "But you can do the math.
"It doesn’t align with a football coach doing everything he can (or at least present) to correct the regression of this program. Of all people, Freeze doesn’t seem like someone who needs a lesson on avoiding a public paper trail but here we are."
Freeze losing on the recruiting trail means it's do-or-die on the field.
The excuses are gone. As is his program's dignity if this behavior keeps up.