Auburn Tigers coach Hugh Freeze tested the patience of AU fans and onlookers everywhere. However, that patience has run out after an 11-14 start to his coaching tenure on the Plains, and no guarantee from Freeze himself that the results will improve.
In a guest column for AL.com, Kevin Scarbinsky summarized the college football world's opinion on Freeze well: "Put up or shut up."
Either be the guy who resurrected Ole Miss with two wins over some of Nick Saban's best Alabama Crimson Tide teams ever, or step aside so someone else can get a once great Auburn football program out of the gutter.
"Freeze’s wins over Saban’s Crimson Tide in 2014 and 2015 helped launch his career. Those two games helped build the reputational equity that led to his return to the SEC after an abrupt departure from his first job in the league," Scarbinsky wrote.
"The guy whose offense humbled legends and energized a program that won more parties than games over the decades.
"Three years in, it’s time to see that Hugh Freeze in Auburn.
"He’s better than this.
"Auburn deserves better than these excuses and tepid assurances.
"The talk is getting old.
"And if the play remains stagnant, it could be time for something new."
Freeze has a highly-paid replacement ready in defensive coordinator DJ Durkin. While eating Freeze's salary isn't ideal, Durkin's defensive prowess may be enough to lead the team with the right play-caller on the other side of the ball.
Not to mention, Freeze's buyout won't be as crippling as Bryan Harsin's or Gus Malzahn's were.
It's beyond time for results on the field. Short of that, Freeze needs to be fired and rehabilitated elsewhere.
Maybe Ole Miss's job will become available should Lane Kiffin make a jump to a school like Florida or Oklahoma should more money and a better NIL base pop up on the job market next offseason.