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Alabama writer predicts Hugh Freeze losing recruits in Auburn football's 2025, 2026 classes

By Andrew Hughes

One Alabama writer sees the sky falling for Hugh Freeze, but wants a lifetime contract for Auburn football's head coach
One Alabama writer sees the sky falling for Hugh Freeze, but wants a lifetime contract for Auburn football's head coach / Michael Chang/GettyImages
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Bama Hammer's Ronald Evans predicts Hugh Freeze's worst-case scenario unfolding over the next year: losing recruits from Auburn football's top-five 2025 and 2026 classes as the program continues to spiral under his watch.

Evans repeatedly pitched for the Tigers to give Freeze a lifetime contract. Remember, the Gumps aren't cheering for prosperity on the Plains.

"At this point, Alabama football fans will be lucky if Auburn delays firing Freeze until after the 2025 season," Evans wrote. "The Auburn fans who want him gone now are correct that Auburn's future will only worsen under Freeze. He has been an outstanding recruiter for Auburn, but with another losing season ahead (it will be Auburn's fourth straight) the current No. 5-ranked 2025 commits will erode. Under Freeze, the 2026 class will dwindle to at best a good, but not game-changing, great class. In addition, Portal exits will be brutal for the Tigers."

Hugh Freeze's recruiting for Auburn football has somehow remained elite

Freeze has used the poor start to entice elite recruits in the 2025 class like Na'eem Offord to consider getting starter minutes off the bat right away at Auburn. That's a bold approach relative to transfer portal hunting, something Freeze was far less inclined to do in the 2024 cycle than in 2023, but it's one that can yield results in an NIL-driven marketplace.

It's unclear how long Freeze has in this role. His recruiting is stellar but the on-field results are heartbreaking. Fans can't help but place the 3-6 start to this season on his shoulders at this point. Sticking with Payton Thorne for two seasons has been his choice. And so was not feeding Jarquez Hunter the ball more than twice in the second half against Vanderbilt even though he singlehandedly won the Week 9 Kentucky game.

Until there are signs that recruiting could actually fall apart, this is just Bama propaganda aimed at scaring Tiger fans; or more specifically, fans of Freeze as AU's head man.

Let's not pretend that it's a far-off concept, though. Things tend to go from bad to worse quickly at Auburn.

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