Hugh Freeze has had problems turning most of the active Auburn Tigers football players Bryan Harsin handed him into NFL prospects. He's also failed to produce volume in his NFL players from his two transfer classes.
Bama Hammer's Ronald Evans believes that's enough to call anyone who chooses the Plains intending to reach the pros a "fool."
"Auburn's main problem is that it has almost nothing to sell. Any college football recruit with a solid potential of playing in the NFL is a fool to play for the Auburn Tigers. And this is the case even with Auburn being located in a historically strong recruiting area," Evans wrote.
"Auburn does a poor job of developing players for the NFL. Going back to the 2020 NFL Draft, 53 Alabama football players have been drafted. In comparison, Auburn has had 25 players drafted. The average draft round for Alabama's 53 players was 2.6. Auburn's average draft round was 4.4. Twenty of Alabama's 53 players were drafted in the First Round. Only two Auburn players have been first-round picks, and those came in 2020. Since Cam Newton was drafted in 2011, Auburn has had one quarterback drafted; it was Jarett Stidham in the fourth round of the 2019 Draft. At best, the Auburn football program should earn a 'C-' in preparing players for the NFL."
Harsh? Beyond. Unfair? Absolutely.
Even if things don't turn around, players who were hoping to give the Auburn Family hope, all while looking to take advantage of a recent dearth of talent due to recruiting misfires of Freeze's predecessor, aren't fools.
As clichéd as it sounds, the Loveliest Village is more than just the results on the field.
Of course, those need to come. Freeze knows that, even if he undersold it when asked about the 2025 season's expectations back in May.
But signing on the dotted line to make good NIL money and live in a college town that idolizes its athletes is not what a fool does.