Auburn fans have already mentally fired Hugh Freeze

The Tigers dropped to 0-4 in SEC play with a Week 8 loss to Missouri, and Auburn fans could not be more tired of Hugh Freeze.
Auburn Tigers head coach Hugh Freeze
Auburn Tigers head coach Hugh Freeze | Jake Crandall/ Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Auburn’s biggest loss this season is by 10 points to then No. 10 Georgia, which, in Week 8, took down undefeated Ole Miss and will be on the rise in the AP Poll. However, close doesn’t count in college football. 

After leading nearly the entire way, Auburn surrendered a fourth-quarter touchdown drive to Missouri, allowing the visiting Tigers to send the game to overtime at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Then, in OT, Hugh Freeze’s offense managed a total of -5 yards and no points on its two possessions, as Missouri escaped with a 23-17 win. 

Freeze, in his third year at Auburn, has now started 0-4 in SEC play each season. Auburn, after starting the year 3-0 and climbing into the Top 25, is 3-4 and could struggle to qualify for a bowl game for the second time in Freeze’s tenure, if that tenure extends beyond Sunday. 

Though it’s not quite a certainty, Auburn fans on social media have already mentally fired their head coach and begun a search for his successor. 

If Auburn does move on from Freeze, he will be the third head coach the program has fired in the last six years. The Tigers parted ways with Gus Malzahn in 2020, then dismissed Bryan Harsin midway through the 2022 season. 

Hugh Freeze’s big mistake will cost him

Freeze did a good job cleaning up the mess that Harsin left on The Plains. He built up a robust NIL program, which allowed him to recruit the high school ranks at an elite level. The proof of his success is all of the roster, with talented players like Cam Coleman and Keldric Faulk. 

Auburn’s roster, in many ways, is strong enough to compete with the best teams in the conference. The offense is loaded with talented skill players and experienced veterans along the offensive line. The defense has been stout, led by Faulk, Keyron Crawford, and Xavier Atkins. That group has held some of the country’s most dynamic offenses in check. 

However, Freeze got one decision massively wrong, and it may cost him his job. After two seasons of Payton Thorne at quarterback, Freeze took a big swing in the transfer portal this offseason to bring in Jackson Arnold from Oklahoma. Arnold has not been the answer, and the former five-star taking a sack to end the Week 8 loss was painfully fitting. 

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