Auburn Tigers football coach Hugh Freeze hardly ever anticipated the ugly tirade that washed over him due to his simple hobby of playing golf. Or, more precisely, the surfeit of it.
It is only natural for the fans from the Plains to feel infuriated by the inordinate time Freeze spends on the golf course, especially after two blue-chip prospects decommit from the program like hot potatoes in the same week.
On top of that, the Tigers are nowhere near having a top-10 recruiting program this offseason after having one in the past two cycles. And his hot seat is a can of worms we don't even want to touch.
Freeze has already played more than 20 rounds this summer. Since then, fans have been particularly unforgiving towards Freeze online. Trolls have been blasting Freeze with his recruiting in limbo.
Yet, already-under-fire Auburn AD John Cohen is not buying into the online outrage. Cohen instead stepped in to defend the Tigers' HC and his golfing hobby from the hate, even praising his recruiting efforts.
"I’ve been on a golf course with Hugh Freeze when a kid called or he called the kid and had a 30-minute conversation with him while he was playing golf,” Cohen said, per On SI's Brooks Crew.
“You know, some people like to drink. Some people like to fish. Some people like to do all sorts of things. [Golf] is one of his hobbies. … With what he inherited, why are top-level kids deciding to come to Auburn? It’s because of his personal effort. And look, all anybody cares about is winning games. But that’s the root of winning games."
Freeze has also defended himself on similar grounds, claiming that he has "never missed a camp day or a recruiting day."
If Freeze delivers the wins he promises this season, all the backlash against what he does in his personal time will be gone in no time. That or he might not even have this job next year.
Only time will tell how it pans out.