It's been a tough few years for the Auburn football program, to say the least. The Bryan Harsin era was like watching the Tigers dig themselves deeper and deeper into a hole, but there was hope when Hugh Freeze was hired after the 2022 season.
No one expected a stellar 2023 from the Tigers seeing it was a major rebuilding year for the program. Freeze's first team on the Plains finished with six wins and played in a bowl game. Fans were hopeful things would improve further in his second year, but somehow, despite better recruiting and increased talent, things seemed to get worse.
Auburn football finished with only five wins and was not eligible for a bowl game. It was one of the most frustrating seasons in recent memory, and often the team seemed to shoot itself in the foot and squander leads.
It's now three for Coach Freeze, and there is more pressure than ever before for the Tigers to find success on the field and break their four-season streak of losing records. But the Auburn Observer's Justin Ferguson warns Auburn football fans not to get overly excited, especially after the dismal 2024 season.
"No one should realistically expect Auburn to compete for an SEC championship this season," writes Ferguson. "The Tigers don’t have that type of team right now, and they’re coming off of four straight losing seasons for the first time since 1950. They need to get above .500 first and foremost.
"But Auburn should have ended the winning season drought last year. It should have been a better team in the win-loss columns. Freeze himself said it after the Iron Bowl, and he’s said it several more times this offseason. While the Tigers might not be where they want to be with their talent level quite yet, they were fully capable of so much more."
Hopefully, we will see the Tigers' success rate align with their talent level in the upcoming season.