Auburn Tigers football coach Hugh Freeze landed in hot water this past week for being found to have golfed over half the days in the month of June -- amidst a recruiting slide that's seen the team lose several flips, no less.
Perhaps we're all looking at it wrong.
As AL.com's Joseph Goodman noted, Freeze golfing with donors may actually be good for recruiting when it comes time to pony up cash for NIL expenditures.
"I’m not in the business of defending Freeze, but maybe this time the guy deserves a break. Freeze has worked himself sick recruiting football players for Auburn over the past couple years. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in February. Seems like a little golf in June might be just what the doctor ordered," Goodman wrote.
"All football coaches play golf in June, or at least the smart ones.
"Raising money is the name of the game these days. Look at it this way. The more rounds of golf that Freeze plays with donors, the better chance Auburn has at outspending Alabama and Georgia for quarterback recruits.
"And let’s be real. Everyone else can be purchased out of the transfer portal."
The Class of 2026 won't sign for many months. Once the recruiting dead period ends in August, the flips will come fast and furiously.
Judging Freeze for this class may be a fool's errand. By the 2026 season, his 2024 class will hopefully be mature enough to carry the load, and his 2025 class will have a year under the belt; perhaps with the same designation if things break right this season. Freeze may not need the deepest 2026 class, especially if he feels using the transfer portal is the best play next offseason.
The only thing you can truly judge Freeze on is his on-field success. If the Tigers don't have any early and often during the 2025 schedule, don't expect Auburn to continue to display endless patience for the Oxford, Mississippi native.