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Bryan Harsin, Hugh Freeze literally brought Auburn football back to The Great Depression era

By Andrew Hughes

Bryan Harsin and Hugh Freeze have set Auburn football back to The Great Depression era on the Plains
Bryan Harsin and Hugh Freeze have set Auburn football back to The Great Depression era on the Plains / Jason Getz-Imagn Images
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Bryan Harsin and Hugh Freeze have quite literally brought Auburn football back to a malaise the Tigers haven't experienced since The Great Depression from 1927-1930. Per The Auburn Observer's Justin Ferguson, AU is about to have five SEC losses for the fourth straight season. And that hasn't happened since the New York Yankees had the "Murderer's Row" winning World Series rings and prohibition was prompting the creation of speakeasys around the country.

Technically, The Great Depression didn't start until 1929. That was year three of that Tigers losing skid. Freeze's first year would be the equivalent to George Bohler and Red Floyd's 2-7 campaign. And that feels about right.

Freeze's arrival was supposed to turn things around. And while the 2024 and 2023 seasons are and were an improvement on the Harsin-coached games from 2022, it's not an improvement from the on-field product in Harsin's first year.

The excuses? Freeze's first year was full of transfers and his second is filled with freshmen.

Given how successful teams like Curt Cignetti's Indiana Hoosiers are in a modern climate, with a new coach and a slew of transfers/first-year guys, that doesn't go too far. NIL has made immediate turnarounds possible, and schools like TCU, under first-year head coach Sonny Dykes, and Ole Miss in Lane Kiffin's second season in charge, have pulled it off.

It's clearly not happening at AU. But this turnaround is taking longer than anyone could've imagined.

Auburn football is not buying the right talent in the NIL era

Auburn's roster has an NIL valuation of $11 million. Resources are being spent. It's clearly just not being spent on the right players. First-year GM Will Redmond was only hired in January, so he didn't have much of a hand on this season's roster.

His job will be vital this offseason. He needs to find the type of veteran portal additions who can instill a winning culture and help the talented 2024 and 2025 classes get up to speed.

This program's stability depends on it. The direction cannot continue being backward.

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