In his almost-three years on the Plains, the biggest issue that sticks out regarding Hugh Freeze's tenure with the Auburn Tigers football program is his inability to choose the right quarterback.
Freeze arrived on the Plains being hailed as an 'offensive guru' and was 'known for his development of quarterbacks,' but those traits never materialized during his time at Auburn football. It all started with Payton Thorne, the former Michigan State quarterback who had a great 2021 season that somehow made it possible for the Tigers' staff to ignore the less-great 2022 season that followed immediately.
According to CBS Sports, not everyone in the building was on board with taking Thorne back in the beginning:
"Even if there were those in the building who were against taking Thorne in the first place -- and there were, according to multiple sources -- the bigger issue was that Freeze doubled down on Thorne for a second season," writes CBS Sports's John Talty. "Freeze opted to stick with Thorne despite multiple coaches and personnel staffers in the building pushing him to consider Washington State transfer Cam Ward.
"There was an internal push to go after Ward from the jump, but Freeze and quarterbacks coach Kent Austin were resistant. They didn't want to upset what they believed was a young, talented QB room that included four-star freshman Walker White and redshirt freshman Hank Brown."
Of course, Freeze's second year on the Plains ended with White and Brown hitting the portal anyway.
"They legitimately thought Thorne was the answer," said an Auburn source, per CBS Sports, "and they were wrong."
The blame does not rest solely on the quarterback, but heading into Week 11 it appears that Freeze and his coaches got the quarterback choice wrong again with Jackson Arnold, who was not the sure pick Freeze needed to save his job as head coach.