Auburn football head coach Hugh Freeze is headed into his third season on the Plains, and there is a lot of pressure on him to win games this year. After bringing in back-to-back top 10 recruiting classes but also producing back-to-back losing seasons, fans are growing impatient at the stalled progress of the team.
Freeze and his staff made big moves in the offseason to try to improve the team, including completely revamping the quarterback room with Oklahoma transfer Jackson Arnold and building one of the most talented wide receiver classes the Tigers have ever had.
Still, these things carry less weight when the team can't win games, and Freeze himself knows that the pressure is on.
Fans were less than happy about Freeze declaring the Tigers must make a bowl game, which they considered to be a bare minimum after the last two years. According to CBS Sports, the Tigers are "guaranteed" to make a bowl game in 2025.
"I'm not a fool," Freeze said earlier this summer. "I think we've got to go to a bowl game."
However, Freeze may be a fool if he thinks that's all Auburn needs to accomplish in his third season. Expectations should be far higher than a mere 6-6 mark with the nation's No. 8 transfer class and a manageable schedule.
The Tigers have all the ingredients to create a successful team in 2025, but will they be able to rectify their constant mistakes from last season and finish games in the fourth quarter? That is still to be determined.
Auburn football returns to action on August 29 in Waco, Texas, against the Baylor Bears.