Since his firing as the Auburn Tigers' head football coach this past November, Hugh Freeze has not been left well enough alone. Several AU coaches have taken shots at him, including his successor, Alex Golesh.
Golesh's latest shot on Thursday night during Tiger Talk was a direct shot at Freeze's work ethic and alleged serial golf habit that was keeping him from game-planning for games during his final season in East Central Alabama.
“Our guys are going to be back the last two weeks of May. We start our pre-fall camp, summer on-field and in the classroom again. So, we’re resetting what we did pre-spring. It’s just an extended period of time. We got five freshmen that are still not here and graduate in May. That’ll kind of close out the roster, and then we go right back to work weight room-wise and on the field," Golesh prefaced before saying, “So, I don’t know if you were waiting on that we’re going to hit the golf course or not, but we got a lot of stuff to do.”
Golesh had previously not tried to lean too much into anti-Freeze sentiment. During his introductory presser back in December, Golesh acknowledged that golf questions were merely "set-up" questions.
“That is a setup question. I’ve been here long enough to know that,” Golesh said with a subtle nod. “My little man Barrett loves golf. (Daughter) Corbin used to, and now she is super into cheerleading and flag football so she just does it for a hobby. And my wife (Alexis) is an elite golfer.
“I like football more than golf. And I’m terrible.”
Clearly, Golesh has gotten the go-ahead to rip Freeze for all the money that was wasted during his tenure on sub-.500 seasons.
Steven Pearl also took a shot at Hugh Freeze after his firing
Steven Pearl got the call to go "bombs away" on Freeze before anyone else. Pearl claimed after Auburn's 95-90 overtime victory against the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats, which was the day after Freeze's dismissal, that fans are "tired of being told to be patient."
Of course, Pearl would probably like to take that back now after how the 2025-26 season has played out on the hardwood. Still, Pearl rallied the Auburn family by ripping on Freeze before he could even clear out his office.
That such a tactic could even work speaks volumes on Freeze's legacy in Lee County, Alabama.