Each promise that Auburn Tigers head coach Hugh Freeze made after a loss is now adding insult to his injury. Freeze has made majestic promises to Auburn fans ever since he came to the Plains in 2022, and failed at delivering them so far just as majestically.
His recruiting cycle being ranked in the Top 10 cycles for two consecutive years might have sparked a semblance of hope of the Tigers winning, but the 11-14 record doused all of it two years in.
To make things worse, Freeze failed to have a top 10 recruiting class this season, the one thing that he could boast about since Auburn hired him. All these reasons and more are why Mike Farrell Sports' Mark Pszonac believes Freeze won't last the entire 2025 calendar year in Auburn.
"Freeze came in with the reputation of being a quarterback whisperer and play-caller. But the reality? Auburn’s offense has remained predictable and toothless. Creativity has been lacking, execution has been sloppy, and the expected quarterback development has been nowhere to be found," Pszonak Pszonak writes.
His current QB, Jackson Arnold, isn't the epitome of a perfect QB, and Freeze has to work with him through the season. We all know how it went with Freeze and his imperfect QB Payton Thorne last season.
But that's not the worst part.
"A bigger issue for many around Auburn is that Freeze hasn’t inspired confidence or hope. The program needed a head coach who could stabilize the program after the Bryan Harsin disaster. Instead, Freeze has a tendency of talking a big game, but then not backing it up. And because of that, Auburn hasn’t just been losing, it’s been losing without an identity," Pszonak wrote.
"Hiring Freeze was always somewhat of a gamble. And as the 2025 season is about to begin, it hasn’t paid off. Unless something changes drastically in the next three months, Auburn will keep spinning its wheels, stuck in the shadow of its rivals and wondering what the next step will be."
The situation is as pressurizing as it can get, and Freeze's hot seat will only get hotter with every loss he faces this season. All that is left to see is whether Freeze has built a squad strong enough to get them through this season with a winning record.