Auburn Tigers football coach Hugh Freeze has been successful in delegating responsibilities on the defensive side of the ball -- handing DJ Durkin the defensive coordinator/play-calling duties and watching AU field a top-50 defense in 2024.
Now, he just needs to do that on the other side of the ball too, and Auburn can begin winning meaningfully in the SEC.
On SI's Keith Cummings made the case for Freeze to decide on either himself, Derrick Nix, or Kent Austin calling plays for the offense in 2025, believing that Jackson Arnold can only thrive with one man in charge.
"Payton Thorne had three different people calling plays on the same drive at times last season. Freeze was spinning plates by somehow thinking that sharing playcalling with offensive coordinator Derrick Nix and quarterback coach Kent Austin while chipping in himself, could somehow bear fruit," Cummings wrote.
"It was a bad idea to start, and hindsight wasn’t kind to the idea that three playcallers would work. The KISS philosophy (Keep It Simple Stupid) would be a much better approach in 2025. This has been done on defense. DJ Durkin is firmly in charge of the Auburn defense.
"If Arnold is going to be put in the best possible position to succeed as the new quarterback, Freeze needs to eliminate the noise on game day."
If Freeze can't figure this out, he shouldn't get more chances to make the same mistake over and over again.
Durkin is already handling his job and is on a big salary. Why not slap the interim tag on him and let him hire someone who can figure out how to maximize all the talent on the offensive side of the football?
Freeze needs to fix his side of the ball or get out of the way. If he's out of the way from a play-calling standpoint and who he delegated the responsibilities screws things up, what's the point of the Oxford, Mississippi native on the Plains at all?
Auburn sells itself unless you're Bryan Harsin and you don't pick up the phone. Freeze has done well recruiting, but what's the point of high-priced classes without on-field success?
If he can't be a proper CEO for the Auburn Tigers, someone with less baggage and better media training can most certainly get them to a bowl game.