When he took the head coaching position with the Auburn football program in late 2022, Hugh Freeze knew that there was a lot of work to be done on the Plains. The fanbase was scarred after almost two seasons of former head coach Bryan Harsin, and it had been years since the Tigers were a relevant college football team.
But rebuilding a program doesn't happen in one year, or even two, as Auburn football fans have seen. The past two seasons under Freeze have not been anything to write home about, both ending in losing records. In year two, the team didn't even make a bowl game.
However, things are clearly changing and improving, even if it hasn't shown up in the record book yet. The Tigers have had two back-to-back top 10 recruiting classes, and they continue to bring in high-level talent from the NCAA transfer portal. For Auburn Athletics Director John Cohen, it's important to consider the big picture when evaluating Freeze's time on the Plains so far.
"There are two ways I evaluate our football program right now: Do we still have the kids in the locker room? And the answer to that was a resounding yes at the end of last year, especially with the way those kids helped in the recruiting process. And No. 2: Are we indeed evaluating and recruiting top-10 classes? And the answer to that is yes," said Cohen, per ESPN. "If those two things are happening in this league, you are going to have eventual success. I do think we started from behind the eight ball. I'm not being critical of the kids who were here and stuck it out. I'm really proud of that. But we did not have Auburn-type talent here, and it was obvious that something was happening where kids were running in and out of this program. Our elite kids here at Auburn are not leaving the program anymore."
Though good things are happening in the Auburn football program, the Tigers will have to start winning games if Freeze plans to stick around for a while.