The pressure surrounding Hugh Freeze to give the Auburn fans one winning season in his three years of being the Tigers' head coach is almost palpable in the Plains. So is the heat from his hot seat.
Amid all the noise, ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum came clean on what he thinks would be reasonable expectations from Freeze. During his appearance on McElroy and Cubelic in the morning, Finebaum approached Auburn's expectations with a rather optimistic approach and gave Freeze a "doable" number.
"I feel good. It’s easy to be an optimist on a gorgeous late summer morning in Alabama when the record is 0-0. I’m gonna give him the benefit of the doubt. I think, for all the criticism that he has received, and much of it is self-inflicted, at the core, he’s a good football coach," Finebaum said.
“He’s got everything he needs, and I don’t know when a guy with the kind of record that he has, and some of the off the field miscues that he has suffered, couldn’t have any more support from John Cohen and this administration. So, I’m not predicting a playoff. I think 8-4 would be considered a reasonable record. I think that is doable,” the SEC mouthpiece added, making it clear that he is not expecting any miracles from Freeze.
Four losses might be a number that Auburn fans can digest, only if they find the teams that they lose against acceptable. In other words, only if Freeze can finally get a win in two of their most storied rivalries: against Georgia and Alabama.
Ever since he took over the program in 2022, Freeze has yet to open Auburn's record against Georgia in the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry. It's the same with Alabama in the Iron Bowl. If he can find a way to win both, or even one of these rivalries this season, the Auburn fans might go a little easy on him the next season.