Plugged-in Auburn football source shuts down baseless alignment issues rumor from Alabama account

Crain & Company's Jake Crain confirmed with sources close to Auburn football that one Alabama account's accusation of Hugh Freeze not being aligned with the program's power brokers is verifiably false.

"Talked to sources: Not remotely close to true," Crain prefaced before saying, "Say what you want about Auburn but to say they aren’t aligned (a rarity but true) is futile right now. Things can change but there is actually more positive momentum in Auburn football than they’ve had in awhile."

The rumor pegged Freeze as a thief from the baseball program's NIL fund.

"Claims that Freeze has burned through the football program’s collective fund have left the powers that be at Auburn unhappy with the head football coach," the Alabama troll account prefaced before saying, "To make matters worse, there is word that Freeze reallocated $1 million from the baseball fund to spend on commitment and visitation expenses for football recruits."

Hefty accusations towards Freeze indeed. There's laws against making statements like these.

Hugh Freeze against wastless NIL spending for Auburn football

Freeze has specifically called out wastefully spending the exact amount of $1 million in the past while addressing the quarterback position and NIL's role in his decisions in deciding the starter under center.

""The options that you're presented with: Develop Payton, develop Holden, develop Hank and develop Walker or go spend a million dollars on this guy," Freeze said (h/t Auburnundercover). "I couldn't bring myself to doing that because I wanted to put all the pieces together. Now, I'm not saying I won't do that in time, but just currently, I think the guy is proven."

Nothing on the recruiting trail -- the Tigers are ranked No. 8 in 2024 and No. 13 in 2025 -- indicates there's any trouble on the Plains.

Quite the opposite, actually.