Hugh Freeze desperately tries to rally the troops for Auburn football during bye week

In a speech that felt like the result of asking AI to summarize every speech he'd ever given regarding Auburn football's future, Hugh Freeze told reporters at the Monday Morning Quarterback Club in Birmingham on October 7 that Tiger fans will have to continue displaying patience for what will be a long rebuild.

“I know what I signed up for, and I know the building that it’s going to take, and it’s going to take time,” Freeze said (h/t AL.com). “I’ve said that from day one, and I’ve been clear about how I want to build it. I’m not going to waver from that, and I think it’s going to work.”

To be fair to Freeze, what is there to really say? His team continues to lose to Power 4 opponents, finding ways to lose games through turnovers and ill-timed defensive collapses. Auburn is on its first bye week.

His back is against the wall. There's little to say other than towing the company line in these troubled times.

Hugh Freeze set himself up for potential feel-good ending to 2024 Auburn football season

If 6-6 was always going to be the result this season, and Freeze knew that the 2025 season was the first chance the Tigers had of being a legitimate contender, then perhaps this season is on the perfect trajectory. After all, a nice run to end the season and build momentum for the future would be a best-case scenario.

There are winnable chances down the stretch. Even Alabama is vulnerable after Vanderbilt stunned the Tide in Week 7. This year doesn't have to be as disastrous as the national media believes it's doomed to be.

Maybe thinking there's hope is the Auburn thing to do. And it's a fool's errand.

But turning the ball over less legitimately may be the quick fix to the Tigers' tumult in 2024.