Hugh Freeze was finally tossed into the coaching carousel on Sunday afternoon. Alongside big names like James Franklin and Brian Kelly, 2025 has seen a record-high eleven FBS coaches fired in-season.
Freeze’s dismissal can largely be attributed to his inability to develop a functional offense. Across his three-year tenure on the Plains, the Tigers averaged 370 yards per game and consistently failed to produce high-level quarterbacks. Moving forward, athletic director John Cohen has made it clear that the Tigers’ next coach will be able to recruit quality signal-callers.
“Yeah, I think that is crucial,” Cohen said on Monday. “I think there’s no question that it’s the most important position on the field. You know it’s critically important. I hesitate to make an examination of our quarterbacks because I don't think that’s fair from where I sit. I do know this, I know that all of them keep a tremendous effort. I know that certainly we have quarterbacks that have promise, that have futures. But for whatever reason, it just hasn’t worked in a game.”
Here’s the hard truth: Auburn has possessed talented quarterbacks over the past several years—they just haven’t been utilized.
Current Green Bay Packers’ second-string quarterback Malik Willis was a backup for the Tigers in 2017 and 2018, but he left the Plains in 2019 when Freeze recruited him to Liberty. The dual-threat talent was a Heisman candidate during the 2021 season and totaled nearly seven-thousand yards of offense across his two years in Lynchburg.
So Auburn missed out on utilizing a future third round draft pick. It can’t get worse, can it?
When Freeze was hired by Auburn in late 2022, Liberty’s Kaidon Salter was poised to follow, but the freshman quarterback ultimately decided not to chase his coach to the Plains. Salter went on to lead the Flames to a 13-1 season with an appearance at the Fiesta Bowl while Freeze led the Tigers to a rocky 6-7 (3-5) start in 2023 with less-than-impressive Payton Thorne.
Even after missing out on Willis and Salter, Auburn fans believed that their next great quarterback was around the corner.
John Talty per CBS Sports reports that former Tigers’ head coach Tommy Tuberville tried to convince Freeze to pursue Diego Pavia, and other Auburn insiders pushed for Freeze to consider Heisman finalist and current Tennessee Titans quarterback Cam Ward. Still, Freeze was convinced that Thorne was his best option moving into 2024.
Thorne’s time at Auburn was highlighted by relatively unimpressive pass completion rates, interceptions, and unacceptable losses. When his tenure concluded, he was replaced by a new merry-go-round of unproven quarterbacks in Jackson Arnold and Ashton Daniels. So far, his selection of quarterbacks have underperformed, the quarterbacks Auburn could have utilized have moved on to greener fields, and Freeze is out of a job.
Despite previous mistakes, Cohen still believes in the program.
“And I do believe we have a lot of talent on the offensive side of the football field," the athletic director said. "It’s just pretty obvious that it’s just not working. It’s not operating at a high level. And I’m probably taking a step further just by saying, gosh, if we have an average SEC offense right now, there’s no telling what our record would be, and maybe I’m not standing up here in front of you right now.”
Hopefully, Cohen’s next choice of head coach knows a high-level quarterback when he sees one.
Auburn faces Vanderbilt in Nashville on Saturday. It will be interesting to see how DJ Durkin revises the offensive plan and navigates Auburn’s current quarterback carousel. Qualifying for a bowl game is still attainable for the Tigers, but with the Iron Bowl still ahead, winning against the Commodores is almost necessary.