Next season will be put up or shut up time for Auburn’s Hugh Freeze
After so much recent success in recruiting and now in the transfer portal, there are no more excuses for Auburn coach Hugh Freeze.
It’s time to put up or shut up.
Auburn has not had a winning season since COVID. A lot of that has to do with the Bryan Harsin stain and his disastrous two years on The Plains. However, Harsin and Freeze posted the same record – 11-14 – after 25 games.
No one is calling for Freeze’s head – yet – but it could be coming if all these elite five- and four-star standouts don’t start producing, especially on offense.
The final piece to a major turnaround could be happening in the ever-important transfer portal where Auburn finally has an elite quarterback in Jackson Arnold.
Freeze talked up Payton Thorne this and Payton Thorne that but he was clearly not the answer at quarterback. Some of the numbers are really striking.
Auburn scored more than 21 points only twice in any SEC game – a 24-10 win over Kentucky and a 43-41 victory over Texas A&M in four overtimes.
Fourteen points against Cal: Loss. Fourteen against Arkansas: Loss. Twenty-one against Oklahoma: Loss in a fourth-quarter collapse. Thirteen against Georgia: Loss. Seventeen against Missouri: Loss. Seven – seven! – points against Vanderbilt: Loss. Fourteen against Alabama: Loss.
The last time Auburn has suffered through so many losing campaigns was 1946-50 when the Tigers had five losing seasons in a row.
If Auburn has a losing season next year, Freeze could be shown the door. And rightfully so because the roster is now stacked with talent.
Arnold is a former five-star quarterback who was arguably mishandled at Oklahoma. He waited his turn behind Dillon Gabriel only to play a few games, get yanked for Michael Hawkins and then get put back in as the starter as the Sooners lost almost all their receivers to injury.
Not only did Auburn get Arnold but it also signed Stanford’s Ashton Daniels and held off a mighty Ole Miss run to land high four-star quarterback Deuce Knight, who could be the future if he waits around maybe a year or two.
The quarterback position – a problem for the Tigers – is now seemingly solved.
Former five-star receiver Cam Coleman had 30 catches for 520 yards and seven touchdowns in his freshman season and four-star Malcolm Simmons looks like a breakout star. We’ll see how former high four-star Perry Thompson develops but he could be special as well.
Auburn had the eighth-best recruiting class in 2024 and is sitting in the same position in the 2025 class heading into the late signing period, which should not see many changes since most everyone is signed.
There were some portal departures but nothing major. Even though the additions are fewer in quantity, it’s much higher in quality.
Arnold could be a game-changer. Daniels could help. Offensive lineman Xavier Chaplin from Virginia Tech is a four-star addition. Defensive back Raidon Strader from Miami (Ohio) had 17 pass breakups this past season.
Freeze has been given time to build his program. Recruiting on both fronts has been exceptional. Now it’s time to act – or else.
