Hugh Freeze is attempting to do the same thing for Auburn’s football program that he has previously done for his own career.
A discouraged fan base found new optimism with the coach’s return to the Southeastern Conference, which also resulted in some much-needed success with the transfer portal and recruiting.
Freeze isn’t guaranteeing immediate success; his prosperous time at Mississippi ended in controversy. However, after two disappointing seasons—mostly under Bryan Harsin, who was sacked in October of last year—improvement appears imminent. For the past two seasons, Auburn has placed sixth in the SEC West, which is unprecedented for a program whose previous two coaches, including Harsin, had advanced teams to national championship games and won a championship in 2010.
After spending the previous four seasons at Liberty, Freeze remarked, “I did sense coming in that the faith in the whole family of Auburn football was fractured somewhat, and I think that is where I had to start trying to repair that.”
Rebuilding a roster that had lagged significantly behind some of the Tigers’ SEC opponents was the other top task. Strongly concluding the 2023 recruiting season, Freeze added several transfers to provide immediate assistance and secured several significant pledges for the next year.
After discovering a “pattern of personal misconduct,” which began with a call made from an Ole Miss-issued cellphone to an escort service number, Freeze resigned from the institution in the summer of 2017. In the end, the team was placed on NCAA probation due to 21 infractions, the majority of which occurred when Freeze was in charge of recruiting, academics, and boosters.
He is now back in the SEC with a six-year contract for at least $6.5 million a year and big expectations.