Compared to the previous Auburn football head coach, Bryan Harsin, Hugh Freeze recruits, schemes, hires talent, and works harder overall. On September 11, Opelika-Auburn News deputy editor Justin Lee disclosed another method by which the current HC beats the previous one: managing media scrums.
Lee said, “That’s how you keep supporters engaged, just by being transparent. Freeze is wise today to own up to that awful offensive performance and be transparent about what’ll change, who needs more touches and targets.”
Harsin gained notoriety for holding contentious press conferences where he would criticize the media while receiving the same criticism from those in attendance. Harsin generated pyrotechnics off the field that diverted attention from the product on it with #HatGate, his outburst regarding Zach Calzada’s health state, and the February 2022 investigation into the Boise native.
Under Hugh Freeze, Auburn football is more concerned with outcomes than with narratives.
The calm nature of the Freeze era on the Plains has been, at least so far, a defining feature. The only time you hear anything at all from someone like Philip Montgomery or Ron Roberts is when they are talking about football. Same goes for Freeze.
The men that AU decided not to hire for head coach in the offseason have dominated college football narratives thus far. Deion Sanders in Boulder has lived up to the moniker “Prime Time,” while Lane Kiffin has continued his antics on social media during a season in which the Ole Miss Rebels appear to be serious contenders in the SEC West for 2023.
Auburn appears capable of producing some noise thanks to Freeze’s silent style. Voters in an AP poll do not believe in Freeze after a cupcake game against UMass and a grueling challenge against Cal in Berkeley, but Freeze was always up against it given the storyline surrounding his SEC return and initial blackballing.
Fortunately, those unfavorable Freeze stories haven’t received much attention. At least not in Auburn. only football. in the proper manner.