MIRAMAR BEACH, Fla. — It was a relatively quiet day for new Auburn coach Hugh Freeze, whose presentation at the SEC Spring Meetings was overshadowed by those of rival championship coaches Nick Saban and Kirby Smart.
But for Freeze, who arrived under fire as a controversial coaching hire earlier this offseason, that probably came as some relief.
Freeze is quietly rebuilding what appears to be a capable team on The Plains, having added 14 players out of the NCAA transfer portal since being hired in December, including Michigan State quarterback and team captain Payton Thorne.
Indeed, Freeze’s reputation as a recruiter and offensive mind was celebrated in his years as the Ole Miss head coach (2012-16).
“Those that have listened to be since I received the blessing of being at Auburn know that I’m really transparent about the anxiety and fear you have,” Freeze said.
“I’ve done this a long time at every different level from high school to small NAIA to the SEC and SunBelt and everywhere in between, recently at Liberty, and we’ve had success, but when you wake up on the middle of the night you’re asking yourself does my way still work?”
Auburn is obviously banking on Freeze working out and will provide him with what resources it can to ensure the Tigers get back on the winning track.
Part of any rebuilding program’s process for success involves efficient roster management, and that means maximizing its utilization of the NCAA portal.
But Freeze offered the interesting perspective that if he had his way, there would be more restrictions on players transferring from one program to another.
“I’d love to see it go back to players not being able to transfer and be immediately eligible unless the coach leaves or is fired or they graduate,” Freeze said. “I think that eliminates tampering. People aren’t going to come take players if they have to sit out.”
As hungry as Auburn is to add talent, Freeze said he has made it very clear to his coaching staff that they are to stay above board in their recruiting practices.
“I’ve instructed our guys we don’t do that,” Freeze said, asked about an emerging collegiate football concern over tampering. “You hear all the things ‘well this player may go in, alright we’ll go watch him.’
“That’s what we’ll do but we better not be trying to reach out and influence people’s decisions on whether or not they’re going into the portal.”
Freeze was non-committal on one of the other big issues discussed, that of the eight and nine-game schedule models.
The Tigers embrace their noted rivalries with Alabama and Georgia, but playing those two schools annually — which they would do in a 3-6 model that features three permanent opponents and six rotating — would seem the Auburn program at a disadvantage.
“From a football coach’s perspective, the biggest question I have is, as important as those games are to us, how does the playoff (committee) look at it,” Freeze said. “If you’re an SEC team … and you’ve won a lot of good games, but you dropped two to top teams, or a third one, do you still get in when the playoff expands (to 12 teams in 2024)?
“What is best for Auburn? What is best for the SEC? Are those things the same?”
