What’s the 2025 mission for Auburn Tigers head coach Hugh Freeze? Well, he got to whitewash his image first. Do you remember how ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum did not mince his words about sharing his under-confidence about Freeze? “I wonder if Auburn wasn’t sold a bill of goods on (Freeze). If you take away those wins against Nick Saban, what exactly has Hugh Freeze accomplished as a football coach?” So, walking into the 2025 season, his seat was already hot.
What fanned the heat was the Tigers’ head coach’s carefree demeanor. Forget falling 15 spots in the 2026 recruiting class after missing out on back-to-back hot targets. Freeze must first prove himself by gifting the Tigers fans a nine or 10-win season. At such a crucial time, the head coach was spotted swinging golf clubs. CBS Sports’ Shehan Jeyarajah mentioned Freeze’s name as a part of the hot seat rankings for 2025. He got featured in the “starting improving now” category. If that’s not enough of a wake-up call, here comes some more.
The Auburn head coach is 11-14 entering 2025 and comes off a 5-7 finish to the 2024 campaign. Now, that was not expected, having a top 10 class. For the 2025 season, too, Freeze has locked in a top-10 class. And for obvious reasons, that does not guarantee anything. Rather, things look more concerning for Auburn if they take only the SEC into consideration. On the July 11th episode of the Jox 94.5 podcast, host Bill Smith shared, “According to the Sporting News, Hugh Freeze is the 14th best head coach in the SEC, 53rd best coach in all of college football… But if you’re just now joining us, we went through the Sporting News. They ranked all of the SEC head coaches heading into media days.” That’s where the Tigers fans must worry a little.
As the host informed, “So your top three, Kirby Smart, Steve Sarkisian, and then Kalen DeBoer comes in third. And all the way down at 14 is Hugh Freeze and the Auburn Tigers.” So, what’s on Freeze’s plate right now? Another 7-5 season with a top 10 class won’t sell among the fans. Freeze’s 2025 class includes elite players like five-star defensive linemen Jared Smith and Malik Autry. But the shiny weapons won’t be enough. Time for a reminder. Freeze’s squad hasn’t won more than six games since 2019. They are on a losing streak for the fourth straight year. The last time Auburn grabbed a postseason win was when Kenny Dillingham was in charge of the offense. Sounds like prehistoric times, right?
So, how can he keep his head above the water? Plain and simple: eight wins and a bowl game, totally non-negotiable. Turns out that there is still some hope left. As the analyst shared, “Hugh Freeze hasn’t shirked from the expectations, landing ex Oklahoma QB Jackson Arnold out of the portal to lead Auburn’s offense in 2025. If Freeze can get the Tigers moving in the right direction and deliver Auburn’s first winning season since 2020, expect the hot seat talk to cool off considerably.” Plus, they already got rid of their burden, ex-quarterback Payton Thorne. Now, if Freeze got to save his seat, the College Football Playoff ticket conversation comes up.
Can Hugh Freeze get rid of Auburn’s playoff drought?
The Tigers have claimed two national championships so far- 1957 and 2010. However, they have never made the College Football Playoff (CFP) since its inception in 2014. The closest they came to the golden chance was in 2017. So, Freeze is yet to drive the Tigers to the playoffs. Last season, his luck did not favor him at all. His wide receiver room fell prey to inconsistency and injury. While Cam Coleman suffered from a shoulder injury, Perry Thompson could only come up with four passes for 123 yards.
On top of that, Freeze witnessed his quarterback Thorne’s performance drop further. Well, this has been the case each season since 2021. Amidst the looming uncertainty, Josh Pate arrived with a blueprint for the Tigers’ CFP success. “The script wouldn’t be that complicated really the script would be stop turning the ball over.” Last season, Freeze’s program had 13 interceptions. For a change, someone sounded confident about a turnover in Freeze’s squad. Pate shared, “They’re going to be a solid plus turnover team this year. I feel really good about them… if you do that that means Jackson Arnold panned out for you at quarterback first off.”
Now that Jackson Arnold is here, Hugh Freeze has to get rid of the past blunders that they made playing Payton Thorne. He had a tough time protecting the pigskin and turned it over nine times with eight interceptions and one lost fumble. To bring back his lost pride, Freeze can also focus on how to make the most of their schedule. As Brian Sultz stated, “For Freeze, holding serve at home while winning half of the road games would be an excellent way to build some momentum. Not many expect the Tigers to compete for a spot in the College Football Playoff this season, but it’s essential that the win total for the Tigers is closer to 10 than to five.” Let’s see if Freeze can weather the fire—or get burned by it.
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