Reading between the lines of Hugh Freeze and Auburn’s time at SEC Media Days

Published Jul. 24, 2023, 6:00 a.m.
By Ainslie Lee
If we’re calling things as they are, SEC Media Days is a dog and pony show.
Once upon a time, you might come away with some real information about the teams and the upcoming football season.
Now, however, it’s more of an opportunity for football coaches to control the narrative of their programs, the conference to collect its bag via media broadcast rights and, in the case of this year, an opportunity for media members to spend more money on overpriced drinks on Broadway than their wallets probably prefer.
All that said, there’s still plenty to be learned — or perhaps assumed — about teams if you’re really willing to look for it and read between the lines since very little is going to be explicitly stated.
In the case of first-year head coach Hugh Freeze and Auburn football, here are some of the undertones that came out from SEC Media Days.
Coming into SEC Media Days, one of the biggest questions surrounding Auburn’s football team was the quarterback battle between returner Robby Ashford and Michigan State transfer Payton Thorne.
In a candid response, Freeze reminded that considering Thorne didn’t transfer until after the spring game, he hasn’t seen the transfer quarterback in action. Meanwhile, Freeze says Ashford is embracing the competition.
“I’m very truthfully a lot more optimistic than most people are. I think we’ve got a good room,” Freeze said of the Tigers’ quarterbacks. “But I’m an optimist.”
The reality is Freeze probably doesn’t have a Porsche in his garage of quarterbacks.
Instead, it’s like he’s got a reliable, older-model sedan that can get you from Point A to Point B without turning heads downtown in Thorne and a shiny, newer-model coupe that looks good when it’s not at the dealership because another dash light came on in Ashford.
Fortunately, Freeze has a history of shining up the guys in his garage and making them look better than what most might’ve previously thought.
In the example of Malik Willis, for example, Freeze took a swing at a guy that was riding the pine at Auburn and brought him to Liberty, where he tossed 47 touchdowns, 18 interceptions and more than 5,000 yards in two seasons. Willis went on to be a third-round pick in last year’s NFL Draft.
“We’ve been able to do things with quarterbacks everywhere we’ve been and produce good enough results to win,” Freeze said.
Freeze and Co. inherited a mess
Surely it goes without saying, but Freeze’s predecessor did him no favors.
When Freeze was asked about the talent gap between Auburn and some of the the leaders in the league, he was left tiptoeing and stammering.
“I want to be careful not to... I love our team,” Freeze said. “They’re my team. They’re Auburn’s team. We’re going to coach the heck out of them.”
That was a real polite way of Freeze saying Auburn’s roster was nowhere near where it needed to be if it wanted to compete at a high level in the SEC.
In a closed-door meeting with local media, Freeze was a bit more blunt.
“I don’t want to be negative. Just, it was off from what I believe an Auburn roster should look like,” Freeze said.
Unlike when Gus Malzahn arrived ahead of the 2013 season and even Bryan Harsin’s arrival in 2021, the cupboard was dry for Freeze as the Tigers turned in back-to-back losing seasons prior to his arrival.
Patience: Have it, or be disappointed
The offseason is the perfect time for a fan to be optimistic about his or her team. If that time was spent being pessimistic instead, being a sports fan wouldn’t be very fun.
And between what Freeze, his staff and the more than 40 new players on the roster bring to the Auburn football program, there’s plenty for Tigers’ fans to look forward to — especially considering what the program has been through in recent years.
“Do I think we’ve improved Auburn with the additions that we’ve had since I’ve been there? Yes,” Freeze said. “Does that mean we close the gap at all? I have no clue.”
Freeze very well could’ve stood at the podium and attempted to convince Auburn fans that a wildly successful and surprising season like 2013 was on the horizon and that Las Vegas’ prediction of 6.5 wins for the Tigers was wrong.
Instead, Freeze is keeping his feet on the ground and he hopes Auburn fans join him in staying grounded and realistic.
Tigers fans are drinking the Freeze Kool-Aid. That became evident when Auburn announced that season tickets had been sold out, breaking the previous record for season ticket sales.
For Freeze, that milestone was “humbling” and “gratifying”. But he also senses the lofty expectations that comes with the fanbase’s support.
“Obviously we owe a debt, a great debt of gratitude to our fan base,” Freeze said. “I think we have an incredible fan base that we’ve sold more season tickets in the history of the program this year, and while that speaks to their expectations and their excitement, hopefully they’ll give us a little patience as we continue to rebuild this roster to hopefully close the gap on those guys in this league that are doing it at a high, high level.”