This is an opinion column.

You can’t lose a college football game in June.

Fact.

But the internet? Or goodwill with a fanbase?

That’s very much in play. And let’s just say Hugh Freeze is in the rough. Perhaps, one could say, in need of relief.

It’s a hard truth when he’s lost 14 games in the months of September, October, November and December. He’s worn that albatross since the end of last season so that’s not headline news as we approach July.

It’s how Freeze continues to respond (or not respond) that’s losing the online mob.

You see, the coach entering Year 3 enjoys golfing. It’s a great way to unwind and even people with important jobs have been known to hit the links. People with much more important jobs than Freeze waste time there.

The internet, however, holds everyone accountable.

One user of the AuburnLive message board (hosted by On3) was the watchdog this program needed. It was a post from johnnybarn at 12:42 p.m. CT Monday that seemed to get this started.

This budding investigative reporter searched the United States Golf Association’s database of golf scores and he found something important.

Turns out Freeze has recorded 10 rounds of golf in the first 20 days of June in the database that tracks official handicaps. AL.com reporter Matt Stahl did his own research and confirmed that number. He’s played 10 rounds in June and at least 20 since the start of the 2025 calendar year.

Stahl also searched the rest of the SEC coaching tree and found a few entered scores for rounds played this year but none have logged as much course time as Freeze.

And those 10 rounds in June are more critical than they seem. Games aren’t won or lost in the sixth month but recruits can be.

And the Tigers lost three in the last few weeks.

Good ones.

So, while recruiting classes aren’t judged five months before the first signing day, Auburn’s 2026 class currently ranks 87th in the 247Sports composite. That’s two sports behind Freeze’s old employer, Liberty and one spot ahead of James Madison.

The June calendar is full of recruiting opportunities, too. The Hugh Freeze Football camps website lists nine days between June 1 and June 14 where events are taking place on campus. That includes Elite camps, 7 on 7s and more.

It’s impossible to say how Freeze’s golf rounds line up with this calendar because the USGA’s site only includes the month of the rounds and not the exact dates.

But you can do the math.

It doesn’t align with a football coach doing everything he can (or at least present) to correct the regression of this program. Of all people, Freeze doesn’t seem like someone who needs a lesson on avoiding a public paper trail but here we are.

Let’s not act like Freeze is hitting the course with nuclear codes trusted with avoiding a World War. He’s a football coach making $6.7 million last year, a proven winner hired to erase the wrongs of the last loser and restore Auburn to the elite.

He’s certainly made strides in his first two recruiting classes. Both were top 10. This one could be too by December but a slow start paired with all that golf isn’t the look that inspires the fanbase.

We wrote a few weeks about Freeze’s lukewarm assurances of progress through the pleas for patience. That same day, an interview with Freeze was published on ESPN’s website in which he said he probably needs a third recruiting class “to get where we need to be.”

At the very least, it’s a tough look when this program needs forward momentum and not more noise.

The online hivemind churned hard enough Monday evening that Brian Shultz of Auburn’s Rivals page felt the need to post the following on X.

“The rumor going around that Hugh Freeze is even considering stepping down as Auburn’s head coach is completely false. It’s also dumb,” Shultz posted at 5:04 p.m. in a tweet that was viewed more than 38,000 times by Tuesday afternoon.

A rumor doesn’t have to be close to true to do damage. Just Google “The Streisand effect.”

It got enough oxygen to add another paper cut to an offseason that continues to lack the urgency you’d like to see after an embarrassing 2024 football season.

FORE!

Freeze shanked another one.

Not a traditional loss, but another online setback at a time he could really use some wins.

Michael Casagrande is a reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.