Hugh Freeze has been remarkably blunt when it comes to assessing his Auburn roster this spring.

The Tigers’ first-year head coach hasn’t sugarcoated things when it comes to the deficiencies of the roster or progress of certain positions. He notably made waves last week with his public evaluation of Auburn’s quarterback room, saying the Tigers aren’t where they need to be at the most important position on the field or with their passing game in general through the first half of spring practice, as well as his assertion that Auburn needs to recruit more true pass-rushers.

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That pendulum has swung both ways for Freeze, however. For as straightforward as he has been about his critiques of his roster, he has been just as fair with his praise, when warranted. It’s a delicate line Freeze has tried to toe this spring as he tries to get the program out of the dregs of the last two seasons.

“I struggle with that,” Freeze said Monday. “I really do. Because I want you guys to say, ‘Man, that guy, he’s straight and says it how he sees it.’ But I also worry sometimes that comes across that I’m being negative toward our current players, and I don’t want to be that because they’re ours, and Philip (Montgomery), myself, we have to own what’s out there and how we perform.”

It’s an approach that is serving multiple purposes for Freeze. He wants to be forthcoming publicly without disparaging the players he inherited, but he also doesn’t want to shy away from giving a fair evaluation and limiting the information made available not just to the media but the fanbase as well. In being so open about those assessments, though, Freeze is also tempering expectations in a way heading into Year 1. He isn’t pumping sunshine and has acknowledged that it’s a rebuilding process at Auburn, even if it’s one he believes he can turn around rather quickly.

“It’s a joint deal, but there’s no secret that when I first came here, everybody was concerned about this position,” Freeze said. “For me to sit here and say, ‘Hey, you have no concerns,’ or I could be mum and just not answer your questions. So, I’ve got to decide what does that look like for me. I want to be very truthful.”

It’s a level of honesty that Freeze said he has strived to maintain away from the field as well. His past transgressions are well-documented, and they led to him being out of coaching for a period before spending four seasons at Liberty and eventually back to the SEC at Auburn this offseason.

Auburn athletics director John Cohen has on multiple occasions remarked how transparent and forthcoming he felt Freeze was throughout the vetting and hiring process that landed him on the Plains at the end of November. Now the coach appears to be carrying that over into his approach with his team, particularly at the most important position on the field: quarterback.

“That’s who I want to be as a person in my life,” Freeze said. “And I also share in I’m not running from the fact that part of it is on us.”

While Freeze was blunt about Auburn’s quarterbacks not being up to par entering the third week of spring, he was also sure to point out that it wasn’t for a lack of effort or ability. He put some of the responsibility on himself and Montgomery, as they reassessed the best way to present and teach the particulars of the offense to the position. That led to an adjustment last week, with additional periods of practice focused on the fundamentals of what’s required from the quarterbacks in Freeze’s offense, especially as it pertains to RPOs — which seemed to be one of the core hurdles for a group that includes Robby Ashford, T.J. Finley and Holden Geriner.

Over the last week, Freeze has seen progress from the group. Geriner was singled out for the strides he made over the course of practices seven, eight and nine, while Ashford had his best day of practice last Monday before shoulder soreness limited him the rest of the week. Finley has also progressed in his understanding of the offense, as all three remain firmly in the mix in the ongoing quarterback competition, which will carry into the fall.

“I think we’re making improvement but there was a ways to go,” Freeze said. “It’s our job as coaches to get them to be the best that they can be. So, I’ve been excited about them wanting to be coached and them accepting our coaching. I think we’ve had to do a better job of coaching some and they’ve had to do a better job of owning what’s on the field. That’s the way it is. But I’m not down (on the quarterbacks); they all have done some good things. They all have had some inconsistencies. And it’s our job to improve that.”

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.