The calendar is about to turn to August, and the 2023 season ticks ever closer. But this is still the time for predictions. So AL.com sat down with a few national media members to get their thoughts on Auburn’s upcoming campaign. AL.com asked the same questions to each reporter it spoke to so fans can compare answers. On Wednesday, Cole Cubelic gave his own thoughts on Auburn.

Next up, CBS Sports college football writer and SiriusXM radio host Barrett Sallee. Sallee is an Auburn graduate in 2002 and has been around the SEC throughout his career.

The quotes have been edited slightly for clarity and brevity.

Cohen: At SEC Media Days, head coach Hugh Freeze said Auburn is a ‘work in progress.’ So what does Auburn need to work on?

Sallee: “Well, rebuild the roster because the roster at Auburn is as far away from Alabama, Georgia and LSU as it ever has been. I think that the neglect that Bryan Harsin gave to that program is monstrous. The inability to recruit, the lack of effort to recruit, the lack of effort to truly hit the transfer portal, the lack of understanding of what it takes to be an SEC football coach set the program back several years in an era where it’s two chief rivals, specifically Georgia, became a monster. And so now you have two chief rivals who continue to separate from Auburn, and right now Hugh Freeze is kinda left holding Harsin’s bag. And I think the fact that he that Freeze recognized that, and first went through the portal as best he could during an extremely difficult time in the winter where coaches get asked to do 15 different things all at once, you know, the fact that he ended up with one of the best transfer portal classes in the country is huge. And I think that led to a little bit more excitement in the spring and then obviously following through with maybe the starting quarterback in Payton Thorne led to I think a positive mindset among the fan base. And that’s really it. I mean the lifeblood of every football program is recruiting. And the fact that Auburn was basically set back two years really led to Hugh recognizing that this is a work in progress. But I think also led to him understanding how to operate in the SEC in this new era. The way you fix a problem that’s broken is through the transfer portal. And I talked to him three, four months ago and he said he doesn’t want to build a program with this many transfer players every single year, but he had to this year. I think that goes to show how well he understands what needs to be done in this day and age.”

Cohen: What are some of the biggest differences you’ve noticed so far between Bryan Harsin’s coaching staff and Hugh Freeze’s?

Sallee: “It’s definitely recruiting. You know, like I said, the fact that Hugh understands what needs to be done through his time at Ole Miss, that helps. That is something that every program needs. It’s something that Bryan Harsin didn’t care to do. And I think the fact that Hugh was able to do that I think goes to show you know where his mindset is. I think the ability to go play the political game helps too. Hugh is fully comfortable with going to booster clubs and talking to boosters and making sure that part of the program is happy with him. Where the program is listening to feedback, giving feedback, things like that. Bryan Harsin didn’t want to do that. Just flat-out didn’t do that. So I think those are the two biggest things and really, I think for Auburn, before you even be competitive, you have to win off the field. And Hugh Freeze is winning off the field after a two-year debacle in which Bryan Harsin took Ls basically at every turn.”

Cohen: As Auburn puts a roster together, what level of patience is appropriate?

Sallee: “A ton of patience because if you look at Auburn’s roster right now, there are some good players on there, there might be a couple of great players. But there is in no way shape or form a roster that can compete at a national level. So if the goal is for Auburn to win the SEC West, you got to give him a ton of patience. A ton of patience. If the goal is to compete for a national championship, I mean, you have to talk five years. I know in this day and age it’s crazy to think somebody would have a five-year plan because that’s, you know, something of a previous generation and no one really believes that now. But with the landscape of the SEC with Georgia and Alabama plus, you know, expansion, transfer, NIL, all this stuff, it’s gonna take a very long time to build a two-deep, three-deep roster like national championship contenders. I thought about this two, three weeks ago, we talked about it on the SiriusXM show, how Auburn is sort of in a position that Florida State was in after Willie Taggart. Different reasons in terms of you know, program instability because that program is instability at Florida State is basically just 85 guys going 85 different directions. That’s not what’s wrong With Auburn, but the state of the program I’d say was in a similar spot. So it took Mike Norvell a long time to get that roster where it needs to be, to get the mindset where it needs to be, and for Florida State, they’re going to be mentioned in the College Football Playoff discussion this year. That’s kind of the path that I think Auburn fans, Auburn boosters, Auburn alums sort of need to follow because it is not going to be a quick fix.”

Cohen: What are you expecting from Auburn’s quarterback battle in fall camp? Will Payton Thone be the guy? Robby Ashford? Someone else?

Sallee: “Well, you know, it’s obviously two different styles. Styles make fights, we all know that. I think the biggest thing for Auburn in the quarterback battle: It’s not who’s the better quarterback, it’s how much the offensive line has progressed and more specifically, what the offensive line does well. Because if the offensive line shows that it can pass block, Payton Thorne is going to be the winner. If they struggle in that department, Robbie Ashford is going to be the winner. You know, I hate to oversimplify things, but that’s just the way I see it. And I think the one thing about Hugh Freeze is that he understands how to play to your strengths, and I think more importantly how to play around your weaknesses. And I think that’s the biggest thing with Auburn because like I said before, there’s a talent issue at Auburn and because of that, you need to limit your exposure to those problems. So to me, it’s all about the offensive line. If it struggles in pass protection Robby Ashford is gonna be the guy. If it excels in pass protection Payton Throne is gonna be the guy and Hugh knows how to coach around problems. I think he showed that when he was building that Ole Miss roster. There were times where that roster well, I wouldn’t say fine, that roster was nowhere close to what Alabama and LSU and even Auburn was at time, and yet you still found ways to win games consistently. So I think that goes to show you just kind of how he thinks, how he operates. Ultimately I think that’s a good thing for Auburn because again, it’s gonna take a little while to strengthen that roster to a point where every single unit is at least competitive and that there are no liabilities.”

Cohen: Okay, predictions time. What’s your realistic prediction for Auburn this year? Your dream scenario? Worst case scenario?

Sallee: “We do an optimistic, pessimistic and realistic story. Optimistic, I would say 9-3. Schedule is easy by Auburn standards. That’s not necessarily saying a lot because it’s always really difficult for Auburn with Georgia and Alabama, but they’re at home. The Vandy rotator is great. Cal is a pretty, pretty solid matchup if you want to get an easy Power 5 win. So you get Georgia and Alabama you know, give them a loss and then give Auburn a loss somewhere else. A toss-up, or an upset, whatever. So 9-3. I would say 7-5 is fine. There’s nothing wrong with that. Then 5-7 without going to a bowl game, it’s pessimistic, but I could conceive of a situation where that could happen. I don’t think it will. If you lose every toss-up game? Whatever. It’s hard to be that unlucky.”

Matt Cohen is an Auburn beat writer for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Matt_Cohen_ or email him at [email protected].