Auburn’s first-year head coach Hugh Freeze says he’s heard through the grapevine that some believe alignment is lacking on The Plains.

It’s not a wild assumption to make considering all the changes at Auburn.

On Feb. 4, 2022, Chris Roberts was named the 21st president of Auburn University.

Eight months later, on Oct. 29, it was announced that John Cohen would be the Tigers’ athletics director after serving the same role at Mississippi State.

Thirty days after Cohen was hired, Freeze was named Auburn’s head coach, replacing Bryan Harsin, who was fired midway through the 2022 season.

When Freeze first arrived on The Plains, he admits the Auburn football program wasn’t in the best shape.

Upon his arrival, Freeze was a bit shocked how hard it was to recruit at Auburn.

“I don’t want to be negative. Just, it was off from what I believe an Auburn roster should look like,” Freeze said. “Recruiting has been a little more challenging than I thought for Auburn, because of what I believe Auburn should be and what it’s proven it can be.”

Since his arrival, Freeze has hit the transfer portal hard, adding more than 20 players to Auburn’s roster — many of whom might see starting roles.

On the recruiting trail, an area Freeze recognizes to be of the utmost important as he rebuilds Auburn, he and the Tigers just received their sixth pledge from a 4-star prospect in the 2024 cycle with the commitment of cornerback Jalyn Crawford.

“I do think that the ‘24 and ‘25 recruiting cycle will tell a large portion of the story of my tenure here,” Freeze said.

Before that story can even unfold, however, Freeze wants to put a sock in the mouths of those who question the alignment of the Tigers’ football program with the rest of the university.

“We have a brand-new president, and that president has a brand-new athletic director, and that athletic director and that president chose a new football coach,” Freeze said. “And we are as aligned as we could ever be… And we’re going to ride this bus together.”