Why Auburn has found itself unable to maintain consistency this season may trace its way back to an offensive coaches’ meeting room that has appeared to be a brain trust with differing means to achieve their ends.

And after a 31-13 loss to Maryland in the Music City Bowl to close out a 6-7 season, that starts with head coach Hugh Freeze and his inconsistent involvement. That see-saw began before the 2023 season with Freeze giving primary play-calling duties to offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery and significant struggles of the offense that followed. After Auburn lost to Ole Miss in October, seven games into the season, Freeze claims he “put his foot down” and took more involvement in offensive planning. That seemed to be what was credited for a turnaround during Auburn’s three-game SEC winning streak late in the year.

Freeze commented at points this season on how the coaches he hired would allow him to focus on recruiting. But he had to step back on that plan to help with the offense. During the regular season when Freeze was asked about the well-done job of defensive coordinator Ron Roberts, Freeze said he likes to step out of his assistant’s way until they prove they can’t do the job. At that point in the year, Freeze had already stated how he’d stepped in more with the offense.

The history made Freeze’s comments about what he described as a poor offensive game plan against Maryland, especially fascinating.

“Well, obviously I don’t feel like it was an effective one,” Freeze said after the Music City Bowl loss. “I didn’t get too involved in it for most of the part until this week because of recruiting, and really wanted to kind of evaluate everything about our program.”

Based on Freeze’s comments throughout the season, it would be fair to assume the offense was good when Freeze was heavily involved in preparation, and bad when he wasn’t. Whether that’s the full story is unclear.

“I think honestly he’s always been a part of it,” Montgomery said Friday before the Music City Bowl. “We went into this with that mindset. He’s always had influence on it from fall camp to now and will continue to do that. We went into this with our eyes wide open with the honest approach of trying to put the best thing on the field for our players and giving them the best opportunity to go win.”

Freeze was willing to take blame on himself after the loss, saying the criticism should start with him as the head coach. But statements that he wasn’t heavily involved with the plan until after the Dec. 20-22 early signing period and then saying it was not a good plan instead is passing blame around the staff.

The main complaint Freeze had centered on not running the ball well. Auburn only had 76 rushing yards and averaged 2.2 yards per carry. Freeze’s blame there went not to the players’ execution but more to the schemes Auburn used.

“We have to go look at the run schemes that we had, and did we not play hard up front,” Freeze said. “It’s really hard for me to tell. But they really dominated the line of scrimmage against us. They did load the box now.”

That inability to run the ball plus a three-score deficit in the game’s first quarter meant Auburn essentially had to rely on its passing game — which has been among the 10 worst in the nation this season by yards per game. Both Payton Thorne and Holden Geriner struggled mightily. Thorne completed only 13 passes out of 27 for 84 yards. Geriner only completed one pass. Third-string quarterback Hank Brown was the only productive passer.

The blame could go on the offensive line’s poor blocking. It could go on the schemes Freeze mentioned. It could go on ineffective quarterback play from Thorne that led Freeze to backtrack on his previous vote of confidence in his starting quarterback. It could go on a group of pass catchers that have failed to create separation or any form of dynamic contributions throughout the 2023 season.

The continually spreading blame surrounding the team’s inconsistency leaves Auburn further emphasizing questions it seemed to believe it had solved.

Freeze’s evaluations going into 2024 will focus on a quarterback position that could have a competition he wasn’t previously expecting. And it could take a reflection on an offensive staff that Freeze on multiple occasions, including Saturday, has suggested did not get the job done as needed. Or at least not done his way.

“I’m constantly evaluating players, staff, everything, and if we see that my evaluation has been wrong, then we have to change gears and reevaluate to make us better, then that’s the steps we should make,” Freeze said. “That position should be an interesting one certainly in spring practice.”

Matt Cohen covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @Matt_Cohen_ or email him at [email protected]