No one would have blamed Holden Geriner for being down on himself after his first college season.

The former four-star recruit played only a handful of snaps as a true freshman last season and redshirted while working behind a pair of former transfers in Robby Ashford and T.J. Finley. Then at the end of October, the coach who recruited him to Auburn and who was exceedingly high on his arm talent and future potential, was fired. A new staff entered the fold, and with that came a new offensive system — a switch from a more pro-style scheme that seemed to fit Geriner’s skillset to an RPO-based spread attack.

Read more Auburn football: Auburn defensive end Jeffrey M’ba plans to enter transfer portal

What we learned about each position on Auburn’s offense this spring

Projecting Auburn’s post-spring 2023 depth chart

Yet when Auburn wrapped up its first spring under Hugh Freeze with last weekend’s A-Day game, Geriner couldn’t wipe the subtle smile from his face.

“I feel like I’ve grown tremendously from a physical aspect, as well as mental,” Geriner said. “I feel like I’m in a much better place mentally and just confidence-wise.”

After six weeks of spring practices, it’s easy to see why Geriner has a renewed sense of confidence, even after all the change around him the last five-plus months. The redshirt freshman was right in the thick of a wide-open quarterback competition that will continue through the offseason and into fall camp, and there was a stretch in the middle of spring when he turned a corner with his development and was seen taking first-team reps in practice (albeit while Ashford was limited due to shoulder soreness).

Geriner didn’t take any of it for granted, even if he was the third quarterback in the rotation come A-Day, when he completed 3-of-5 passes for 17 yards and ran in a 2-point conversion during the rain-soaked and weather-shortened scrimmage at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

“I definitely think I’ve gotten a lot better this spring with Coach Freeze and coach (Philip) Montgomery and coach (Kent) Austin, all their mentorship and help,” Geriner said. “I think it’s gone really well. It’s been super fun just being out there, just competing every day. I think I’ve definitely improved myself along with all these other quarterbacks and players.”

Things started to click for Geriner during the third week of practice, after Freeze provided a blunt assessment of Auburn’s quarterback room, saying the Tigers’ trio of returning scholarship quarterbacks weren’t as far along, or as consistent, as they needed to be. Following those remarks, Geriner put together his best week of practice — which also happened to include an off-day opportunity to throw alongside program legend Cam Newton, the former Heisman winner and national champion who threw at Auburn’s pro day last month.

“That was an unbelievable experience to be out there with Cam and just throw it around with him, but it was definitely something that I didn’t take lightly,” Geriner said. “I just went out there and just had fun and threw it around a little bit. It was awesome.”

That was the same week that Geriner received more first- and second-team reps while Ashford nursed his sore shoulder. The following Monday, Geriner was the first quarterback in the rotation during the window of practice that was open to media, which drew some added attention to the 6-foot-3, 212-pounder.

Geriner continued his progress through the final weeks of spring practices, with Freeze crediting his improved accuracy on downfield passes but still making note of areas that need to be improved overall, including his steadiness in the pocket, day-to-day consistency and understanding of the RPO aspect of Auburn’s offense. Like each of Auburn’s three quarterbacks this spring, though, there was good and bad in Geriner’s performances over the course of six weeks.

Geriner, for his part, has appreciated Freeze’s honest approach to evaluating the quarterbacks. He’d rather a coach be straightforward in his critiquing than to have to guess what he’s doing wrong or needs to work on. For Geriner, that work is still in progress, but he believes he has made some notable strides in a couple key areas when it comes to the playing quarterback.

“I would say just confidence and just staying calm,” Geriner said. “I think that’s something that (Freeze) looks at in a quarterback, just being calm and confident. So, that’s something that I really took to heart and just tried to improve on. And also being able to run. I know I can make all the throws, so just being able to improve my legs is something I’ve worked on a lot.”

That growth and confidence was on display throughout the spring, culminating with A-Day. Geriner may have been the third quarterback in the rotation during the spring game, but he also guided a possession with the first-team offense on the final day of spring.

The redshirt freshman has gone from the perceived third quarterback in the Tigers’ ongoing race to someone who has more of a realistic opportunity to compete for the job this offseason.

“I think he has a real chance to be a solid quarterback,” Freeze said ahead of A-Day. “But I think the other two, again, had good days also. Better days. So, the interesting thing will be their response to the competition that’s created and that has been created, that will continue to go on. Being the quarterback, to me, at an SEC school, at a place like Auburn, carries a lot of weight with it. That weight doesn’t end when spring practice 15 is over.

“How does that go through summer? What does that look like in the leadership of this team? That will all play into, ultimately, who gets that first nod. It’ll be interesting to see how they all respond to that.”

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