Hugh Freeze believes in the “process of becoming.”

It’s the same process that helped Freeze rise from the high school football ranks to being the head coach of a place like Auburn in a conference like the SEC.

It took patience, stops at Lambuth University and Arkansas State and getting over plenty of bumps in the road that came along the way.

That same process is why Freeze prefers recruiting high school kids over plucking them out of the transfer portal.

“My preference would be to develop kids,” Freeze said. “But the process of becoming is kinda being lost.”

Today’s society is one that constantly seeks instant gratification.

When Freeze was introduced as Auburn’s 31st head coach on Nov. 29, 2022, a local television reporter asked the burning question that every Auburn fan in America was itching to know the answer to: How soon?

How soon what?

How soon could they expect their mighty Tigers to be back towards the precipice of college football?

When Freeze was smacked with the question during his introductory press conference, he could’ve easily puffed out his chest and said something along the lines of, “Well, just look at my track record.”

But instead, Freeze took the conservative route.

“I wish I could say,” Freeze said. “I haven’t had a chance to even evaluate our roster yet.”

Eight months later when he met with local reporters in a small breakout room at the Grand Hyatt hotel in Nashville prior to his appearance at the podium at SEC Media Days, Freeze said he was a bit shocked at just how depleted the roster he inherited was.

“I don’t want to be negative,” Freeze said. “Just, it was off from what I believe an Auburn roster should look like.”

Just 277 days stretched between the day Freeze was introduced as Auburn’s head coach and the day the Tigers’ kicked off the 2023 season against UMass on Sept. 2.

Having to work against the hands of time — though he prefers developing players out of the high school ranks — Freeze was handcuffed to the transfer portal, where he hoped he could find quick fixes to plug into certain positions.

Between transfers and freshmen, Auburn welcomed more than 40 new faces to its roster during the offseason and many arrived at The Plains as late as May.

“I don’t even know all the names yet, truthfully,” Freeze said in late-July. “We’re gonna have to wear tape on the helmet again.”

Let that sink in.

Folks were wanting to know just how quickly Freeze could right the ship at Auburn the day he was introduced as head coach. Meanwhile, Freeze admitted to reporters eight months later that he still didn’t know everyone on his roster’s name.

That said, Freeze wasn’t hopeless when he arrived at Auburn. He did mention that he’d had quick success in his previous stops – most notably at Ole Miss.

Before Freeze took over the helm of the Rebels’ program in 2012, Ole Miss had won just one conference game across two seasons.

By year three, Freeze had Ole Miss beating Nick Saban and playing in New Year’s Six bowl games.

Come year four, Freeze and the Rebels beat Alabama again – this time in Tuscaloosa. Ole Miss also returned to a New Year’s Six bowl game – this time beating Oklahoma State.

And as Freeze’s former team comes to visit Auburn for a game at Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday, it’s easy to want to dig up those comparisons between Freeze’s takeover in Oxford, Miss. and his takeover at Auburn.

But it’s also not fair.

“The one at Ole Miss was similar, but the expectations may not have been as high as they are here, which adds a little pressure to you sometimes,” Freeze said when asked to compare the two situations on Wednesday.

High expectations are good.

But sometimes they need to be tempered.

“We’ve got a team that 11 of the 22 starters at LSU had never started an SEC game prior to this season,” Freeze explained Wednesday. “And only five of the 22 had made an SEC start in three seasons.”

Meanwhile, Brian Kelly’s roster boasts 14 players with double-digit starts with LSU and five players with 20 starts or more with the Bayou Bengals.

Look at Ole Miss’ projected starting lineup for Saturday and you’ll see that the Rebels have 10 starters with double-digit starts with the Rebels and four players with 20 starts or more.

Freeze spent some time stammering as he looked for words to further elaborate on the comparison between the situation he inherited at Ole Miss in 2012 and the situation he inherited at Auburn last November.

“It’s the growing pains,” Freeze finally said. “I think we’re a young team and one that has very little experience playing in this league. “Can we coach better? Yes. And hopefully we can play better. We’ve seen signs of it, but I think we’re a young team and one that has very little experience playing in this league.”

The “process of becoming” comes with growing pains. And after last week’s 48-18 loss to LSU, Auburn coaches, players and fans alike are beginning to feel them.

And patience isn’t an easy thing to have.

“It’s not easy, and it shouldn’t be easy,” Freeze said. “It takes you embracing the grind and then going to work and enjoying the process of becoming.”