‘I think we got the right plan’: Hugh Freeze remains confident in rebuild despite 2-4 record
Through six games, it hasn’t been the start Hugh Freeze or anyone around Auburn football wanted.
The Tigers are 2-4 and many of the losses were mostly due to mistakes and self-inflicted wounds. Throughout the season, though, Freeze has remained adamant that the program is moving in the right direction and Auburn’s recruiting efforts continue to be successful.
Auburn finished the 2024 recruiting cycle with the No. 8 class in the country, according to 247Sports and its 2025 class currently ranks third in the country.
“You compete against teams that had top 10 recruiting classes for multiple years in a row,” Freeze said at the Monday Morning Quarterback Club in Birmingham. “We’ve had one, and we’re on our way to No. 2. That’s the way we want to build it. And I stay focused on that, and our team and our kids.”
“I think we better be focused on how you plan to build, and I’m pretty focused on that. I think we got the right plan. I actually think we’re further along,” Freeze said. “Having said that, I have to also clarify that they should be frustrated that we turned the ball over 13 times in three games and that’s three losses that easily could have been wins, so we have to own that as coaches and players.”
In Auburn’s first two losses to Cal and Arkansas, the Tigers turned the ball over five times in each of those games. Against Oklahoma, Auburn only had one turnover, but it was a pick-six that gave Oklahoma the lead in the fourth quarter.
The Tigers played their first turnover-free game against Georgia on Saturday, but still lost 31-13.
Auburn now enters its first bye week at the halfway point of the season, hoping to start turning results around in the second half of the season while keeping its top five recruiting class together.
“I know what I signed up for, and I know the building that it’s going to take, and it’s going to take time,” Freeze said. “I’ve said that from day one, and I’ve been clear about how I want to build it. I’m not going to waver from that, and I think it’s going to work.”
Peter Rauterkus covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @peter_rauterkus or email him at [email protected]m