The recurring theme of Auburn football’s offseason has been the expectations for this fall.

Combining the No. 1 transfer portal class with two top 10 recruiting classes, some Tiger fans are optimistic about the 2025 season.

However, Athlon Sports’ yearly preview magazine has Auburn coach Hugh Freeze on the hot seat entering year three.

With an 11-14 overall record at Auburn, Freeze failed to reach a bowl game last season with the Tigers. In his first year at the helm, Auburn lost to Maryland in the Music City bowl.

Prior to coming to Auburn, Freeze had an 83-43 record in 10 seasons with a 65.8 winning percentage, according to Al.com columnist Micheal Casagrande. During his time with the Tigers, Freeze has a winning percentage of 44.0.

Auburn hasn’t won more than six games since 2019 and is coming off its fourth straight losing season. The Tigers was in almost every game last season but lost a handful of contests from self-inflicted wounds.

Five of the Auburn’s seven losses last year came by 10 or fewer points. The Tigers scored just eight red zone touchdowns in eight conference games, while leading the SEC with 22 turnovers.

“I’m not a fool, I think we’ve got to go to a bowl game. I think our administration understands, look, I inherited a program that didn’t have a top 25 recruiting class for four years,” Freeze said on the Next Round Live show back in May.

“We could’ve won some games last year, and we’ve got to find a way to make sure we’re excellent in those areas that cost us those, that put us in a position to be bowl eligible if not more and I see no reason why we shouldn’t do that and I think that’s an expectation that our people should expect.”

Despite going 6-7 in Year 1, last year’s 5-7 finish has intensified the pressure placed on Freeze this fall.

Jerry Humphrey III covers Auburn sports forAL.com. You can follow him on X at @Jerryhump3or email him at [email protected].