Auburn AD Defends Freeze Amidst Recruiting Struggles

Despite publicized recruiting struggles for the Auburn Tigers, head coach Hugh Freeze is confident he and his staff can still put together a top 10 class, and his athletic director agrees.

During an interview for SEC Media Days, Auburn AD John Cohen gave his vote of confidence towards Freeze when asked about Auburn's recent recruiting performance.

“I’m gonna be really blunt with you,” Cohen said. “I rode up here in a car with Hugh Freeze and he had seven recruiting calls in those two hours. And many of the recruiting calls were kids calling him. One of the things I really admire about our football coach is there are many coaches out there, many who hand off recruiting to other people on their staff. Hugh Freeze is not one of them.

“And it doesn’t matter if he’s in a car, it doesn’t matter if he’s in a restaurant, it doesn’t matter if he’s with his family. When a recruit calls, he answers it. We’ve had two top 10 classes in a row because of the tradition of Auburn and because that guy has a personal relationship with our best kids that we recruit. And that matters.”

Evidently, Cohen isn’t even a little bit worried about Freeze’s effort in recruiting this offseason, though Auburn still requires a “load more” click on 247Sports’ recruiting class leaderboard.

That said, the Tigers are scratching and clawing their way back up the rankings, improving to 70th in the nation from a previous 88th ranking after receiving summer commitments from four-star linebacker Jaquez Wilkes, four-star quarterback Peyton Falzone, three-star tackle Wilson Zierer, three-star linebacker Adam Balogoun-Ali, three-star tackle Nikau Hepi, three-star tight end Kentrell White, three-star running back Eric Perry and long snapper Travis Wakefield.

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