Auburn Hugh Freeze Among CBS’ Coaches Who Can Boost Rankings in 2025

The first two seasons of the Hugh Freeze Era have been less than optimal for the Auburn Tigers. In the first season, the Tigers ended the season 6-7, appearing in the 2023 Music Bowl to the Maryland Terrapins 31-13. 

Despite making it to bowl season, Auburn was under .500. Last season, the second year of Hugh Freeze, the Tigers regressed. They went 5-7 and missed out on a bowl altogether. As Freeze heads into the third season of being at the helm of the Tigers, CBS believes this could be the year that he finally turns things around at the Plains. 

According to CBS, if Freeze doesn’t succeed this year, he could be on his way out. This is certainly true. A year ago, Freeze was ranked by CBS as the 33rd-best coach. He currently sits 47th. He will have a lot of room to improve this upcoming year with a better team.  He has done a lot of things to avoid being fired. First, he extended defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin who is now one of the highest-paid assistant coaches in all of college football. The new contract keeps him in Auburn for an extra year through 2027.

It is a great move for the Tigers and Freeze due to Durkin’s ability to recruit. The 2025 recruiting class has many defensive stars that will likely make strong impressions this upcoming season. On top of that, Durkin has also been busy with the 2026 recruiting class. While there haven’t been as many commitments yet, the official visits have been good for Auburn. The summer will be the real test as recruits begin to decide where they want to go to college and play football. 

For Freeze, he already has built the best team has had since he arrived at the Plains. The Tigers got several big transfer players including a new starting quarterback in Jackson Arnold from Oklahoma and Eric Singleton Jr. from Georgia Tech. Singleton Jr. was one of the top transfers this past offseason. With their top wide receiver leaving for the NFL Draft/graduation, the Tigers desperately needed to revamp the offense. That was something they were able to do in the transfer portal. 

If the Tigers are able to win a minimum of seven or eight games this upcoming year, Hugh Freeze might have bought himself another year in Auburn. However, for now, he needs to worry about the success of this season and showing that he can do it in the SEC. 

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