Clemson Icon Calls Out Hugh Freeze for Throwing His Players Under the Bus

At one press conference this month, Freeze called out the quarterback staff, noting that it's "frustrating as heck" when they miss a receiver running wide open down the field.

“When we have the right thing called, the expectation, and I think it’s a reasonable one, is we execute it,” Freeze said. There was also video of him spiking his visor into the ground following one rotten practice rep. Clearly, there is some frustration.

Mac Lain jumped in to criticize Freeze a little harsher than Murray may be able to, questioning why the third-year Auburn coach is chiding specific position groups in public before the season even starts.

"Why does he always throw his guys under the bus?" Mac Lain questioned. "It's so weird. It's so strange."

Murray didn't love the comments, but he's hesitant to jump down Freeze's throat too harshly over preseason comments when Murray is working as a commentator on ESPNU for a Week 2 Auburn football game.

"See, this is the hard part about doing shows like this at times," Murray told Mac Lain.

"You're going to have to see them; I won't," Mac Lain commented. "Maybe you should ask him. Say, 'Hey, Big Mac wants to know, why do you do this?'"

Murray Still Likes Auburn, Arnold as Dark Horse in SEC

Hard to imagine Murray would ask such a question, but the Georgia QB did emphasize that despite Arnold's perceived struggles in the preseason, he still likes the QB and what surrounds him on the Tigers' roster.

"I like Jackson Arnold," he continued. "I like their offense. I love their receivers. I think the defense will be good. They get Georgia and Alabama in Jordan-Hare [Stadium]. So, I think Auburn could make some noise this year, get a couple big upsets."

Arnold is a former top-10 recruit in the nation, five stars according to On3, and initially committed to the Oklahoma Sooners out of high school. After a brutal 2024 season starting behind a banged-up offensive line in Norman, the rising junior made the jump across the SEC to Auburn.

As a third-year player in the SEC with a third-year coach at Auburn, pressure and expectations do exist for Arnold and his head coach, certainly to get back to a bowl game and perhaps to do even more, like pull an upset over Georgia or Alabama to get to the 8-9 win mark, as Murray laid out.