For Hugh Freeze, Auburn Tigers, Slower May Be Better

Auburn Tigers head coach Hugh Freeze has made a name for himself as an offensive guru through his years of coaching, and a staple of his systems has been hurry-up, no-huddle offenses that put the defense on its heels and gasping for breath.

After a mistake-filled season on offense last season with Auburn, Freeze isn’t afraid to dial it back and rely on talent and execution rather than pace.

“It seems that most of us that were totally committed to that world, which I was, it won a lot of games, but it seemed as defenses transitioned and found ways to catch up with us, that it's kind of shifted back,” Freeze said at SEC Media Days of the cyclical nature of offense vs. defense. 

As a head coach concerned with wins more than just offensive production, Freeze has grown to appreciate the idea of taking pressure off of his defense. 

"There's still some, I would say, that are totally committed to it than others of us that are really trying to play the best complimentary football that we can and maybe lessen some of those snaps that your defense has to take," Freeze explained. "So that's where I've kind of landed right now as a mixture, but I think it's because, man, these defenses having to play a lot of snaps troubles a head coach."

That’s not to say Freeze is above going hurry-up when his offense needs a spark or he thinks he has the opposition on the ropes. It’s just that he’s much more aware of the toll quick possessions can have on his defense. 

"Even if you're one that's committed to an up-tempo pace, you've just got to be careful," Freeze said. "It's hard to stop offenses these days. There's just a handful that have elite defenses that can shut down offenses. To me, it becomes a factor of, ‘All right, what do we need to win this game?’ If there's a way we can move the football and lessen the snaps on our defense, I would lean toward that method immediately."

Therefore, diligently running by committee, and having new quarterback Jackson Arnold protect the ball much better than Payton Thorne did last season, has become higher on Freeze’s list of priorities.

Auburn has the talent that it won’t have to out-scheme most opponents. That hasn’t always been the case for Freeze as a head coach at Auburn or his other stops along the way.

The Tigers will just have to out-execute them without beating themselves. To do that, Freeze has matured enough as a coach to understand that slower football can be winning football.