Hugh Freeze, AD Explains Auburn Recruiting Woes: Not Playing Fair

The Auburn Tigers have lost commit after commit as of late, whether through flips or never even landing the commitments in the first place. It’s quite the shift from the tear they were on a year ago.

This week, Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze, along with athletic director John Cohen, spoke to fans at an Alabama country club about Auburn’s currently 90th-ranked recruiting class, a metric in which the Tigers are surpassed by the likes of San Jose State, South Alabama, and Idaho.

“It does seem kind of strange that we’re some of the lowest range of numbers,” Freeze said. “We’re really, really low compared to some, and I’m trying to figure that out.”

He’s not referring to commitment numbers, though. He’s referring to the revenue sharing dollars the team is allowed to offer, per the league's new salary cap rules. This does not mean that the Tigers have a low NIL budget– they’re just not allowed to use it until Aug. 1.

The kicker? Freeze and Cohen aren’t convinced their competitors are playing fair.

“Let me illustrate,” Cohen said. “You have an $800,000 offer, and the school says we’re gonna give you $400,000 in rev-share, we’re gonna give you $400,000 through a third party. I’m not 100% sure that everybody in the country is operating under that premise, which is reality.”

Bama Sidelines reported that Freeze has previously stated that he hopes that the teams he feels aren’t playing by the rules will be “called out.”

“We’ve got great interpretations from our administration and our legal team on what the settlement really means and how we should operate,” Freeze said. “That’s what we’re doing. If others are operating in a manner not with that, I’m hopeful they’ll be called out on that at some point.”

Unfortunately, this may put to bed the argument that many Auburn fans are pushing– Hugh Freeze is indeed trying to land recruits, he’s just been so far unable to compete with other schools’ revenue sharing– legal or not.

That said, the start of Freeze’s ability to use NIL money is set for Aug 1, and many Auburn fans are hopeful he’ll be able to use it to turn his recruiting around as the school year begins.

“I do think it will shake out in the long run,” Freeze said. “But it is complicated and hard to sit there and feel great about. I feel great about our relationships, and I feel great about Auburn, and I know the families know that."

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