Hugh Freeze Hasn’t Improved Anything at Auburn

Hugh Freeze was hired by Auburn (3-3) to help rejuvenate a stagnant and boring offense. The program had become irrelevant in the SEC while getting repeatedly lapped by in-state rival Alabama. Freeze was known as an offensive-minded quarterback guru, with a reputation built on high-powered, fast-paced offenses. 31 games into his tenure with the Tigers and the offense still isn’t high-powered or fast-paced and the program remains irrelevant.

After showing some life during a 3-0 start, the offensive wheels have fallen off during the current three game losing streak. The Tigers have averaged 12.3 points per game during this stretch. Yes, the three losses came against No. 11 Oklahoma, No. 9 Texas A&M and No. 10 Georgia, but this was just another reminder of how far away from relevancy Auburn still remains.  

In the 31 games that Freeze has been in charge of Auburn, the Tigers have gone 14-17. In 2023 the Tigers averaged 26.2 points per game (74^th in country), in 2024 they averaged 27.8 points per game (71^st in country) and this season they are averaging 24.7 points per game (92^nd in country). This is not what the program signed on for when Freeze was hired in November 2022.

The lack of an explosive offense can be directly attributed to Freeze’s inability to develop or sign a quality quarterback. And that is magnified tenfold nowadays with the added benefit of the transfer portal. Freeze didn’t need to wait for a high school recruit to mature and develop. He could have just signed an already mature and developed quarterback through the portal. Yet, the quarterback guru decided that Payton Thorne and Jackson Arnold were the portal answers he needed to rejuvenate the offense.

And he was horribly wrong on both decisions.

Thorne was a solid quarterback at Michigan State and was solid at best at with the Tigers. In his two seasons he passed for 4,468 yards, 37 touchdowns and 19 interceptions while completing 62% of his passes. His passing production actually went down at Auburn, as during his final two seasons with the Spartans he passed for 5,911 yards, 46 touchdowns and 21 interceptions while completing 61.4% of his passes.