Hugh Freeze Prepares for Baylor Bears, not Transfer Portal Newcomers

AUBURN, Ala.- The Auburn Tigers face off against the Baylor Bears in just over a week, with plans for the season opener well underway on the Plains. 

However, head coach Hugh Freeze admits that prepping for the first game of the season has taken on a different look in the transfer portal era, though coaches still revert back to what they know.

“We’ve done our research on what the additions are,” Freeze said of the new Baylor Bears. “You’re not quite sure exactly how they fit into their depth chart right now with the number of returners that they have, but I’m certain it added value to them in some ways.”

The Bears brought in 23 players from the transfer portal, though only one of them was rated higher than three stars by 247Sports. Ironically, that was former Auburn quarterback Walker White. 

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With nearly two dozen new veteran players littering the Bears’ depth chart, it becomes harder to game plan for individuals, but coaches still have tendencies that don’t vary widely from season to season, no matter the personnel.

“Really, we’re not going to change a whole lot offensively from what we’ve done in the past, and I doubt Dave (Aranda) is going to change a whole lot of what has been really good to him,” Freeze admitted. “He knows what he is doing on the defensive side. Their OC’s been around a long time, and he may have a wrinkle here, a wrinkle there, but most of us are going to do what we do.”

That said, as in any game, coaches must adjust on the fly based on individual matchups.

“We’ll have to figure out if you get in the game and you’re like ‘oh gosh, these two guys here, they’re war daddies and we’re having a problem.’ Then you’ve got to make adjustments, but I don’t know that you start doing that right now until you kind of plan for who you think they are schematically,” Freeze said. 

Prepping for the early-season matchups brings more challenges to the table in the transfer portal era of college football. But the challenge of integrating their own newcomers before the season is the bigger concern during the offseason. 

Auburn has a host of portal players they are counting on to make big impacts for the team, including quarterback Jackson Arnold, wide receiver Eric Singleton, and bookend tackles Xavier Chaplin and Mason Murphy.

Freeze’s number one goal in the offseason is getting his own team ready to play. If Auburn plays up to a similar level as the talent they’ve acquired, an extra week or two of film on an opponent won’t make a difference. 

Auburn opens its season against Baylor on Friday, August 29th at 7:00 p.m. CT in Waco, Texas.