Hugh Freeze Won't Put Number On Wins Auburn Needs in 2025

The Auburn Tigers have suffered four consecutive seven-loss seasons, and head coach Hugh Freeze is the first Auburn coach in 50 years to get a third year after consecutive losing seasons.

The Auburn Family understood that Freeze inherited a roster in serious need of an overhaul, so they’ve been a little more patient than usual while Freeze has had excellent recruiting classes.

However, Freeze understands he’s on the clock in year three, but he’s not going to put a number on the wins he needs in 2025 to see 2026.  

"I don't get into that. You never know, injuries and the way the ball bounces and all of that. But there should be an improvement made of us being able to be better in those critical situations that cost us some games last year," Freeze confessed recently at SEC spring meetings. "Heck, this league's hard, as you know. That's why you don't put a benchmark on yourself. You have no idea what's going to go on at every one of these programs, and even the health of your own team and stuff. So, I don't put benchmarks on it, but we should be in every game."

Not that Freeze is hearing footsteps behind him just yet, but he sounds fully aware that the Auburn job is one that a great number of coaches would love to land.

"I mean, it's Auburn," Freeze admitted. "It's one of the best jobs in the country. Our roster looks better, and there's a lot of games that you point to last year that could have gone the other way, in our favor. There's a reasonable expectation that none of us should run from, is for some of those start going our way."

All told, the arrival of new quarterback Jackson Arnold might just get the Tigers over the hump in some of those squeaker games Freeze has been ruefully lamenting about.

After two fruitless years of Payton Thorne, Freeze has staked his and Auburn’s future on Arnold. The rest of the roster looks good enough to compete for 10 wins, even if Freeze won’t put a number on what he expects this year. Arnold struggled at Oklahoma, but he'll be tasked with hitting the ground running at Auburn.

Make no bones about it, winning ball games remains the principal objective, but Freeze is determined not to bite off more than he can chew.