Nick Saban Defends Auburn's Hugh Freeze Admist Rapid Backlash From Fans

At a glance, Saban’s opinion seems validated and well-respected due to his long history of accomplishments and undeniable success with the Crimson Tide. He won seven national championships – seven at Alabama and one at LSU – as well as 11 conference titles in Tuscaloosa.

However, some Auburn fans are skeptical of the future Hall of Famer’s comments on the Tigers and believe there may be a different motive behind Saban’s suggestion for encouragement.

“Pay attention, Auburn fans: Alabama fans, coaches, supporters, etc. know that as long as Hugh Freeze is at Auburn, Alabama knows Auburn isn’t a real threat anytime soon,” one fan said on X.

“This is literally rage bait, he knows Freeze gotta go so he’s gonna make it seem like he should stay,” another said.

“Of course he would say that. He’s friends with Hugh and doesn’t mind seeing Auburn suck,” said another fan.

Most of the replies to Saban are negative, but there are also a couple of hopeful fans sprinkled in who aren’t as skeptical as some of the others.

“I hope you’re right, Nick, because I’m not seeing it right now,” an X user said.

While Saban’s remarks may be meant to instill belief into this Auburn fanbase, his encouragement likely won’t have much impact.

To say that the Tigers’ offensive performance in their 16-10 loss at Texas A&M last Saturday was bad is an understatement. Auburn posted just 177 total yards of offense, including only one singular yard in the fourth quarter, and went 0-for-15 on third and fourth downs combined.

The offensive line has also been atrocious, allowing five sacks in College Station and nine against Oklahoma the week prior. Quarterback Jackson Arnold leads the FBS in sacks taken this season with 20, and the 14 in the last two games also rank first the nation.

One could point to Arnold’s slow decision-making or the offensive line’s constant penalties and poor pass protection, but in reality, Auburn’s lack of production is due to a mixture of issues.

The main one that sticks out is Freeze’s play-calling, which many believe was absolutely incompetent against the Aggies. Despite Texas A&M’s inability to stop the run throughout its first three outings, Freeze decided not to take advantage of it, as the Tigers finished with just eight carries by their top two running backs. Freeze also elected not to hand the ball off once in the first quarter, which is frustrating to many, considering Jeremiah Cobb and Damari Alston recorded an average of 4.8 yards per rush.

Auburn didn’t convert a single first down in the fourth quarter, and its offense looked totally lost on its final few drives in which the Tigers had a chance to take the lead. A large talking point is when Freeze chose to pass for two consecutive plays – 3rd-and-1 and 4th-and-1 – with the game on the line, with the fourth down play unsurprisingly resulting in a sack.

Those are just a few examples of what feel like never-ending play-calling miscues and coaching mistakes. Although Saban believes he will ultimately get the job done if Auburn fans get behind and support him, Freeze must make a plethora of adjustments during the bye week if he wants to retain his duties as head coach on the Plains.