Paul Finebaum Reveals Why One College Football Coach Could Surprise Everyone

"I like Coach Freeze," Finebaum said. "I think he is facing a very big season. I think he has a chance to right the ship and get this program back to where it should be."

Paul Finebaum Thinks Hugh Freeze Is Facing Surging Job Pressure

While Finebaum thinks Freeze has a chance to right the ship and get Auburn back to its prominence, he has acknowledged that Freeze is under a lot of pressure entering the season.

“I think Hugh Freeze is under more pressure than we thought maybe a couple of months ago,” Finebaum previously said. “If you look at the schedule, there are at least four games in the first half that are incredibly challenging. How does he do with those four?”

Freeze is 11-14 in his two seasons at Auburn. That includes back-to-back losing seasons. For comparison, Bryan Harsin was let go in the middle of his second season at Auburn in 2022. He had a record of 9-12.

Hugh Freeze Buyout Numbers

If the season does not go well and Freeze is fired without cause, he is entitled to receive 75 percent of the remaining value of his contract, with no offset. He signed a six-year deal before the 2023 season, starting at $6.5 million and increasing by $250,000 each year. For the current season, he is scheduled to earn $7 million. By the end of the 2025 season, this would result in a buyout amount of nearly $17 million.

Paul Finebaum Thinks Auburn Has Its Best Roster in Several Years

Finebaum believes that Freeze has a chance to turn things around, primarily because he sees this roster as the strongest it has been in several years. Finebaum noted that it is one of the best rosters in the last seven or eight years, which can likely be attributed to the acquisition of former five-star quarterback Jackson Arnold and wide receiver Eric Singleton Jr., who was ranked as a top-five player in the transfer portal.

“I think it is,” Finebaum previously said. “But paper and reality are often two different things. Hugh Freeze has told us that. It’s just a matter of, look, I think they’re going to be really good. But being really good and navigating a schedule that has three road games, two in Texas and one in Oklahoma, before you get to Georgia is very difficult.”

This has a lot to do with Freeze's success with recruiting. He has landed the No. 8-ranked recruiting class and the No. 8 transfer portal class in 2025. In 2024, he landed the No. 10-ranked recruiting class and the No. 24-ranked transfer portal class. 

The Tigers will kick off the season away against the Baylor Bears at 8 p.m. ET on Friday.