Hugh Freeze adamantly claims he ‘should have 4 wins’ against Nick Saban

Hugh Freeze knows how to get the better of Nick Saban. In fact, Freeze is adamant that he should have a couple more wins against Saban to his credit.

Monday evening will feature the return of SEC Network’s “Talkin’ Season” featuring Marty Smith and Ryan McGee interviewing head coaches throughout the SEC. Freeze will be featured, and Smith unveiled one clip Monday morning.

That clip includes asking Freeze how it felt to lose to Alabama in the 2023 Iron Bowl after forcing the Crimson Tide into a do-or-die play on 4th-and-31.

“You gotta coach better. If you’re not accountable through the week in little things, it will show up on 3rd down. It will show up on 4th down,” said Freeze. “So some of that fault is the culture, some of it is coaching. Maybe we didn’t coach it good enough. Not winning that game sucked.”

While the loss was brutal, Freeze maintained there was some confidence-building in the game. He said it was clear Auburn could play on the same level as Alabama, even with a Tigers roster that was not quite up to par.

As for his head-to-head battles with Saban, Freeze recalls his tempo RPO system at Ole Miss and how he knew best to create confusion within Saban’s defense. Freeze also believes he should have 4 total head-to-head victories against Saban with the way a couple of games ultimately played out.

“At Ole Miss, we were one of the first staffs to bring in the tempo RPO, and he didn’t like that at all. He tried to get it changed and all that, and then he started doing it,” Freeze explained. “And he’s a good friend of mine for sure but I did understand what complicated their calls.

“We honestly — Nick is incredible, but I should have 4 wins against him. We beat him twice and we had them 24-3 the 3rd year (at Ole Miss) and I wasn’t smart enough to slow it down… I may not have phrased that exactly right, but we easily could have beaten him a few more times.”

Hugh Freeze: “Nick (Saban) is incredible, but I should have four wins against him.”#MartyandMcGee Talkin’ Season: Tonight at 8pm ET on @SECNetwork. pic.twitter.com/NoSpoG70Bn

— Marty Smith (@MartySmithESPN) August 12, 2024

RELATED: Don’t wait until football season to get ready for the latest Daily Fantasy Sports offerings! Use SDS’s favorite apps similar to PrizePicks to stay up to date on the latest.

Freeze certainly has the confidence that comes from getting the best of Saban, and he does get credit for being one of the few head coaches for being able to go toe-to-toe with Alabama at the height of Saban’s power. Then again, he also has to wear the breakdowns that led to a pair of brutal losses.

Based on his full comments, it doesn’t sound like Freeze is trying to skirt his own shortcomings in those losses, but he’ll definitely miss the few that got away now that Saban is retired.

Paul Harvey

Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.