Hugh Freeze admits it’s ‘hard to feel great’ about Auburn’s 2026 recruiting class so far
Published:
After finalizing top-10 recruiting classes in back-to-back cycles, Auburn is off to an extremely-slow start in the class of 2026.
Hugh Freeze and his staff have so far only secured 6 commitments in 2026. The class ranks 89th nationally, per 247Sports Composite rankings — good for dead last in the SEC as of this writing. Mizzou (9) is currently the only other SEC program without at least 10 commits in this class.
On Wednesday evening, Freeze acknowledged some of the concerns about Auburn’s class and admitted it’s “hard to feel great” about where Auburn is at right now.
“I do think it’ll shake out in the long run,” Freeze said. “But it is complicated and hard to sit there and feel great about. But I feel great about our relationships and I feel great about Auburn. And I know the families know that. And I do think after we win games this fall, which I’m confident we will, I think it’ll all kind of shake itself out.”
Auburn athletic director John Cohen also chimed in on Auburn’s struggles on the trail. He pointed out that it’s still relatively early in the cycle by some measures — prospective student-athletes don’t even receive an official offer until Aug. 1. Recruits can’t sign with any program until the Early Signing Period in December.
“We’re a good distance away from August the 1st and we’re a really good distance away from December,” Cohen said.
Here’s a clip of comments from Freeze and Cohen:
Some of Auburn’s issues on the recruiting trail may be related to financial shortcomings. Freeze said Wednesday night that Auburn’s offers have often been coming in “really low” compared to other programs.
It’s also possible Auburn is suffering from some effective negative recruiting from rivals. Freeze is just 5-11 in SEC play since taking over on the Plains and is widely believed to be on the hot seat entering 2025.
Auburn will open the 2025 season at Baylor on Aug. 29.
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
