Hugh Freeze cites struggles of Jackson Arnold, offense when discussing firing from Auburn
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Former Auburn coach Hugh Freeze is not shying away from discussing what went wrong this fall on The Plains. Freeze feels that quarterback play and other issues on offense were significant factors in his dismissal.
Freeze recently sat down with Justin Hokanson of On3 for an interview. When talking about the offense, Freeze stated that Jackson Arnold’s miscues and other issues contributed to his firing.
“Let’s be clear, this is not a beat up Jackson deal. It’s never, always the quarterback. There are other factors,” Freeze said. “I mean, he missed a touchdown throw here at Oklahoma to a wide-open Cam Coleman. Those plays you’ve got to make to win games. And he would say that too. And there’s also the Missouri game where we have what? Eight drops? Then there’s moments in the Georgia second half where he misses open guys, or the protection is not great, so it’s a combination of all those things.
“But certainly, it didn’t work out to the level that he nor I both expected for him and our team. And that’s why I’m sitting here.”
Freeze signed Arnold out of the transfer portal ahead of the 2025 season. Arnold was a 5-star prospect in the Class of 2023. He signed with Oklahoma, but transferred after a rough sophomore season that included his benching for Michael Hawkins Jr.
Arnold started 7 games for Auburn in 2025. The Tigers turned to Ashton Daniels the rest of way, with Deuce Knight starting the Mercer game so Daniels could maintain his ability to redshirt.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
