Hugh Freeze points to House guidelines for low compensation offers to Auburn recruits
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Hugh Freeze had some interesting comments on the state of Auburn recruiting and compensation in the post-House settlement NCAA landscape.
Justin Hokanson of On3 was on hand in Lake Martin to hear from Freeze as well as athletic director John Cohen and other AU coaches. Per Hokanson, Freeze acknowledged that recruits have said that Auburn’s compensation offers are lower than other programs.
Hugh Freeze said Auburn is "really low" when it comes to some of the $ numbers being tossed around with recruits. He says he's surprised by that, but trusts the administration and the lawyers in how they are approaching things. https://t.co/cB35je2gLU
— Justin Hokanson (@_JHokanson) July 2, 2025
One reason for Auburn’s offers being lower could be that AU is actually following the guidelines set by the House settlement. Freeze suspects that other programs may not be following the new guidelines. The AU head coach acknowledged, though, that the program may be at a recruiting disadvantage with its approach to compensation. The terms of the settlement, which introduced revenue sharing and the NIL clearing house, recently went into effect.
Hugh Freeze on NIL…
— Justin Hokanson (@_JHokanson) July 2, 2025
"You want to make sure you are operating with what the House settlement says. We're going by what we believe is the accurate interpretation of it. It's not really to our advantage right now…"
…saying others might not be operating the way Auburn is.
June is one of the busiest football recruiting months of the year with school out for the summer and prospects taking campus visits. Auburn’s 2026 recruiting class currently sits at No. 89 nationally on the 247Sports Composite with 6 verbal pledges, half coming in June. The Tigers have seen 3 recent decommitments, 2 in June and another on Tuesday. Freeze, though, remains confident that the Tigers will turn it around on the trail.
Freeze adds that he "wholeheartedly" believes Auburn can finish with a Top 10 recruiting class when it's all said and done.
— Justin Hokanson (@_JHokanson) July 2, 2025
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.
