Paul Finebaum highlights an intriguing name as Auburn’s next coach: ‘He is a very compelling individual’
By Keith Farner
Published:
Paul Finebaum has all but moved on from the Bryan Harsin era at Auburn, and now the ESPN commentator has raised an interesting name as the next Auburn coach.
Hugh Freeze could leave Liberty and return to the SEC at Auburn.
“A couple of years ago I was in Oxford and I went to dinner with him and he is a very compelling individual,” said Finebaum during a podcast appearance with ESPN’s Matt Barrie. “And he went through all the things that brought him to the unemployment line briefly. And I’m gullible Matt. If you’d been there, you would have been nodding your head going — I’m voting for you Hugh, whatever you’re selling. That’s how good he is.”
Freeze has shown an ability to be aggressive in coaching, and at Auburn would have upgraded talent, Finebaum said.
“And you think about that, I mean, I love the two-point conversion,” Finebaum said. “You don’t want to go into overtime against mighty Wake Forest. He’s beaten a couple of ACC teams, he’s almost won every one of these games. That’s how… and that’s with Liberty talent. Can you imagine Auburn talent? And he knows that, he and [Gus] Malzahn were very close friends. He knows the terrain, I think his daughter even went there for a while so he knows the way at Auburn. He’s definitely a name you have to keep your eye on.”
The added element with Freeze, Finebaum said, is that he has a relationship with former Auburn coach Gus Malzahn and is familiar with the program.
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
