Paul Finebaum says Auburn hasn’t gotten its money’s worth with Hugh Freeze
By Jacob Moss
Published:
When Auburn hired former Ole Miss and Liberty head coach Hugh Freeze to become its new head coach ahead of the 2023 season, they did so in the expectation that he would finally be the guy to lead them back to SEC and national title contention.
Now in his third year at the helm, though, it’s becoming more and more apparent that Freeze more than likely isn’t the caliber of coach that can elevate a program to that level, at least not anymore.
This is the approximation that SEC Network analyst Paul Finebaum also came to on Tuesday afternoon, when he told 247Sports’ Auburn Undercover that the school hasn’t gotten its money’s worth from Freeze since he arrived.
“In terms of what we’re seeing on the field, it’s suboptimal,” Finebaum said on the Auburn Undercover podcast this week. “It’s below par. This is a phrase I’ve never used before in talking about Auburn: It’s not what Auburn people are paying for. That’s from the coaching staff to the players.”
It’s hard to look at the results the Tigers are seeing on the field in Year 3 and argue with what Finebaum is saying here, especially given the resources available to Freeze and his staff at Auburn.
Freeze is the 36th-highest paid coach in the country, per the USA Today database. He makes $6.7 million a year.
Finebaum also noted that Auburn doesn’t have unreasonable expectations for its program.
“To me, the one thing about Auburn that has always been consistent is there’s been an expectation to play for championships, a realization that sometimes that’s not possible, but Auburn people have always been unique that … if Auburn people feel like you’ve done everything you can and you lose, they can accept that within reason,” Finebaum said.
It’s not clear where the finish line is for Freeze’s tenure currently, but it could be fast approaching if things don’t change quickly.
The Tigers host No. 16 Missouri on Saturday at 7:45 p.m. ET on SEC Network. After opening as a 1.5-point favorite, the line has flipped throughout the week and turned Auburn into a 1.5-point underdog, per BetMGM. A loss would be Auburn’s fourth straight after a 3-0 start.
