Terry Bowden reacts to Auburn’s decision to fire ‘good friend’ Hugh Freeze
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Terry Bowden knows what Hugh Freeze is going through on Sunday as he deals with his firing as Auburn head coach.
Bowden has been there, having coached the Tigers from 1993-98. He knows the highs, like the 11-0 record he led Auburn to in his first season on the Plains. And he certainly knows the lows, like the way it all ended at Auburn after Bowden resigned following a 1-5 start to the 1998 season.
Sunday was a low for Freeze, who didn’t even make it through his 3rd season at Auburn, going 15-19 during his tenure and 6-16 in SEC play. It all came to a crashing end on Saturday night when Freeze walked off the field after an ugly 10-3 home loss to a Kentucky team that hadn’t won an SEC game prior to facing Auburn.
These days, Bowden does a podcast for Auburn fans called the Terry Bowden Show, and on Sunday during an “emergency podcast” in light of the breaking news the 69-year-old Bowden weighed in on the Freeze firing.
“I’m a good friend of Hugh Freeze. I wish these things would at least carry to the end of the season. This isn’t like Auburn is the only team doing it,” Bowden said.
Bowden understands the current climate of college football, and he spoke about that on the podcast on Sunday.
“With the way schools are paying off coaches and cutting their contract, cutting them off, you’re not going to be in the hunt for several coaches if you don’t at least get your searchers out there talking behind the scenes, because that’s kind of the way it’s done right now,” Bowden said. “Hugh’s had a couple losing seasons. Yeah, we really felt with the recruiting and with that, you know, defense is playing so well, you kind of hoped it would go a different direction.”
Friendship aside, Bowden is aware of the reality of the situation.
“Let’s get one thing straight. Hugh Freeze is not coaching at Auburn because he didn’t win enough,” Bowden said. “He needed to win more games. And unfortunately, that’s what you get paid for.
“It wasn’t quite enough, and it wasn’t trending in the right direction. And I think he was wanting more patience.”
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
