Prior to becoming the head coach at Auburn, Hugh Freeze had a well-documented history with Alabama.
While at Ole Miss, Freeze led the Rebels to back-to-back wins over Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide and he now hopes to bring similar success to the Tigers.
Although he’s friends with Saban, Freeze has made it clear that he wants to win and win big over Alabama as he emphatically stated in an interview with Sports Illustrated earlier this week.
“Yeah, I want to beat the crap out of him during the Iron Bowl, but we are friends,” Freeze said.
In the interview, Freeze also received a vote of confidence from former Auburn head coach and current lead man at UCF Gus Malzahn.
“I think Auburn and Hugh is a really good match,” Malzahn adds. “Auburn is an unbelievable place. Hugh is really, really good. I’m excited for both parties. You can win the whole thing there. Unbelievable fan base and support. He’s coming at a great time with NIL and the new facility. Everything came together.”
Freeze also noted that he will need to ramp up his efforts in recruiting at Auburn for the program isn’t at the level of Alabama and Georgia just yet. But he does seem to see some vulnerability in the Crimson Tide stating that their line play isn’t the same as it once was.
“I think I’ve got to spend an enormous amount of time recruiting. I’m not Nick [Saban] or [Georgia coach] Kirby [Smart] right now. Not that they don’t work at it, but they’ve got it rolling. I’m going to have to be willing to do the extra to get us caught up some,” Freeze said.
“I haven’t been in the league, but the teams I used to see when we played Alabama … we’re so behind that. Now, are they [Alabama] the same as they were then? Watching tape, I don’t know if they’re as good up front as they were then. They’re still really, really good, but Georgia … we are considerably behind those two and LSU, too. We’ve got a ways to go.”
Auburn is coming off a 5-7 season where it also fell to Alabama 49-27 inside Bryant-Denny Stadium. Freeze has the history and skill to get the program back on track but his work is certainly cut out for him.
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Patrick Dowd is a Reporter for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via Pat_Dowd77
