Anonymous opposing coach explains why 2023 will be a 'weird year' for Auburn

To fans down on The Plains, just about anything that Auburn could do in Hugh Freeze’s first season would be better than what Bryan Harsin would have done had he remained head coach. Even so, one anonymous coach said not so fast when it comes to significant improvement from the Tigers.

In Athlon Sports’ annual college football preview, an opposing coach described Auburn’s upcoming season as ‘weird’. In the end, having Freeze be the one who steers the ship is going to make a real difference. With that said, he believes the Tigers have a lot of roster reconstruction left to do before they compete in the SEC again.

“It’s gonna be another weird year,” said the opposing coach. “They’re getting a boost from (Hugh) Freeze coming back in the league and just not being Bryan Harsin. For all of Freeze’s problems, he can manage an SEC culture a thousand times better than Harsin.”

“They’re starting over, but it’s Auburn, so they have good running backs. After that, they’re pretty mediocre,” they continued. “This is a messy-looking roster compared to the top half of the league.”

Harsin was run out of town after just over 20 games where Auburn posted a 9-12 record. That included a 2-6 finish to his first season and a 1-5 stretch in his second before Cadillac Williams replaced him as the the program’s interim.

In comes Freeze, coming off a six-year breakup with the Southeastern Conference, after four years of re-establishing himself at Liberty. With his new $39 million deal in hand, it’s now up to him to reset the standards that many expect at all times down at Auburn.

However, as this one coach pointed out, nothing about fixing the Tigers heading into 2023 is only going to take a 10-second tidying. It’s a process and one that Freeze has settled in for as he prepares to bring Auburn back into the national conversation for the right reasons.

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Auburn’s path to a huge turnaround in 2023

Recently On3’s J.D. PicKell did a breakdown of the Auburn Tigers’ 2023 season expectations. The college football expert also gave his prediction for their record to end the season, 6-6, and his reasons for seeing the Tigers finishing the year with that mark.

At the same time, PicKell sees a way for Auburn to exceed those expectations and compete for the right to represent the SEC West in the conference championship game. And according to him, it will take a much improved defensive performance along with a key acquisition this offseason to step up for the Tigers’ offense.

“The talent level is there. My concern is that talent level being improved is great. But you still have a defense that allowed over 180 yards rushing game last year,” said PicKell. “You can’t do that in the SEC and expect to be successful; you just can’t do it.”

This season, PicKell believes the Auburn defense will be even better and filled with more talent. That’s especially so after Hugh Freeze successfully recruited out of the transfer portal.

“The talent level is better. But, even so, there’s still a lot of cats that were a part of that defense last year that you’re going to count on. So there’s that side of it. And then Payton Thorne getting up to speed. But if the defense is better? Figures it out, doesn’t allow the kind of rushing yards allowed last year? And those new transfers kind of put their foot down, make something happen? And Payton Thorne just makes me look like an idiot saying it’s gonna take some time to get up to speed and he goes bonkers? The whole conversation around Auburn changes.

The last piece of the puzzle for Auburn to have a huge turnaround in the upcoming college football season rests with Thorne picking up the offense quickly and taking this game to another level. But, for him to do that, somebody else must also step up in the Tigers’ offense. PicKell believes that that could be one of Auburn’s talented receivers on the outside.

“Now, if Payton Thorne does ball out? The other thing that’s probably true about Auburn is you need a big dog at wide receiver step up. Whether it is Kameron Brown, (or) Nick Mardner. Like whoever it is, that would have to be true. I think it goes hand in hand with Payton Thorne excelling and excelling quickly in this offense.”