Hugh Freeze reveals hopes for recruits Auburn hosted at A-Day

Auburn‘s annual A-Day spring scrimmage was played on Saturday, as Tigers’ fans got their first look at their 2023 team with new head coach Hugh Freeze at the helm. But Auburn also had numerous recruits in attendance as well, who got their first glance at a new look program that they could soon be a part of. And following A-Day, Freeze spoke about the recruits being in attendance and what that means for the Tigers.

“We had a ton of great recruits here last night and this morning today and obviously you’d love for it to be a prettier day where everyone would have enjoyed it more and I think we’d have a bigger crowd and all of that,” Freeze said.

The weather may not have been ideal for the Tigers, with rain showers persisting throughout the scrimmage, but Freeze and his staff tried to make one of the biggest recruiting opportunities of the offseason as ideal as possible for their recruits. Various four and five-star recruits were in attendance for A-Day, and while the weather may have kept Auburn’s quarterbacks from throwing the ball as much, it didn’t keep their recruits from learning about what it’s like to be a Tiger.

“But ultimately they’ve been with us all morning as we prepped and they get a feel for who Auburn is as a football program and university, and they wouldn’t be here if we haven’t done a decent job of recruiting them to this point,” Freeze admitted. “So I think it speaks that we’re in it and we just gotta keep building those relationships and hopefully land some key guys.”

In Freeze’s first offseason at the helm for the Tigers, his 2023 recruiting class ranked No. 17 in the nation and No. 8 in the SEC according to On3’s Industry Team Recruiting Rankings. There’s still room for improvement going forward for the Tigers, but the new foundation that’s been laid by Freeze and his staff has now been established.

Auburn’s 2023 class consists of 21 high school signings and 12 transfer portal additions, and it will be interesting to see if the Tigers utilize the portal any further this offseason with transfer portal window reopening on April 15. With spring practice and A Day behind them, Auburn will now focus on their offseason workout program until they take the field again for fall camp ahead of the season.