Hugh Freeze addresses how Auburn can restore confidence of fanbase, recruits in final three games

Late in the second season for head coach Hugh Freeze with the Auburn Tigers, it’s been a struggle to find consistent success. With that, there has been wavering confidence from Auburn fans about the direction of the program.

At 9-13 during his time with Auburn, Freeze shared that he knows the final three games of the 2024 season are going to represent an opportunity to restore some of that confidence and show how the team is able to compete moving forward.

“I think it’s vital that we compete,” Hugh Freeze said. “That’s the expectation and, certainly, that’s the goal. Give ourselves a chance to win these football games against good football teams that we have to play to help build momentum, and you say, and confidence in everybody that we’re headed in the right direction, regardless of the record.”

At 3-6 overall this season and 1-5 in SEC play, things haven’t gone the way that Auburn wanted them to go. Now, they’ll need to win out against a difficult schedule to make it to a bowl game. If the Tigers don’t, it would be the second time missing a bowl in three seasons. On top of that, Auburn hasn’t won more than six games in a season since 2019.

So, for Freeze, finding a way to win late in the season would go a long way in restoring some confidence in the fanbase. It would also, as he explained, go a long way in making sure recruits know that the program is trending in the right direction.

“Recruiting is big, too,” Freeze said. “To try to finish strong and continue to get the ‘25 class to understand that we’re not far off, and we need their help to come in and help us continue this build.”

The Auburn Tigers currently have the sixth-ranked recruiting class in the 2025 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Team Recruiting Ranking. That class is also fifth in the SEC. It’s a class that’s highlighted by five-star quarterback Deuce Knight and 16 different four-star recruits. Along with that high school recruiting, Hugh Freeze will also need to balance that with the Transfer Portal as he looks to build a roster that can have better results moving forward.

This season, the Tigers still have three games to play. That starts with ULM this week before returning to SEC play for two ranked opponents in Texas A&M and Alabama.