Hugh Freeze breaks down challenges UMass, Don Brown present

The 2023 Auburn season, and the Hugh Freeze era, will kick off on Saturday with a game against UMass. Normally seen as a punching bag, UMass presents some unique challenges for Auburn, according to Freeze. Chief among those challenges is head coach Don Brown.

“Well, I’ve played them every year the last four years,” Hugh Freeze said. “I saw drastic improvement last year under Coach Brown.”

Freeze is referencing his time at Liberty. There, the two independent programs would meet annually. In four years, Freeze was 4-0 against UMass but three of those games came in the disastrous Walt Bell era for the Minutemen. It was only last season while Don Brown was picking up the pieces that the two faced off.

This is Don Brown’s second stint as the UMass head coach, previously leading the Minutemen at the FCS level. He left the become an FBS defensive coordinator and thrived for several years at Michigan, becoming known for his manta that calls for players to solve their problems with aggression.

“I have great respect for him. I think he’s one of the best defensive playcallers in the country. Last year, their record was atrocious and they had a top-10 defense in the country. So, now, I think they’ve added 27 transfers, most from Power Five schools.”

Despite widely being seen as the worst FBS team, UMass opened in Week 0 with a win against New Mexico State. A lot of that success in Week 0 was because of transfer players like quarterback Taisun Phommachanh.

“I thought they looked quite different and New Mexico State’s not an easy place to go play, and I thought they took care of the football. They didn’t turn it over, they got turnovers, they capitalized on turnovers, they threw the ball effectively, which they have not done in the four years that I played them, and I think defensively they play as hard as any team in the country and you combine that with Coach Brown’s system, which is very chaotic and very hard to identify for your offensive front at times, they will create negative plays with that,” Freeze said.

“That was a big challenge for us last year when we played them up at UMass. They created a lot of negative plays against us. We managed to score enough points to win the game but it was a challenge. So, they have our full attention.”

Auburn is still a heavy favorite to beat UMass and kick off the Hugh Freeze era with a win. Despite that, Freeze is concerned about some of the talent that UMass has on its roster.

“I mean, if you look at them defensively, obviously Don is pretty special. I mean, he’s been one of the best at Michigan and Arizona and many other places, but 48 [Jerry Roberts Jr.] jumps off the page at you, as does 1 [Marcus Bradley] and 7 [Jordan Mahoney]. They could play at any Power Five schools. Those guys are really, really good, and really, again, chaotic in their defensive front when they’re mixing it up with all their three down and four down. I think they’re deeper than they’ve been and better in the secondary,” Freeze said.

“Then, offensively, the quarterback makes a huge difference. I won’t try to pronounce his last name, but number 3, Taisun I think is his first name. The running back, 15 [Kay’Ron Lynch-Adams], is really, really good, and Simpson and Johnson, those two transfer receivers I think are really talented and explosive. So, we’ve got our hands full. I believe that. It will not be an easy opener, and one that’s going to challenge us.”

Hugh Freeze on Auburn’s mental preparation

Ahead of the season opener, Hugh Freeze explained the Auburn Tigers’ mental preparation for games.

“That’s something that we’ve tried to start instituting since we got here. Our theme since we got here has been flip the script, and it’s really about re-wiring your mind of how you prepare for these 12 opportunities that we’re given. It’s something that has to be done daily that whatever is driving your beliefs are gonna drive some type of behavior and that behavior is gonna create some habits and that habits will ultimately give us all our destiny,” Freeze said.

“The more of those days that we stack, that we’re doing things the right way with the right attitude and the right passion, then the more prepared we’ll be, and I think we’re still ongoing in that. That’s still a journey and it will be throughout this season. To this point, I think we’ve made progress and made strides in the right direction, and hopefully that shows on Saturday.”