Hugh Freeze clarifies his comments about having four wins vs. Nick Saban, Alabama

Earlier this week, Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze turned heads when he claimed he should “have four wins” against legendary head coach Nick Saban. During an appearance on “The Paul Finebaum Show” on Tuesday, Freeze explained his controversial comments.

“Every now and then, you say things that come across the wrong way and you feel crazy for saying something quite like that,” Freeze said. “You’ve got to get it done when you have the chances. Yes, we had opportunity to have four wins for sure. The third year at Ole Miss, we were up 24-3. And truthfully, I didn’t coach well enough.

“It felt like we could have won that and I should have controlled the clock more in that game. Then, of course, last year, I should have been able to coach well enough and get out of there with the opportunity we had.

“That certainly doesn’t mean that I’m saying in any way we were better than his squad or than his staff because he’s arguably the best that’s ever done it. So, that didn’t come across exactly the way I wanted it. But yeah, we did have those opportunities four times, and easily could have had two more.”

What did Hugh Freeze say to spark the controversy?

Freeze’s initial comments, which occurred during an appearance on “Marty and McGee,” were not nearly as detailed.

“Nick is incredible – but I should have four wins against them,” Freeze said. “We beat them twice and we had them 24-3 the third year, and I wasn’t smart enough to slow it down. And then last year it easily could’ve gone our way. … We easily could’ve beat him a few more times.”

Freeze was at Ole Miss from 2012-16. After losing to Alabama his first two seasons in Oxford, the Rebels beat Alabama in 2014 and 2015, before falling 48-43 in 2016 after building a huge lead.

Freeze was then hired at Auburn ahead of the 2023 season, and the Tigers led Alabama for most of the second half last year, before Alabama scored a touchdown on fourth-and-31 to secure the win.

While Freeze may not be able to replay those grueling losses against Saban, he has a chance to pave a bright future at Auburn. In his debut campaign at the helm of the program, Freeze led the Tigers to a 6-7 record and a 3-5 mark in conference play.

After adding the No. 8 recruiting class in the 2024 cycle and the No. 12 transfer class in the country this offseason, Auburn has hopes to take a massive leap forward in the 2024 campaign.