Hugh Freeze sees Auburn among the 'upper echelon' of the SEC

Hugh Freeze made his return to SEC media days, now representing the Auburn Tigers. There, he explained that he believes Auburn should be among the upper echelon teams in the SEC.

As Freeze explained, Auburn has all the tools to be successful. It’s just a matter of getting the right players in place to win.

“I would see us in the upper echelon of this conference,” Hugh Freeze said. “There’s no reason — we have the facilities, we have the support, we have the administration and you’re in an area that football’s important and you’re in an area that you can recruit to.”

Auburn is a program where it has been proven that winning national championships is a realistic goal. The Tigers won a national championship in 2010 and played for another just a few seasons later. That’s part of why going 9-12 under Bryan Harsin stung so badly.

Hugh Freeze knows Auburn can be among the game’s top programs again. He also knows that his ability to get the Tigers there is going to come down to his ability to recruit.

“I do think that the ’24 and ’25 recruiting cycle will tell a large portion of my story there. I believe that. Maybe ’26. We might get three cycles, but we’ve got to start closing the gap on the elite program in the conference, and when you add Texas and Oklahoma, that only increases the competition also. But, there’s a lot of good players. They all can’t go to the same school,” Freeze said.

“And, obviously, the transfer portal world adds another dynamic to it. How well good you are at holding onto the ones that you do have in your room, and then attracting ones that may go in and fill some holes for you, and hopefully we can be very good at that at creating a culture where our kids want to be at Auburn and want to stay at Auburn.”

Hugh Freeze shouted out Auburn’s NIL collective, On To Victory, for their ability to help Auburn retain players and help Auburn return to the upper echelon of the SEC.

“Obviously, On To Victory is a big factor in that, also, and keeping our kids here who have produced and created value in themselves through the name, image, and likeness world. So, all of that’s gonna play a role in it, but I see no reason why Auburn shouldn’t be one of the upper half and competing every year,” Freeze said.

“And look, if you’re in the upper half of this conference, you get a break here or there, you’re in the Playoff. Then you’ve got a real chance and that’s where I see Auburn.”

Hugh Freeze on if he expected another SEC opportunity

When Hugh Freeze left Ole Miss, he did so with a cloud of scandal following him. At the time, it was hard for him to even see if he was going to get another opportunity to coach in the SEC.

“When the the ending at Ole Miss occurred, it was hard to truthfully process would you ever get that opportunity again,” Freeze said.

“I would have to say at that point, no. But as time passes and things tend to settle back in and you work through — I tell people all the time. I think that one of the greatest judges of people and our players included and the people I come in contact with are when you experience disappointment, failure, whether it was of your own doing or whether it was circumstances that come into your life like Luke Deal, who’s with us today, he lost his father while while being at Auburn. Those are are tough circumstances. But how a person responds to those and reacts to those I think probably tells you more about them then the successes do.”