Paul Finebaum addresses confusion surrounding Auburn staff

Going into his second season as the Auburn head coach, Hugh Freeze is going to have a much different staff after numerous positions turned over after one year. That includes both coordinator roles and running backs coach and associate head coach Cadillac Williams leaving the staff, leading to confusion about why there were so many changes.

During an appearance on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning, ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum addressed the confusion surrounding Auburn’s staff, explaining that the lack of explanation is one of the major issues.

“Well, I think the thing that confuses people, Cole, is a lack of explanation,” Paul Finebaum said. “When you have one of the most famous players in your history depart without explanation and then another one who is, I believe a captain and very popular, you have to explain these things, or if you don’t you’re going to lead people to wonder. I don’t need to remind you because you were at the epicenter of the Cadillac Williams thing on national television 14 months ago how popular he was and what an emotional story that is.”

Williams was, of course, the interim coach who many thought earned the full time job during the 2022 season. He didn’t, with Auburn hiring Freeze instead. However, Freeze being able to retain Williams was huge going into his first season.

“I think that’s part of it. I think when you unload your top two coordinators and there’s change and there’s chaos, you really are going to draw the wrath of the crowd,” Finebaum said.

“Having said all that, I think some of the changes have been positive. I think Hugh Freeze realized he needed an upgrade and I think he’s got it. I still think the sour taste at the end of the season is pretty hard to deal with, but I would still argue that if you take a deep breath and look forward, Auburn is in very good shape.”

Defensive coordinator Ron Roberts left for the Florida Gators, where he was named executive head coach for the defense. In his place, DJ Durkin has reportedly turned into Auburn’s top target to replace him. Charles Kelly was also announced as co-defensive coordinator.

On the offensive side of the ball, offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery was fired. When that happened, analyst Kent Austin was promoted to quarterbacks coach while Hugh Freeze himself is taking over playcalling duties.

Why Hugh Freeze is taking over playcalling for Auburn

While speaking to  Andy Staples on Andy Staples On3, Auburn Live’s Justin Hokanson broke down why Hugh Freeze is going to call plays for Auburn.

“It’s a really interesting dynamic. I think he’s definitely more comfortable calling plays, and he feels like he’s good at that. He made the comment this year at one point that, he said at one point, ‘I would like to think of myself as is one of the better play-callers in college football.’ But to his credit, it was a moment of honesty. He kind of was like, ‘But I don’t know that that’s necessarily now, but at one point, I thought I was that person.’ And so he thinks a lot of his ability to call plays,” Hokanson said.

“I think the way the offense sort of unfolded this year, made him go, ‘I don’t know that I can be on the outside looking into this thing,’ because he wanted to be involved, but there were some terminology issues that sort of caused some hesitancy where Philip Montgomery had inserted his entire offense and terminology, and there were times where Hugh was hesitant to get involved because he didn’t completely know all of that terminology. And so he’s like, ‘Well, if I step in here, I could make things more confusing.’ But you could see it on his face. He was struggling with, ‘Do I get involved? How much do I get involved? Do I let Philip Montgomery do the job? Am I gonna make it worse if I get involved?’”