Hugh Freeze on Auburn QB battle, spring portal plans, pushing for A-Day changes and more

Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze joined the Hard Count with J.D. Pickell of On3 Sports on Thursday morning. The discussion ranged from why Freeze chose Auburn, A-Day expectations, vision for the program, Freeze’s plans for the quarterback position and more

Here’s what Freeze had to say:

— What made the Auburn job a great fit? Freeze echoed much of what he’s said before about timing and fit on why he left Liberty for Auburn. (Of course, money, program prestige and winning a national title are pretty good reasons, too.)

“I knew Jill and I, and the girls, fit well at Liberty and we were set up well to have great success. Not just any job would make me jump from there. Very few would, honestly. We always felt like ever since Jordan went to school here and my friend Gus (Malzahn) was here — we’ve always felt like this is a place we fit. The culture, the recruiting base, where we might want to retire one day — and then you combine that with it’s a place I believe that can compete and win it all. It can be done. You combine all those things together in a place where we thought we’d enjoy living and being a part of the community, and it made the decision to leave Liberty doable.”

— Freeze has been transparent about the quarterback situation throughout spring camp. There’s plenty of work to be done, and Freeze reiterated that notion on Thursday.

“I don’t think the evaluation of the quarterback is a one-day deal. This will just be a piece of the pie. We have a folder and a book that has every grade for their execution and decision making, and that book will go long beyond spring practice 15. Every one is an opportunity for them to prove they are prepared for that job. It’s going to take great competition and doing it over a length of time, even how they lead and operate when they aren’t in practice sessions.

“That’s something that’s been missing that they haven’t been challenged on much. If you want to be the guy, what’s that look like in May, June or July? Is it bringing the locker room together or apart. We’ll see how it happens. This thing is going into fall camp and if you can’t handle that as one of the guys, that tells me a lot. We’re a long way away from being able to say who that guy is.”

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— Both Freeze and Philip Montgomery have mentioned the “RPO” game slowing the development of the offense a bit this spring. Freeze update the situation on installing the offense, and what a Freeze-Montgomery offense might look like.

“I’m pleased with what we’ve put in this spring. It’s not everything, but it was enough to figure out we have a chance to be decent at this run scheme or this RPO scheme — fall camp and game planning we’ll be able to get more in. I’m pleased with what we were able to get in. We’ll be a mixture of tempo and non-tempo, some of that is to be determined, how much of what? You have to play complimentary football that’s best for the whole team. I have a better understanding of that than I once did. Whatever percentage, we’re still a ways away of determining what that is. It’s been fun to collaborate on how we’ve seen this developing.”

— Freeze hasn’t hidden the fact that Auburn is in the market for portal players during the spring window of April 15-30. As spring camp comes to an end, absolutely nothing has changed in that regard.

“None of us has dealt with the spring portal. It can effect you both ways. You can lose some that you don’t want to lose, but there’s some out there you hope you can attract that can add more depth and experience to our team. Not every spot, but we’ll take a few more O-linemen, we’ll take another safety, another corner, another rush guy, a quarterback possibly if it’s the right one. We’re open. I’m curious to see who all goes in.”

— What’s Hugh Freeze and Co.’s philosophy on recruiting the 2024 class?

“Be persistent. Prove that this culture and environment is one that the right group of young men together can restore it to playing for national championships. Come do something new and fresh in a place where you’ll flourish as a young man and young student, and an athlete. We’re persistent with that. Auburn does a good job of selling itself. My message is simple: come and see.”

— Everyone knows Auburn isn’t an overnight fix. There’s a talent gap that can only be corrected with some time. Freeze was asked about his timeline to get Auburn to where he and the fans want, and this was his response:

“That’s a hard one. When you look at the end result of the 2024 recruiting class and the 2025 class, we’ll have to have another discussion then. Those will be critical to whether we can do it here during my tenure. I believe that with all my heart and that’s why we’re working so hard for the 2024 and 25 class.”

— Hugh Freeze made some waves in the national media this week when he said made another plea to allow college programs to scrimmage other college programs at the end of spring, replacing everyone’s annual spring games. Freeze elaborated more on that during this interview, really pushing the angle of helping the people in the state of Alabama through shared proceeds from these potential spring scrimmages.

“It’s another great training exercise for us all. This may not be 100 percent accurate for every coach, but for myself, Jon Sumrall is a friend of mine, Kane Womack is a friend of mine, Trent Dilfer is a friend of mine, Nick Saban is a friend of mine also — if we would get together and get on the phone and talk about how we want this to look, we would honestly, it would be good for both sides to have to adjust and have to compete. It’s not about winning the spring game as much as it is, did we get the most out of our 15 opportunities?

“Not to mention, the benefit to the less fortunate and those going through hard times within your state. College football on one given Saturday in the state of Alabama could make an impact on foster care, orphan care, feed the hungry, Red Cross, tornado damage victims, think about all the things we could do. Every school in the state, whenever your spring game is, we’re going to benefit these people this year — I think it would make a big dent in places that are needed. We could help with that. I think it’s a great idea.”