Pate's Perspective: 'Auburn is on the rise and everyone sees it'

Rob Pate played safety for Auburn from 1997-2000. Pate helped lead two teams to SEC Western Division championships in 1997 and 2000. Now, residing in Auburn, Alabama, Pate is an exclusive contributor to Auburn Live.

The Hugh Freeze hire has resuscitated a storied football program that had flatlined. For all the talk about Freeze and staff utilizing the transfer portal to upgrade personnel on the field—Auburn football’s greatest upgrade, perhaps in the history of the program, is the head coaching upgrade this season. A head coach that understands what it takes to compete at this level, one that is proving tenacious on the recruiting trail, that gets roster management and how to plug holes to be competitive. 

After two seasons of Bryan Harsin’s failed tenure, most Auburn people I talk to are simply happy to have a coach that loves being in Auburn and utilizes her beauty, prestige, resources, and history as a launching pad for greater things yet to come. A hat tip to Auburn AD John Cohen and President Chris Roberts for making the right call and standing firm when the criticism rained down from several fronts. We all know we are infinitely better off now than a few short months ago. The excitement is palpable from alumni and fans all the way down to the high school recruits that have seen a transformation in real time. 

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It truly began with Cadillac Williams picking up the shattered shell of Auburn football, gutted by the hubris, ambivalence, and dereliction of duty of Bryan Harsin. Cadillac was far more than just a temporary placeholder—he was the embodiment of Auburn pride, tradition, loyalty, and meaning—leading the program through upheaval. Freeze saw it and loved it; just like you and I. 

That pulse Cadillac provided became the heartbeat Freeze adopted, and the buy-in appears to have been incredible.

I know personally how badly Coach Freeze wants to transfer this enthusiasm and opportunity into immediate success on the field. With the line between success and mediocrity so narrow it is often impossible to truly know if your team has the character, talent, or resolve to be a consistent winner in football’s toughest conference until it’s slowly defined on Saturdays. He knows he has great kids, a fervent fanbase, and a full armament of resources to win with. He also knows the path is brutal and there will be setbacks. 

I am fired up about Auburn football in large part because I am fired up to have Hugh Freeze at the helm. Many coaches pay lip service to loving, caring, praying, crying, encouraging, and demanding more from their players—Freeze lives it. And his players see it. And they will play hard for a coach they know both loves them and is highly competent. 

I’m most interested to see the defensive front—do we have true difference makers along the line of scrimmage that cause chaos or keep linebackers clean? Can we get pressure off the edge and win one on one battles? Can the transfer linebackers play under control, assignment football and fill gaps consistently? How quickly does the front 6 or 7 gel with a new scheme, and so many new faces being asked to contribute?

Offensively, I asked before camp began if they felt like they improved enough along the offensive front to compete with the best in the league? Not only did they feel like they did, they were confident that group would be a team strength. Kam Stutts was singled out then as the most improved player, not only along the offensive line, but on the entire squad. Being named team captain this week comes as no surprise based off of his ascension, which is a truly remarkable turnaround and story for him. 

We are all ready for toe to meet leather and this new era of Auburn Football to finally begin. If there’s one thing Bryan Harsin did for Auburn Football it was dragging this program through hell which acted as a refining fire more than it did a prolonged season of misery because it united all the right people. That refinement takes the field for the first time in what should be a thunderous, raucous environment. 

This game isn’t about UMass. This game, this moment, is about Auburn reclaiming its identity. Auburn is on the rise and everyone sees it. Saturday is the first opportunity for Coach Freeze to put his stamp on what Auburn football will become. Buckle up—it will be quite a ride.