Once again Freeze says he had team unprepared.

[Carnell 592]

27 minutes ago, Sani-Freeze said:

I said he out-coached Saban three consecutive times - referring to Ole Miss having a handful of blue chips on the roster vs 85 for Bama. He won two of the three and came very close in the other one. 

As to the Gus reference - The other poster said Gus didn't have deflated performances and seems to have forgotten a ton of losses like Tennessee 2018 (when they hadn't won a conference game in years), UGA in 15 and 16 when they were lousy, UCF, Minnesota, etc. even in years when we had plenty of talent. 

2014 & 2015 bama had 8 turnovers in the two games vs 2 for Ole miss.  I don't call that outcoaching I call that axteam beating themselves.  In 2016, I believe Ole Miss scored 24 points in the first half.  I think the final score was 48 45 but Ole miss was down 48 31 with 4 minutes left to go in the game.  Against Backups  Ole miss hit a long pass for a td and recovered an onside kick and scored.  Hugh did the same against FSU in 2016 scoring 28 points in the first half and 7 points in the 2nd and losing to FSU.

[Sani-Freeze 552]

17 minutes ago, e808 said:

Again none of those loses compare to a G5 team coming into Auburn and completely dominating them. Then losing to Maryland without the big 10 all time leading passer Now u want to use the roster excuse. The same roster that went toe to toe with UGA and Bama. It’s a New Year and what’s done is down on to 2024

You keep contradicting yourself. This current roster would have lost that Jax St game you mentioned in a blowout (Gus needed overtime to win with a bunch of talented kids). You want to look at the opponents without also acknowledging that AU had a stacked roster of blue chip talent all of those seasons. We don't have it now. 

[PoetTiger 1,899]

So has the board fired Freeze yet?

[Sani-Freeze 552]

On 1/1/2024 at 1:26 PM, Carnell said:

2014 & 2015 bama had 8 turnovers in the two games vs 2 for Ole miss.  I don't call that outcoaching I call that axteam beating themselves.  In 2016, I believe Ole Miss scored 24 points in the first half.  I think the final score was 48 45 but Ole miss was down 48 31 with 4 minutes left to go in the game.  Against Backups  Ole miss hit a long pass for a td and recovered an onside kick and scored.  Hugh did the same against FSU in 2016 scoring 28 points in the first half and 7 points in the 2nd and losing to FSU.

This is a fair take - They still forced turnovers and scored a ton of points though against solid Bama defenses, and with a talent disadvantage. So you can look at it either way. Given the performance this year against Bama, Hugh seems to give Saban fits so I'm looking at that as a positive sign. 

Edited January 3 by Sani-Freeze

[Mims44 1,887]

55 minutes ago, Sani-Freeze said:

I also think it's worth noting - As embarrassing as the NM St. loss was because of the name, they were a much better team than most of the ones we actually beat this year (like Ark and Vandy). We just aren't good right now. I think it will take until 25 to fix this roster. 

That's kinda silly. They are a 5 loss C-USA team  

[Mims44 1,887]

9 minutes ago, Sani-Freeze said:

This is fair take - They still forced turnovers and scored a ton of points though against solid Bama defenses, and with a talent disadvantage. So you can look at it either way. Given the performance this year against Bama, Hugh seems to give Saban fits so I'm looking at that as a positive sign. 

If it doesn't work out there is a guy at UCF I heard gives Saban fits as well.  

[Aubi1961 17]

On 12/30/2023 at 6:39 PM, ScotsAU said:

This was a bad effort. But I’m not going to draw any major conclusions from this game. It didn’t enhance my confidence in freeze, but it really didn’t hurt it either. I’d bet the coaches were so focused on recruiting that they didn’t put a lot of energy into this game. If so, I’m fine with that. This season is a wash. I’d rather build momentum for the future than worry about a meaningless bowl game in a throw away season. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m filing this one away, and just looking to see some strides forward next season.

I can tell you, that game wasn't meaningless to all the Auburn fans that traveled and spent money on that game. A good coach realizes that and works his butt off, to have his guys ready to play. They had plenty of time to prepare and recruit at the same time. It's not hard to motivate players against teams like Bama, Georgia, and Ole Miss. It is teams that you should beat or at least compete , that a coach has to work his hardest, and Freeze has failed miserably. New Mexico St and Maryland say hello.

[Sani-Freeze 552]

20 minutes ago, Mims44 said:

That's kinda silly. They are a 5 loss C-USA team  

I mean it's a relatively moot point, but I believe they would have beaten Vandy, Ark and maybe Miss St too. I'm not excusing the loss at all - just saying I think they were better than some of the other teams we actually did beat. 

[Carnell 592]

14 minutes ago, Sani-Freeze said:

This is fair take - They still forced turnovers and scored a ton of points though against solid Bama defenses, and with a talent disadvantage. So you can look at it either way. Given the performance this year against Bama, Hugh seems to give Saban fits so I'm looking at that as a positive sign. 

You may be right about Freeze giving Saben fits but the IB this year may have been an outlier because Bama may still have been laughing so hardcatcwatching the NMSU tapes.  Furthermore, HF teams seems to blow games they should win.  In 2014 and 2015, HF did beat Bama got the inside track to SEC West and proceeded to lose a couple of games he probably should not.  This appears to be a trend also of losing to teams one should beat.  ie NMSU and Maryland.

[Hank2020 3,215]

41 minutes ago, Carnell said:

You may be right about Freeze giving Saben fits but the IB this year may have been an outlier because Bama may still have been laughing so hardcatcwatching the NMSU tapes.  Furthermore, HF teams seems to blow games they should win.  In 2014 and 2015, HF did beat Bama got the inside track to SEC West and proceeded to lose a couple of games he probably should not.  This appears to be a trend also of losing to teams one should beat.  ie NMSU and Maryland.

I agree on NMSU. We should not have lost that one. Maryland IMO, the two were pretty much even with them playing much better game. I think from top spot 3-4 teams down, Big 10 about even with SEC at this point in time (looking at 2023 teams).

[The Defiant 133]

Sometimes I feel like some boosters are betting for the hedge funds to foot the bill for the new roster when it comes to this depleted team. Freeze got his mulligan, he is now on the clock.

He should get atleast three years if he continues recruiting at this level, maybe four depending on his results on the field.

[Sani-Freeze 552]

1 hour ago, Carnell said:

You may be right about Freeze giving Saben fits but the IB this year may have been an outlier because Bama may still have been laughing so hardcatcwatching the NMSU tapes.  Furthermore, HF teams seems to blow games they should win.  In 2014 and 2015, HF did beat Bama got the inside track to SEC West and proceeded to lose a couple of games he probably should not.  This appears to be a trend also of losing to teams one should beat.  ie NMSU and Maryland.

I agree that is definitely a concern and something to watch going forward. Basically getting up for the big games and then pulling a no-show in others. Tuberville was bad about that too. But outside his three-year stretch of 13-0, 9-3, 11-2 from 2004-06, AU hasn't had anything resembling sustained success since the late 80s. I'm still hopeful that with strong recruiting, Freeze can coach them well enough to bring that going forward. 

[keesler 5,928]

11 hours ago, autigeremt said:

Some fans see it for what it is and can give him time to rebuild from the ashes. If he doesn't get it going on the field next season and in 2025 I will be happy to join the "run his ass out of town" crowd. 

Some fans act like we've won 6 National Titles in 12 years. 

I’m nowhere close to running his ass out on a rail, but I’ve gotten more than a little weary of his comments over the last few months.  I’d hoped he’d gotten away from that crap since he was at OM, I see not much has changed in his pressers.

[TigerOne 1,152]

6 hours ago, The Defiant said:

Sometimes I feel like some boosters are betting for the hedge funds to foot the bill for the new roster when it comes to this depleted team. Freeze got his mulligan, he is now on the clock.

He should get atleast three years if he continues recruiting at this level, maybe four depending on his results on the field.

Three years???

he gets two, he should have his ass chewed for this year’s performance.

he said himself that it could be turned quickly. It takes a leader, do we have one or a salesman?

[EagleEye67 1,944]

21 minutes ago, TigerOne said:

Three years???

he gets two, he should have his ass chewed for this year’s performance.

he said himself that it could be turned quickly. It takes a leader, do we have one or a salesman?

Not sure if you are a CHF fan or not, can you be a little more clear?   

[Chaotic_zx 1,047]

9 hours ago, TigerOne said:

Three years???

he gets two, he should have his ass chewed for this year’s performance.

he said himself that it could be turned quickly. It takes a leader, do we have one or a salesman?

With all due respect. You had too high of expectations or a built in disdain for Freeze. I can understand the disdain although I don't personally have it. Too high of expectations I can't understand. He will need to be producing by year three. If the valued 2024 class transfers out, he likely won't make it to year 4. I personally believe that is fair. Any coach Auburn would want, will not come if their predecessors get fired after year two. 

[fishepa 1,908]

Freeze should get 3 years to put his product on the field and get results no matter what.  After year one there are clear concerns, being primarily team preparedness for EVERY game.  

[cole256 17,084]

As far as QB play goes if you want to see some impressive QB play look at that guy in Washington..... He throws the most accurate and pretty deep throws you can see. He had 5 or 6 throws that I said in my head it couldn't be any better than it was. It was crazy

[Hank2020 3,215]

2 minutes ago, cole256 said:

As far as QB play goes if you want to see some impressive QB play look at that guy in Washington..... He throws the most accurate and pretty deep throws you can see. He had 5 or 6 throws that I said in my head it couldn't be any better than it was. It was crazy

I didn’t see it all but what I did see, you are correct. His throws always seemed to be in right spot away from defenders.

[CoffeeTiger 5,159]

21 hours ago, Sani-Freeze said:

I also think it's worth noting - As embarrassing as the NM St. loss was because of the name, they were a much better team than most of the ones we actually beat this year (like Ark and Vandy). We just aren't good right now. I think it will take until 25 to fix this roster. 

Heavily disagree with this take. 

New Mexico St was an 'ok' G5 team, but they were by no means great. NMS played a very weak schedule which helped them get to 10 wins (AU was the only P5 team they played this year, and only TWO out of their nine FBS wins this year were against teams that ended the year with a winning record). They lost to 3-9 UMASS. They lost to 5-8 Hawaii, They got blew out of their bowl game by Fresno State. 

NMS isn't anywhere close in talent to Miss St or Ark, and maybe would be an equal matchup to Vandy. There was zero excuse for AU losing to NMS period...much less getting blown out by them. 

 

[gman87 398]

On 1/1/2024 at 1:39 PM, Mims44 said:

If it doesn't work out there is a guy at UCF I heard gives Saban fits as well.  

They both give me fits too.

[japantiger 4,051]

On 1/1/2024 at 12:44 PM, Aubi1961 said:

I can tell you, that game wasn't meaningless to all the Auburn fans that traveled and spent money on that game. A good coach realizes that and works his butt off, to have his guys ready to play. They had plenty of time to prepare and recruit at the same time. It's not hard to motivate players against teams like Bama, Georgia, and Ole Miss. It is teams that you should beat or at least compete , that a coach has to work his hardest, and Freeze has failed miserably. New Mexico St and Maryland say hello.

This ^^^^^...there are only 12 games a year...13 if you're lucky.  This isn't MLB or NBA, etc. 

Fans give a damn about every game.  It comes from spending 4 years (or more for some :-) ) of your life there when you're young.  For some, it had the addition of having worn an Auburn Hutch football uniform playing in your backyard since your earliest memory.  Or at 8 years old watching your brother wearing #45 walk from the old field house thru the North End Zone (before it was closed in) at 'Cliff Hare' stadium as he got ready to play for A-Day.  

The pageantry around games leaves a lasting impression....you just love it.  Then you grow up and want your family to feel about it like you do. 

Then some overpaid half assed university employee who could give two-sh**s for your nostalgia, feelings or history comes along and phones it in and just tosses it all aside with a throwaway comment to the press that he thinks will deflect blame. 

Some coaches (like Saban and Smart and Dooley and Bryant) appreciate it all and understand (like Dye and Jordan - can you imagine Shug Jordan saying I was too busy to prepare my team?)...and give it their all...this one doesn't.

 

[aucanucktiger 1,798]

Executive decision. If you take him at his word, Freeze readily admitted BEFORE the game that he was focused on recruiting to the point where he didn't have time to sit down with various helmet communication companies and Auburn would not take advantage of that option (Maryland did). Folks here are spot on saying he's been focused on the future rather than this season. It's lonely at the top.

[Sani-Freeze 552]

12 hours ago, CoffeeTiger said:

Heavily disagree with this take. 

New Mexico St was an 'ok' G5 team, but they were by no means great. NMS played a very weak schedule which helped them get to 10 wins (AU was the only P5 team they played this year, and only TWO out of their nine FBS wins this year were against teams that ended the year with a winning record). They lost to 3-9 UMASS. They lost to 5-8 Hawaii, They got blew out of their bowl game by Fresno State. 

NMS isn't anywhere close in talent to Miss St or Ark, and maybe would be an equal matchup to Vandy. There was zero excuse for AU losing to NMS period...much less getting blown out by them. 

 

Vandy was 2-10 and didn't put up any fight against AU or anyone else. They would have gotten whipped by NM St. who was much more disciplined and had a decent QB. Ark and Miss St. weren't too much better than Vandy. It's not an excuse - just an opinion that our buy game opponent was actually better than a few of our conference opponents this year. The SEC was a little less powerful this year and the bottom was absolute trash. Every AU coach has flirted with the disastrous cupcake loss (Utah St, Jax St, Ga St just in the past 12 years), and we finally had a year where the talent didn't overcome the sleepwalk.

I'm not happy with the results this year either but some of the hot takes about Freeze seem a little over the top given the roster he inherited. I would hope he is capable of coaching and recruiting at the same time and expect better results on the field this year. 

[japantiger 4,051]

13 hours ago, aucanucktiger said:

Executive decision. If you take him at his word, Freeze readily admitted BEFORE the game that he was focused on recruiting to the point where he didn't have time to sit down with various helmet communication companies and Auburn would not take advantage of that option (Maryland did). Folks here are spot on saying he's been focused on the future rather than this season. It's lonely at the top.

"Executive decision"...professional clue; this is not how executives make decisions...ever