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espn.com

Sources: Auburn coach Hugh Freeze to take over playcalling - ESPN

Chris Low

3–4 minutes

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Auburn drops Music City Bowl to Maryland (0:37)

The Tigers cap off 2023 in Nashville as Rivaldo Fairweather sets a school season record for TE receptions (38), but the Terrapins come out on top, 31-13. (0:37)

Chris Low, ESPN Senior WriterJan 9, 2024, 10:58 AM ET

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Joined ESPN.com in 2007

Graduate of the University of Tennessee

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Auburn's head coach Hugh Freeze will take over playcalling duties on offense in 2024, sources told ESPN.

Freeze called his own plays during his first three head-coaching stops at Arkansas State, Ole Miss and Liberty and is widely considered one of the top playcallers in college football. But with Freeze in his first year as Auburn's head coach this past season, he hired offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery to be the primary playcaller. Auburn struggled offensively and finished 11th in the SEC in scoring offense (26.2 points per game) and was held to 20 or fewer points in six games.

Freeze announced Friday that he had fired Montgomery after just one season. Montgomery had been Tulsa's head coach for eight seasons, but the Tigers ranked 121st out of 130 FBS offenses in passing offense (162.2 yards per game) while finishing 6-7, including a 31-13 loss to Maryland in the TransPerfect Music City Bowl.

Freeze considered several different options in terms of who would run the offense next season, and although it's more demanding than ever in this era of college football for a head coach to call his own plays, Freeze decided it was the best move for the program, according to sources. There were times last season that Freeze said he was more involved in calling plays, but Montgomery was the primary playcaller.

When Freeze was out of coaching following his firing from Ole Miss, he talked to Nick Saban about the Alabama offensive coordinator job, but there was pressure from the SEC office that no SEC school hire Freeze until Ole Miss was off NCAA probation. Gus Malzahn was also interested in bringing Freeze in as Auburn's offensive coordinator prior to Freeze landing the Liberty job.

Freeze's Ole Miss offenses averaged more than 32 points per game each of his last two seasons in Oxford. His 2020 and 2021 offenses at Liberty both finished in the top 25 nationally in scoring.

With Freeze taking over playcalling, the plan now is to move Kent Austin to quarterbacks coach after he served in a quality control role at Auburn in 2023 and special assistant to the head coach. Austin, a former Ole Miss quarterback, was with Freeze at Liberty as co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Austin previously worked in the CFL as a head coach and general manager and was also the Cornell head coach from 2010 to '12.

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si.com

Five-star WR Caleb Cunningham sets visit with Auburn football

Lance Dawe

~2 minutes

The Tigers are set to host a five-star wide receiver later this month.

The Tigers are set to host a five-star wide receiver later this month.

Caleb Cunningham, one of the best wide receiver prospects in the 2025 class, has set a visit with Auburn, per On3. Cunningham plans to visit the Plains on January 20th. He will also take visits to Oklahoma (Jan. 27) and Florida (Feb. 3). He's rated the No. 2 wide receiver in the 2025 class and the No. 10 player nationally.

Cunningham told On3 back in August what he's looking for in a school.

“It is about who stays in contact with me and who makes me feel wanted,” he said. Those schools have done a very good job with that. I have visited each except for Auburn and USC too, so I have a feel for the campus, I have met the coaches and I like the feeling with those schools.

… Then it is about the fit. I think I could fit into those offenses well, make an impact early and do well at those schools.”

247Sports national scouting analyst Gabe Brooks describes Cunningham as "unstoppable in redzone situations" and "strong handed" in traffic. Another big, explosive receiver that can win 50/50 balls. He could fit well in a Hugh Freeze offense.

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247sports.com

 

PMARSHONAU More to come after a newsworthy Auburn Monday

Phillip Marshall

4–5 minutes

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It didn’t take long for the news to start popping at Auburn. As we got to Monday, offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery had been fired. Defensive coordinator Ron Roberts was on his way to Florida. As the day wore on, Auburn got two commitments from the portal. And then came news worth celebrating. Star defensive back Keionte Scott decided he would not go into the transfer portal and would return for his senior season at Auburn.

What is next as Hugh Freeze heads toward his second season? He  has two coordinators to hire. More staff changes could be coming. Portal recruiting and recruiting for the February signing day and beyond go on.

Questions remain about why moves were made and what moves might yet be made.

Clearly, the connection between Montgomery and Freeze was an issue throughout the season. That often happens when teams try to combine two offensive schemes. Freeze decided to move on. If the connection could not be repaired, that was the right thing to do.

Early on, I thought Roberts would be safe because I thought his defense mostly played well. But apparently there were conflicts going back to when Wesley McGriff came off the field at midseason. All I know about the events that led to McGriff being moved off the field is that there was some sort of disagreement that involved him, Zac Etheridge and Roberts. Beyond that, I would only be speculating.Roberts was not going to be asked to return, but his landing a spot at Florida made it easier for everyone.

Who else might be asked to leave is an open question. It might not be anybody, but my gut tells me it will be somebody. I don’t know who.

Here’s what I know happened with Scott:

Last Thursday, he submitted paperwork to go into the portal. Auburn had 48 hours – two business days - to submit it. Once that was done, he would be in the portal. Before the time expired, Scott removed his request. He plans to return to Auburn for his senior season.

The moment anything happens involving the portal, the widespread belief is that it was a money issue. According to people who are in position to know, that was never it. He was troubled by the uncertainty that came from impending coaching changes and wanted to have his options open.

I have no doubt that there was an effort to convince him to stay and to point out why it would be beneficial for him to stay. And now he is staying.

It’s early in the week, and more news is surely coming. I won’t regurgitate the lists of possible coordinator candidates floating around. And I won’t assume that who is hired will necessarily be on any of those lists.

I said earlier that, if Roberts left, I thought Charles Kelly would be the defensive coordinator. I’m not as convinced of that as I once was. My guess is everything will be settled by the end of this week,  but I can’t be certain of that either.

What I know is that next Wednesday is the last day that students can enroll for the spring semester. Any players who want to sign with Auburn and go through spring practice will have to be in school on that day.

Answering some oft-asked questions, some that I have answered before:

--One of the issues Auburn has in portal recruiting is difficulty with getting players in school. It’s usually not because they are poor students but because they don’t have enough transferrable credits. No, it is not like that at every school.

--Some of my colleagues still expect Auburn to sign a quarterback out of the portal, if not in the next week, in the spring window. I am not so sure of that. I know that was not the plan before the bowl game. Has it changed? I think it could if the right quarterback was available, but so far that has not happened.

--I asked an old friend who was in the college athletics academics business about so-called “worthless degrees.” Here is what is how he responded via email: “Worthless? Are you kidding me? How could being the first in your family to earn a college degree be worthless? If you are going to be an engineer, you need an engineering degree, but not everybody is going to be an engineer. Lots of people are making good livings in fields other than what their majors were in college. Lots of employers just require a college degree. It is very difficult to be a college athlete and earn any kind of degree. Worthless? I don’t think so.”

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[aubiefifty 16,823]

slim pickings folks................will check back later

[I_M4_AU 7,875]

Daffy Duck?  I used to love Daffy on Saturday mornings.  Good choice.

[aubiefifty 16,823]

9 hours ago, I_M4_AU said:

Daffy Duck?  I used to love Daffy on Saturday mornings.  Good choice.

we both are crazy.................lol