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Hugh Freeze called continuity ‘invaluable.’ But Auburn has only faced change.

Published: Jan. 16, 2024, 6:15 a.m.

5–6 minutes

"I don't need someone to tell me I didn't get it done" says Hugh Freeze after Maryland pounds Auburn

A man who was soon to be fired and another about to leave waited outside the interview room set up at the Gaylord Opryland resort in Nashville, Tennessee. On the other side of the doors, Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze told reporters how continuity on a coaching staff is “invaluable.” A reporter had asked Freeze about keeping his staff together because — as of that Dec. 29 afternoon fewer than 24 hours before the Music City Bowl — Auburn hadn’t made any changes.

Certainly, continuity is Freeze’s goal. But in his response, he hinted that it wasn’t going to happen.

“We live in times where I doubt very seriously that all of the coaching changes are over,’ Freeze said on Dec. 29. “It’s probably just now getting ready to pick up. Who knows exactly what everybody’s staff will look like in a month from now.”

The next day, Auburn’s offense put up one of its worst performances of the season in a 31-13 loss to Maryland in the Music City Bowl. Payton Throne threw for 84 yards and re-opened a quarterbacks competition Freeze thought he’d closed.

It left Freeze with a clear decision. After a season sputtering out like that, continuity wasn’t going to be an option.

So he fired offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery on Jan. 5, one of the men waiting outside that door. Soon after, it was reported defensive coordinator Ron Roberts would leave for Florida after what was regarded to be a personal fit that just didn’t work.

Auburn’s new offensive coordinator will be its seventh in seven years. The new defensive coordinator with be the fifth in five years. It will be five consecutive seasons where Auburn has a first-year offensive coordinator and first-year defensive coordinator.

Continuity may be invaluable, but Auburn has been nowhere close to it.

“I don’t know that I ever feel like I took over a program and I got every single hire in the whole building right the first time because you’re just so crazy with recruiting,’ Freeze said before the Music City Bowl. “So I think there’s always the evaluation from our chair of can we improve ourselves some way.”

Freeze’s goal when he hired Montgomery was someone who would take charge of the offense and allow him to focus on recruiting. And while Freeze was able to land a top-10 class, the offense suffered when Freeze wasn’t a hands-on participant in game-planning. Freeze said after the Music City Bowl disappointment that he wasn’t involved with the prep because he was on the recruiting trail.

Montgomery and Roberts were two Freeze hires that did not work out. Freeze will have to hire again to replace them. He hasn’t fully filled the open spots on the staff. On Friday, Auburn announced the hire of Charles Kelly as Auburn’s co-defensive coordinator who will help with the defensive backs. Secondaries coach Wesley McGriff is back listed on Auburn’s coaching staff after being announced by Texas A&M as taking a job with new head coach Mike Elko’s staff.

Hiring Kelly as a “co-defensive coordinator” implies Auburn will have someone teamed up with him. It isn’t clear exactly who that will be just yet.

Auburn has also yet to make a hire to fill Montgomery’s spot. Ole Miss associate head coach Derrick Nix, Freeze’s former running backs coach at Ole Miss, has been reportedly linked to the job.

But the lack of continuity has stretched into hires Freeze didn’t make, too.

Former running backs coach Cadillac Williams, who was brought back under former head coach Gus Malzahn, resigned on Jan. 11. Former defensive backs coach Zac Etheridge, hired by the Bryan Harsin staff, resigned on Jan. 12.

Williams and Etheridge and Auburn alumni. Both are gonna after one year of Freeze’s tenure.

Kelly, another Auburn alum with his background in the secondary, will seemingly fill Etheridge’s spot.

Auburn has had five head coaches since 2020 including Williams’ interim stretch and a one-game under Kevin Steele. Auburn hasn’t won a bowl game since 2018. It has had three consecutive losing seasons. It hasn’t been ranked since 2021. It hasn’t had a double-digit win season since 2017.

Winning takes continuity. Auburn hasn’t had it.

“Continuity is invaluable,” Freeze said. “Driving the same culture, the same voice from the staff rooms to the position rooms, and hopefully from the position rooms to the locker rooms is when you get to be a special team. It starts with the staff believing the same things and saying the same things and not wavering from those.”

Matt Cohen covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @Matt_Cohen_ or email him at mcohen@al.com

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Miami Dolphins sign former Auburn wide receiver

Updated: Jan. 15, 2024, 9:21 p.m.|Published: Jan. 15, 2024, 9:10 p.m.

4–5 minutes

Cleveland Browns wide receiver Anthony Schwartz runs with the football during an NFL preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles during an NFL preseason game on Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023, at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.(AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

By

Mark Inabinett | minabinett@al.com

The Miami Dolphins signed former Auburn wide receiver Anthony Schwartz to a reserve/future contract on Monday, the NFL announced.

A player signed to a reserve/future contract can be added to an NFL team’s roster when it expands from 53 to 90 players for the offseason on the first day of the NFL’s 2023 business year on March 13. The newly signed players become eligible to participate in offseason workouts, minicamps and OTAs as team members.

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Only players who aren’t on NFL active rosters can sign reserve/future contracts.

The Dolphins signed eight players from their practice squad to reserve/future contracts on Monday.

Schwartz joined Miami’s practice squad on Nov. 13, but did not play in a 2023 regular-season game.

Schwartz had been out of the NFL since the Cleveland Browns waived him from injured reserve on Sept. 19. When the Browns reduced their preseason roster to the regular-season limit of 53 players in August, they had waived Schwartz. But because he had a hamstring problem, he carried an injury designation and reverted to Cleveland’s injured reserve when he went unclaimed on waivers.

The Browns selected Schwartz in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft. Schwartz started his NFL career with three receptions for 69 yards in Cleveland’s 33-29 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sept. 12, 2021, but he never reached either of those stats again in 24 more games with the Browns.

Schwartz had 14 receptions for 186 yards and one touchdown, 10 rushing attempts for 96 yards and one touchdown and 15 kickoff returns for a 21.5-yard average with Cleveland.

Schwartz became the 15th player from an Alabama high school or college to sign a reserve/future contract since the end of the 2023 NFL regular season. The others include:

· Offensive lineman Chandler Brewer (Florence) signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

· Running back Spencer Brown (Mortimer Jordan, UAB) signed with the Carolina Panthers.

· Safety Shyheim Carter (Alabama) signed with the Tennessee Titans.

· Defensive end DJ Coleman (Jacksonville State) signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

· Offensive lineman D.J. Fluker (Foley, Alabama) signed with the Las Vegas Raiders.

· Cornerback Allan George (Andalusia) signed with the Cincinnati Bengals.

· Cornerback Tae Hayes (Decatur) signed with the New York Jets.

· Wide receiver Shedrick Jackson (Hoover, Auburn) signd with the Cincinnati Bengals.

· Tight end Jordan Matthews (Madison Academy) signed with the Carolina Panthers.

· Tight end John Samuel Shenker (Auburn) signed with the Las Vegas Raiders.

· Offensive lineman Lachavious Simmons (Selma) signed with the Tennessee Titans.

· Wide receiver Cam Sims (Alabama) signed with the Carolina Panthers.

· Outside linebacker Jordan Smith (UAB) signed with the Kansas City Chiefs.

· Center Darryl Williams (Bessemer City) signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.

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Good morning from the cold and gray Plains Fiddy.