Article on CHF and His Auburn Plans

[toddc 13,194]

I rarely, if ever, post anything from Goodman, but I think he’s on to something with this article. Hope he’s right!

 

 

 Goodman: Suddenly, Auburn is more Saban than Alabama

• Joseph Goodman | jgoodman@al.com

Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze walks the field before Auburn takes on Alabama in the Iron Bowl Saturday, Nov. 25, 2023, in Auburn, Ala. (Julie Bennett | preps@al.com)Julie Bennett | preps@al.com

This is an opinion column.

_____________________

Something unexpected happened after Nick Saban retired. Alabama hired a coach known for inspiring loyalty and Auburn’s Hugh Freeze transformed into the SEC’s new unapologetic tyrant.

Can’t believe I’m saying this, but I kinda like it.

It took a while, but Freeze is finally demonstrating at Auburn that he has what it takes to survive in the SEC. It’s not about taking care of the Auburn family. It’s about winning at all costs.

What’s been going on at Auburn during the transition of power over in Alabama? While the Sabans were planning life after football in sunny South Florida, Auburn’s coach was plotting and scheming. First Freeze waved so long to Auburn legacies Cadillac Williams and Zac Ethridge. As an encore, Freeze then hired controversial assistant coach D.J. Durkin.

It was a page right out of the Saban playbook.

With a series of bold staff changes, Freeze is putting together a team he thinks gives Auburn the best chance to compete for a national championship. Fans may not like the staff turnover, but none of that will matter if Freeze can position Auburn on even ground with Alabama and Georgia at the beginning of this new era in the Southeastern Conference.

This is a time of change in college football, and Freeze is making the most of the chaos. With Saban out, Auburn now has one of the best coaching staffs in the country.

Based on everything we’ve seen, you have to wonder if Freeze knew the end was coming for Saban’s time at Alabama. Auburn’s coach had a plan in place for when it happened. Did Freeze have inside knowledge, or did he just anticipate Saban walking away? Either way, no other team in the SEC benefits more from Saban’s exit and Freeze was ready to make his moves.

I hate to see Williams and Etheridge go. Freeze thinks it was for the best. We’ll see. As much as I love Williams and what he did for Auburn, I have to be completely honest about my opinion of what’s taking place on the Plains. Freeze is sending a powerful message. He’s going to do whatever it takes for Auburn to consistently compete against its two behemoth rivals.

Strong leaders make difficult decisions. We’ve seen it before.

 

When Saban was hired at Alabama, he wasted no time cleaning house. The good-ol’ boy network was out. Feelings were hurt. Some big names were pushed aside. Saban was ruthless but every tough decision he made was for one reason, out-recruiting the competition in the SEC.

It’s hard to believe, but here we are. Suddenly, in the span of a month, Auburn is more Saban than Alabama. How that affects the dynamic of the Iron Bowl is anyone’s guess, but there’s no question the rivalry is already transitioning into a post-Saban reality.

Saban was a players’ coach, but he was hard on his assistant coaches. Some adapted to the rigorous demands and some flamed out but none hung around for long. Kirby Smart was the exception and now we know why. He was the second coming.

Alabama’s football facility was always a revolving door of Saban recruiters. It looks like Freeze decided to manage Auburn’s staff just like his old friend.

This is Auburn’s time, and no one can blame Freeze for doing what he thinks is best for the Tigers.

Freeze couldn’t replace Williams immediately, of course. Think back to 2022. Williams saved Auburn football and was the toast of the Tigers. Many, including me, thought he could have made a good head coach. Freeze, on the other hand, was a questionable hire with a checkered past. Williams helped with the transition, but it’s impossible to be a successful boss and then take a backseat.

Cadillac will always have those magical four games at the end of the 2022 season. Auburn is better for them and the history of the Iron Bowl is richer in spirit thanks to Williams. No one can ever take that away from him.

What’s next for this Iron Bowl rivalry?

Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer isn’t anything like his predecessor. That’s not a bad thing. No one expects him to lead like Saban and, frankly, if DeBoer even tried then that would be a death sentence for his time in Tuscaloosa. Here’s what we know about DeBoer. He’s an offensive-minded coach who inspires loyalty in his assistant coaches. That’s pretty much the opposite of Saban in every way.

Saban inspired fear. Freeze was paying attention.

Never forget that Auburn sent out a late-night news release about the resignation of Cadillac Williams. It hit my inbox at 9:34 p.m. It was the day after Saban retired. Perfect timing, in other words, for as little scrutiny as possible.

Sneaky stuff.

Just Auburn being Auburn? Not quite. This was something different. It was Freeze announcing his new image as the Iron Bowl’s uncompromising dictator.

[WillMunny 1,378]

Good article.

[Mikey 16,604]

Whether the writer's assessment of the situation is even remotely accurate or not remains to be seen. Sounds like he needed a column to write and wrote this one.

[aucom96 1,618]

A bit dramatic, but there is a change in the dynamic so far. Saban quickly dominated national recruiting and turned his defensive knowledge into a feared weapon. Freeze has unquestionably made quick strides in recruiting, but on the field, he still seems very wishy-washy and out of sorts. Hopefully his taking responsibility for playcalling will pay dividends and shape up a more cohesive staff. People have questioned Saban's actual in game coaching at times, but one thing he always excelled at was rolling with the changes in the game and making the most out of his talent. Freeze will have to improve on that level quite a bit before we can start comparing. 

[JerryAU 1,660]

This is a touch dramatic for Goodman, IMO.  The back & forth comparison to one of college football's best HC's is a touch silly considering CHF has never made it to an SECCG.  Those "behemoth" programs in UGA/AL were the old SEC, now Oklahoma and Texas are added to the mix which makes the job tougher.  

I personally don't view Rev Hugh as an OCD, super focused with the attention to detail type personality that NS was as a HC.  But we'll see in the next couple of year if the plan falls into place and we make it to Atlanta.  There's no doubt Hugh has a drive for obtaining talent, it's kind of a shame he wasn't able to inject the actual coaching part of his job last season.  

[aucat 69]

the games vs UGA and Bama almost made him the Seban G2, hopefully he will get it done in the games next yr

[AURex 1,999]

On 2/1/2024 at 5:28 PM, toddc said:

With a series of bold staff changes, Freeze is putting together a team he thinks gives Auburn the best chance to compete for a national championship.

What a brilliantly amazingly insightful pronouncement of meaningless crapola. Tell me if any other football coach in the SEC -- DeBoer, Elko at A&M, or any other SEC coach -- would say anything different. Or any coach in the Big or ACC. Yes, our goal is to win championships and here are the staff an players to get us there. Yep. They'll get us there.

Okay, I'm all about supporting my Tigers. I am not a Negga Nellie. I love my Tigers.

But I'm also all about dropping stinky messes on BS propaganda like this article. I know it is between seasons, even between practices, so there's really nothing much to write about. But sometimes it is better to STFU rather than write cow dropping loads like this.

I'm not interested in truckloads of word salad BS. I'm interested in actual newsworthy factual information. And in the future and then later I'm interested in results. Insider information. On the field results. Not moronic wanderings.

Okay, I have my tinfoil hat on and my raincoat. Go ballistic! hahahaha

 

 

[DAG 33,983]

If he truly is like Saban then this year we should be off the charts on the field. 

[TitanTiger 20,482]

8 hours ago, AURex said:

What a brilliantly amazingly insightful pronouncement of meaningless crapola. Tell me if any other football coach in the SEC -- DeBoer, Elko at A&M, or any other SEC coach -- would say anything different. Or any coach in the Big or ACC. Yes, our goal is to win championships and here are the staff an players to get us there. Yep. They'll get us there.

Okay, I'm all about supporting my Tigers. I am not a Negga Nellie. I love my Tigers.

But I'm also all about dropping stinky messes on BS propaganda like this article. I know it is between seasons, even between practices, so there's really nothing much to write about. But sometimes it is better to STFU rather than write cow dropping loads like this.

I'm not interested in truckloads of word salad BS. I'm interested in actual newsworthy factual information. And in the future and then later I'm interested in results. Insider information. On the field results. Not moronic wanderings.

Okay, I have my tinfoil hat on and my raincoat. Go ballistic! hahahaha

Regardless of whether you think he’s on target with these comparisons, Goodman is about the last journalist on earth that would be writing pro-Auburn propaganda pieces. 

[NCAubs 377]

8 hours ago, TitanTiger said:

Regardless of whether you think he’s on target with these comparisons, Goodman is about the last journalist on earth that would be writing pro-Auburn propaganda pieces. 

He’s also one of the few that can put thoughts into readable sentences.  I don’t always agree with him but at least his grammar and structure doesn’t make me want me to punch him.  Beat writers these days are awful.  

[TigerTennis80 345]

Yeah, I think those who observed that Goodman doesn't have much to write about just now make more sense than his perspective in this article does. He'd have us believe that Freeze was "concerned about" (as in "afraid of") Caddy's popularity so he forced him out but then got Caddy to issue a statement about leaving with no comment then or hint later that he was forced out. Do we really think Caddy would take getting forced out like that without defending himself, especially when rumors were flying about something inappropriate having happened? And then Freeze anticipated Saban's retirement & strategically waited to force Caddy out while the media was all about Saban so as to minimize the coverage of Caddy leaving? Really? And why force Zac out? He'd recruited well, his guys had played well, & while Auburn people love him, he'd not had anything like Caddy's big moments in 2022, so there was no reason for Freeze to fear him. There've been some on this Board who have warned against hiring guys just because they're Auburn guys, but Goodman makes it sound like Freeze got rid of them just because they're Auburn guys, which makes Freeze a more "Saban-like" coach. If that's the case, why keep Marcus or hire Kelly? Beyond all that, Freeze is nothing like Saban in personality, dealing with the press, or causing others to fear him. I hope he becomes a coach that others fear playing because our team is so good, but if Freeze is now the "more Saban" coach in the SEC, he's doing a good job of disguising it. Where I hope Goodman is right is that Freeze will be Saban-like in winning. But the other stuff Goodman wrote? Not buying it. Not even renting it.

[NCAubs 377]

2 hours ago, TigerTennis80 said:

Yeah, I think those who observed that Goodman doesn't have much to write about just now make more sense than his perspective in this article does. He'd have us believe that Freeze was "concerned about" (as in "afraid of") Caddy's popularity so he forced him out but then got Caddy to issue a statement about leaving with no comment then or hint later that he was forced out. Do we really think Caddy would take getting forced out like that without defending himself, especially when rumors were flying about something inappropriate having happened? And then Freeze anticipated Saban's retirement & strategically waited to force Caddy out while the media was all about Saban so as to minimize the coverage of Caddy leaving? Really? And why force Zac out? He'd recruited well, his guys had played well, & while Auburn people love him, he'd not had anything like Caddy's big moments in 2022, so there was no reason for Freeze to fear him. There've been some on this Board who have warned against hiring guys just because they're Auburn guys, but Goodman makes it sound like Freeze got rid of them just because they're Auburn guys, which makes Freeze a more "Saban-like" coach. If that's the case, why keep Marcus or hire Kelly? Beyond all that, Freeze is nothing like Saban in personality, dealing with the press, or causing others to fear him. I hope he becomes a coach that others fear playing because our team is so good, but if Freeze is now the "more Saban" coach in the SEC, he's doing a good job of disguising it. Where I hope Goodman is right is that Freeze will be Saban-like in winning. But the other stuff Goodman wrote? Not buying it. Not even renting it.

You don’t think coaches at all levels orchestrate things like this?   
 

Thanks for the hot take, Pollyanna. 

[TigerTennis80 345]

3 hours ago, NCAubs said:

You don’t think coaches at all levels orchestrate things like this?   
 

Thanks for the hot take, Pollyanna. 

I think coaches may indeed orchestrate such things. I'm just not buying Goodman's argument about it happening, & happening as he said, in this case. In particular, I can't see Caddy being forced out as Goodman described but then not defending himself when rumors were flying about him having done something inappropriate. Just my thoughts. 

[ScotsAU 1,331]

While I don’t completely disagree with some of this, Goodman is just being Goodman. Like Finebaum, he’s trying to make his name on drama. Everything he writes is designed to tick someone off. This particular piece was probably written to tick off Bama fans who are tired of hearing “the dynasty is over.”

As for the content of the article, there’s some things he said that I’d say are probably true. He’s upgrading talent on the coaching staff. He’s upgrading talent on the team. He’s showing that he’s unwilling to accept mediocrity and poor effort. And it is also true that he has benefitted/will benefit from Saban’s retirement. With our two biggest rivals being coached by elite recruiters and those schools also carrying the names of their state, recruiting got very difficult. I’ve even said on here before that Kirby’s hire at Georgia was the nail in Malzahn’s coffin. His ability to recruit elite across all of the positions fell off when he had to recruit against Kirby and Nick at the same time. So having one of those two gone will absolutely help Freeze. 
 

However, Goodman is also making Freeze sound more methodical than he’s actually been. The consensus is that Etheridge and Caddy were not let go because of their performance as coaches as freeze wanted upgrades. They were let go for off the field incidents. That was not a strategic move, and it seems like freeze somewhat fought against them getting let go, with the decision coming from over his head. Did we upgrade those positions after they left? It seems like it. But replacing them was not a planned move. 
 

Again, Goodman likes to suck readers in by being a controversial a$$. I don’t know what he really thinks. But I don’t think an honest evaluation of freeze was his goal here. It was to tick off Bama fans. Thanks for posting the article here. I don’t like to contribute to him getting more views. 

[DAG 33,983]

It’s just a football article. Not a big deal. 

[NCAubs 377]

5 hours ago, ScotsAU said:

While I don’t completely disagree with some of this, Goodman is just being Goodman. Like Finebaum, he’s trying to make his name on drama. Everything he writes is designed to tick someone off. This particular piece was probably written to tick off Bama fans who are tired of hearing “the dynasty is over.”

As for the content of the article, there’s some things he said that I’d say are probably true. He’s upgrading talent on the coaching staff. He’s upgrading talent on the team. He’s showing that he’s unwilling to accept mediocrity and poor effort. And it is also true that he has benefitted/will benefit from Saban’s retirement. With our two biggest rivals being coached by elite recruiters and those schools also carrying the names of their state, recruiting got very difficult. I’ve even said on here before that Kirby’s hire at Georgia was the nail in Malzahn’s coffin. His ability to recruit elite across all of the positions fell off when he had to recruit against Kirby and Nick at the same time. So having one of those two gone will absolutely help Freeze. 
 

However, Goodman is also making Freeze sound more methodical than he’s actually been. The consensus is that Etheridge and Caddy were not let go because of their performance as coaches as freeze wanted upgrades. They were let go for off the field incidents. That was not a strategic move, and it seems like freeze somewhat fought against them getting let go, with the decision coming from over his head. Did we upgrade those positions after they left? It seems like it. But replacing them was not a planned move. 
 

Again, Goodman likes to suck readers in by being a controversial a$$. I don’t know what he really thinks. But I don’t think an honest evaluation of freeze was his goal here. It was to tick off Bama fans. Thanks for posting the article here. I don’t like to contribute to him getting more views. 

To be clear, it’s an opinion piece (or “column”) as opposed to an article.  And you are correct, Goodman is looking to make a name for himself.  He does have the ability to stitch a couple sentences together and for that, I say adequately done.  

[NCAubs 377]

4 hours ago, DAG said:

It’s just a football article. Not a big deal. 

Column, not article.