Freeze seeking expertise from Bruce

[TigerOne 1,142]

https://www.al.com/auburn/2024/03/what-auburns-hugh-freeze-hopes-to-learn-from-bruce-pearl-during-a-two-night-golf-trip.html
 

he better, the honeymoon, free ride, pitiful excuses, lack of coaching days are over.

[AUwent 3,748]

TIL that college basketball didn’t exist prior to November 2017.

Edited March 19 by AUwent

[Auburn93 538]

2 hours ago, TigerOne said:

https://www.al.com/auburn/2024/03/what-auburns-hugh-freeze-hopes-to-learn-from-bruce-pearl-during-a-two-night-golf-trip.html
 

he better, the honeymoon, free ride, pitiful excuses, lack of coaching days are over.

He had one bad year in HIS FIRST YEAR! He is NOT responsible for the four years prior. He is not responsible for what GUS or Harsin did. 

[AUwent 3,748]

3 hours ago, Auburn93 said:

He had one bad year in HIS FIRST YEAR! He is NOT responsible for the four years prior. He is not responsible for what GUS or Harsin did. 

Year one was always going to be rough. At the end of the day the goal was to just make a bowl and we did that. Now in year two and three, of course improvement should be expected/demanded and then in year four a playoff run.

[TigerOne 1,142]

1 hour ago, AUwent said:

Year one was always going to be rough. At the end of the day the goal was to just make a bowl and we did that. Now in year two and three, of course improvement should be expected/demanded and then in year four a playoff run.

4 years?! Are you kidding? He has 1-2 years to do something major. Freeze needs to show huge improvements this year. He had a good recruiting year(apparently his only talent) now the assistant coaches have to produce a sec team capable of being competitive.

[AUx 3,006]

Edited March 20 by AUx

[AUwent 3,748]

6 hours ago, TigerOne said:

4 years?! Are you kidding? He has 1-2 years to do something major. Freeze needs to show huge improvements this year. He had a good recruiting year(apparently his only talent) now the assistant coaches have to produce a sec team capable of being competitive.

Again, go look at Pearl’s first three years. 

[aucom96 1,618]

9 hours ago, AUwent said:

Year one was always going to be rough. At the end of the day the goal was to just make a bowl and we did that. Now in year two and three, of course improvement should be expected/demanded and then in year four a playoff run.

That four year layout is a thing of the past, now. That's no comment on whatever leash Freeze is getting from the PTB, of course, but I doubt Auburn fans are going to love another year of .500 or below football. 

[JuscAUse! 1,410]

3 hours ago, aucom96 said:

That four year layout is a thing of the past, now. That's no comment on whatever leash Freeze is getting from the PTB, of course, but I doubt Auburn fans are going to love another year of .500 or below football. 

And they (we) would love starting over when half the roster transfers because AU pays another coach not to coach? I really think we should try a little patience at this point. 

Edited March 20 by JuscAUse!

[aubiefifty 16,791]

I think golf should teach Freeze how to say numnuts with the ol evil eye to help keep the team toeing the line...........

[JerryAU 1,659]

13 hours ago, AUwent said:

Year one was always going to be rough. At the end of the day the goal was to just make a bowl and we did that. Now in year two and three, of course improvement should be expected/demanded and then in year four a playoff run.

He's getting four years to field a team ranked in the top 12 & qualifies for a 12-team playoff spot.  Hmm

[CameronCrazy 1,061]

Their recruiting philosophies are definitely different. Bruce wants to rely on the portal instead of loading up on high school recruits. Freeze wants to load up on high school recruits instead of relying on the portal. I hope they end up blending their philosophies together. Bruce definitely needs to recruit better at the high school level (and then fill in the gaps with transfers) and Freeze needs to land more top end portal guys (at least in his first few years until he gets it built up).

[JerryAU 1,659]

1 hour ago, CameronCrazy said:

Their recruiting philosophies are definitely different. Bruce wants to rely on the portal instead of loading up on high school recruits. Freeze wants to load up on high school recruits instead of relying on the portal. I hope they end up blending their philosophies together. Bruce definitely needs to recruit better at the high school level (and then fill in the gaps with transfers) and Freeze needs to land more top end portal guys (at least in his first few years until he gets it built up).

I'm no longer confident that building a program on tight relationships with character & hard work are viable with a wide-open transfer portal and NIL $$ flowing.

Freeze's philosophy is to establish relationships, personal closeness with his player's, and he wants that permeating through the team.  He wants to build a solid foundation where players hold each other accountable and work towards establishing an elite team.  But the numerous folks chirping in players ears to go for the $$ and do whatever they have to do to get paid.  There may no longer be a willingness to have patience, to grow and develop within a system before a player starts shopping for the next stop. 

I guess we'll see how it all works soon. 

[passthebiscuits 6,846]

Bruce’s first season he was 5-13 in conference and 11-20 overall.

good to get his expertise. Relax on CHF’s first (or even second) season. 

[AUwent 3,748]

9 hours ago, aucom96 said:

That four year layout is a thing of the past, now. That's no comment on whatever leash Freeze is getting from the PTB, of course, but I doubt Auburn fans are going to love another year of .500 or below football. 

When did I say that we should accept going <=.500 this year?! 

2 hours ago, passthebiscuits said:

Bruce’s first season he was 5-13 in conference and 11-20 overall.

good to get his expertise. Relax on CHF’s first (or even second) season. 

This season WILL need to be better than last, especially with the number of seniors in the starting lineup.

[cbo 7,851]

Honest question for the "patience" crowd. Which certainly has some validity and I'm not trying to dismiss that. 

What do you need to see from Freeze, as far as record, in seasons 2 and seasons 3?

[Hank2020 3,199]

8 hours ago, CameronCrazy said:

Their recruiting philosophies are definitely different. Bruce wants to rely on the portal instead of loading up on high school recruits. Freeze wants to load up on high school recruits instead of relying on the portal. I hope they end up blending their philosophies together. Bruce definitely needs to recruit better at the high school level (and then fill in the gaps with transfers) and Freeze needs to land more top end portal guys (at least in his first few years until he gets it built up).

The difference is the difference between the two sports. They can go to NBA after 1 year in Pearl’s world.

[passthebiscuits 6,846]

36 minutes ago, cbo said:

Honest question for the "patience" crowd. Which certainly has some validity and I'm not trying to dismiss that. 

What do you need to see from Freeze, as far as record, in seasons 2 and seasons 3?

Season 2 record wise not as important to me as how our team builds. Need to stack recruiting classes!!!! Year 3, 9 wins or bust. 

[autigeremt 6,616]

1 hour ago, cbo said:

Honest question for the "patience" crowd. Which certainly has some validity and I'm not trying to dismiss that. 

What do you need to see from Freeze, as far as record, in seasons 2 and seasons 3?

8/9 wins, 9/10 wins. 

[JuscAUse! 1,410]

2 hours ago, cbo said:

Honest question for the "patience" crowd. Which certainly has some validity and I'm not trying to dismiss that. 

What do you need to see from Freeze, as far as record, in seasons 2 and seasons 3?

Improvement. Stacking the roster. The players you need to remain on the team do that, and we pick up players that can help. And if AU fires HF, even if everyone thinks he should be fired, have a BETTER coach ready to step in.  The last sentence is the most important, if you are older than 15. 

Full disclosure, I was done with Gus, and was glad we got rid of him. Then Harsin. I was wrong. If you don't have better, leave it alone. 

[lca408 366]

48 minutes ago, autigeremt said:

8/9 wins, 9/10 wins. 

This is the right answer. To be honest, even though there’s some big and challenging games on the schedule, the opportunity is there. It’s slightly weaker than in years past. Missouri and UK are tough teams but the road venues aren’t difficult to play at. Oklahoma is an unknown commodity but it’s also at home and it’s the first time we’ve hosted them so expect a crazy crowd which can change the dynamic. I’d say less than 8 wins is a significant disappointment, and likely a sign that Freeze never figured out the QB sitch. That alone is a mark against him. Not to be fired but to have a warm seat, especially after a year where he admitted that he spent more time on recruiting than detailed game planning. 

This matters most in terms of recruiting. Freeze HAS to win at least 8 games for proof of concept. Otherwise, the negative recruiting can take hold on those big fish that Auburn will be trying to pull in 2025 and potentially 2026 as well. If Auburn can get at least a halfway decent rotation on the DL (maybe the biggest question mark right now), get what it expects out of the OL, and gets at least a modest improvement in QB play, there’s no reason we can’t manage 8 wins. 9 wins is within reach and anything more is dependent on a few teams underperforming. Like I said, the opportunity is there - if Freeze has a long-term future here, he needs to prove it by improving the win total. Roster depth/talent be damned, there is enough to be at least competent this year. 

It’s unrealistic to expect Auburn to finish in the Top 12 right now, but 2025 should be a no-brainer. If we’re not, we’ve got an enormous problem on our hands, because that doesn’t mean that we’re still trying to acquire talent - it means we’re trying to replace it because of some type of major attrition from the ‘23 and ‘24 classes without being able to supplement with portal guys. 

[cbo 7,851]

1 hour ago, autigeremt said:

8/9 wins, 9/10 wins. 

Appreciate the specific responses, from you and others. 

I personally think we win 7 games in 2024 and 8 in 2025. 

That's just a prediction but I'd be interested to see the fan reaction at that point. To me, that's not good enough. But it's very close to good enough. I think it would likely depend on whether we beat UGA or Bama and if we dropped a game to someone like New Mexico State. 

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,669]

13 hours ago, CameronCrazy said:

Bruce definitely needs to recruit better at the high school level (and then fill in the gaps with transfers)

Does he? His team is being mentioned as having one of the best chances to beat a turbocharged UConn team and just won the SEC title. I think Pearl has it figured out until proven otherwise

[AUwent 3,748]

Help me understand: how are we going to be in better position in year 3 if we’re going to be losing 13/22 starters, as it currently appears is going to be the case?

[DAG 33,982]

The only problem with saying record wise doesn’t matter is the fact that teams can look completely different from year to year with the transfer portal. I do agree it does matter what we look like, particularly on the offensive end.