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The Hugh Freeze era at Auburn ended on Sunday after the Tigers suffered an ugly loss to Kentucky to fall to 4-5 on the season. News of Freeze’s dismissal broke around noon, but players and coaches made their way to the Woltosz Football Performance Center shortly after 1 p.m. for a team meeting. As players left the building, the general mood spoke to the players being understanding of the change. There was no celebrating, but the energy didn’t seem overly gloomy either. Senior tight end Tate Johnson spoke with a small group of reporters as he left the building and described the news as “terrible,” but also looked to the positives that the change could bring. “I mean, it’s terrible, just because there’s so much chaos involved with it,” Johnson said. “But we talked about it in the team meeting with Coach [DJ] Durkin, like the only thing that this is gonna do is just bring us together.” Going through coaching changes isn’t anything new to Johnson. As a sixth-year senior, he was with the program when Gus Malzahn was fired in 2020 and when Bryan Harsin was dismissed during the 2022 season. He also had nice things to say about Freeze’s personality, despite the way things ended. “I was sad about it. I mean, I really, I love Coach Freeze,” Johnson said. “He’s a world class guy, and I feel sad for all the families that could potentially be affected by this, but the coaches will be the first ones to tell you this is the business they signed up for.” Athletic director John Cohen also talked to the team during the meeting, Johnson said, and he described what Cohen told the team. “John Cohen said in the meeting it’s not anyone’s fault,” Johnson recalled. “It’s just a series of events that has led to this and this part of the business.” Freeze’s Auburn tenure finishes with a record of 15-19 and 6-16 in SEC play. He was 4-5 in 2025 at the time of his firing and had just lost to a team what was winless in SEC play. With Freeze out, Durkin will lead the program for the rest of the season. He’s been known for his energy since arriving at Auburn, and Johnson is optimistic about what that can do for the team. “Durkin is a one hell of a motivator, so I think that we’re going to go out there and give it our best effort, for sure,” Johnson said. “I don’t want this to be the last taste in my mouth from Auburn, me and all the seniors and everyone else, we want to go finish the game just, just out of pride.”
