Copyright AL.com
Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze is among the handful of prominent college football coaches whose job security is being speculated about nonstop. Florida was the latest program to fire its head coach on Sunday, but other schools, such as Florida State and Wisconsin, publicly backed their current coach amid hot seat talk. Each school’s athletic director released a statement in support of their head coach on Monday, cooling the temperature at Florida State and Wisconsin for now. Freeze, by contrast, said he hadn’t spoken to Auburn athletic director John Cohen since Saturday’s loss to Missouri, but gave an honest answer when asked what a public statement of support would mean to him. “That would be huge,” Freeze said with a chuckle. “That would make everyone feel a lot better, for sure.” Referencing the other coaches who have received statements of support from their athletic directors, Freeze said, “that’s got to be reassuring to those people.” Despite stating that he and Cohen had not talked since Saturday night, he said positive things about their relationship and the support he has received from his boss. Freeze also used the question to once again state his case for why he believes he’s still the right head coach for Auburn, despite his record now sitting at 14-18 over the course of his tenure on the Plains. “I know how close we are. I know I can get this fixed,” Freeze said. “We’re too dang close, and we’ve got to get a little bit better play and a little bit better coaching in a few spots, and I want a chance to fix this... “I think we fit Auburn. I think we fit the Auburn culture. I think the culture of the building has changed. I think the talent level has changed, and unfortunately, we just hadn’t gotten over the hump in a very difficult stretch of games. But I believe that’s coming very, very soon.” Auburn is 3-4 so far in 2025, and the Tigers have been competitive in all four of the losses. However, Freeze is 2-9 during his Auburn career in one-possession games, highlighting that there’s yet to be an improvement when it comes to turning those close losses into wins. Next up for the Tigers is Arkansas, who fired its coach earlier in the season and comes into this weekend with a 2-5 overall record. Both teams will be trying to earn their first SEC win of the season, and Freeze may be trying to convince those in power that he’s still the right man for the job.
