Hugh Freese was introduced as Auburn’s new head football coach on Tuesday and had a message for Nick Saban and the rival Alabama Crimson Tide.
The Auburn Tigers’ decision to hire Hugh Freeze as their next coach after firing Bryan Harsin mid-season was met with intense (and well-deserved) criticism due to his transgressions at Ole Miss and even at Liberty with his direct posting action. But the decision at Auburn can be summed up in one thing: They want to win football games.
Hugh Freese, without exception, knows how to do it.
Coming into the program after the Tigers finished just 5-7 and were blown out in the Iron Bowl by rival Alabama under the watchful eye of Nick Saban. However, Freeze got one on Saban a few times while at Ole Miss and the Tigers faithful are hoping for more of the same now. This seems to be something the new coach is aware of.
While calling Nick Saban and his wife Terri “friends,” Friese had a simple message for Alabama and its coach as he was introduced as the new head coach at Auburn on Tuesday. Simply put, he hopes this employee gets them to shake their shoes a little bit.
Hugh Friese on Nick Saban and Alabama: I hope they’re a little nervous
Outside of the oatmeal pancake shortage, I’m not sure there’s much in this world that would make Saban nervous. With that being said, the Freeze coming to Auburn in the football sense is a move that could quickly elevate the Tigers to challenge the Crimson Tide in the Iron Bowl and perhaps otherwise too.
At both Ole Miss and Liberty, Freeze has been aggressive and successful at the transfer gate, which is likely his first avenue to explore now that he has a job with the Tigers. And with NIL money waiting for the boosters, he’ll have the resources to do a exemplary job there, something similar to Brian Kelly’s instant success at LSU in the 2022 season.
Furthermore, Freeze was—albeit with some misdeeds in doing so—an excellent SEC recruiter at Ole Miss. Now he has a program that simply attracts better talent and with better resources behind him for better prospects. That could quickly deepen Auburn’s talent pool, too.
This is not to say that Friese and Auburn will now outpace Nick Saban and Alabama. But after witnessing how uncompetitive the Tigers were by their standards under Harrison, this hiring seems like one that at least got them moving toward being noteworthy in the same conversation.
So no, Nick Saban probably wasn’t a little uptight on Tuesday. But once Freeze gets down to business, there may be a bead of sweat starting to form in the offices in Tuscaloosa.
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