Is it over for Hugh Freeze? Auburn fans speak with boos but are the decision makers listening?

 

 

AUBURN — Most of us went back in time early Sunday morning when Daylight Savings Time ended. Auburn, too, turned the clock back to the days of Pat Dye and Shug Jordan — when defense and the kicking game were enough to win and you were seen on TV once or twice a year.

Unfortunately for the Tigers, millions of people are now seeing the weekly bleeding of a program and a coach who seemingly has no answers. The ones who showed up at Jordan-Hare Stadium and stayed for the miserable duration did have an answer after Saturday night’s 10-3 loss to Kentucky — they booed Hugh Freeze off the field and chanted for his firing.

Freeze, who seems drained of any energy, nonchalantly accepted the derision in the aftermath.

“We all know that when we sign up for this and we accept what comes with it,” he said.

Jordan once famously admonished Auburn fans for such behavior, saying: “Auburn people don’t do that.” But they do nowadays, when millions of dollars are being donated and hundreds are being paid for a single seat to watch an offense that repeatedly looks as if it has stepped on a rusty nail.

Freeze took a swig of water at the beginning of the postgame briefing beneath the stands and said he understands.

“I wish I could ask for patience but you’re probably not getting patience from them because they want to see a better product on the field,” he said. “There are zero excuses of how poorly we’re playing. It’s unacceptable the way we’re playing … I just know we’re so dang close.”

Many are wondering if Freeze is closer to being unemployed after falling to a Wildcats team that had lost 10 straight SEC games. Auburn Athletic Director John Cohen has yet to issue a watertight endorsement of Freeze and when asked about it recently, Cohen gave a nonsensical tale about expecting his car to start when he turns the key — which I suppose is better than it blowing up Cosa Nostra style.

“It’s sickening that we haven’t delivered,” Freeze said. “No one wants to do that more than I.”

 

In need of a QB

 

Freeze is 6-16 in the SEC and 2-10 in games decided by a touchdown or less. In three years, he’s never had a quarterback who can provide explosive plays — unless it is a recruit visiting the game (and Saraland’s Jamison Roberts was on the sideline Saturday night).

Against UK, the game quickly evolved into one of defense and field position, which Dye loved. It was reminiscent of 1925, not 2025. The leather helmets were missing but that’s not all. Back when Jordan and Dye reigned on the Plains, men were men, mental steel was forged daily, Sullivan and Beasley and Bo frolicked across the land and the Tigers put the fear of God in people at the sight of those blue jerseys, as Dye once said.

But when the only person scoring points for you is courageously wearing an ostomy bag, they should honor him by rolling Toomer’s Corner just for kicking field goals. Alex McPherson has kicked seven in the last two games, including a 27-yarder at the end of the first half Saturday night to tie it 3-3 — and it took an interception to make that happen.

It seems Auburn fans are now ready to swap McPherson’s threes for threes inside Neville Arena. A roar welled up from the crowd in the third quarter when, in an effort to sell tickets, the public-address announcer proclaimed: “It’s officially basketball season on the Plains!”

It’s astonishing that the Tigers are 1-5 in the SEC with a run defense that is the program’s best since Dye’s great 1988 team. But even Dye’s wishbone offenses had better passing games. Quarterbacks Ashton Daniels and Jackson Arnold were booed equally Saturday night in between being sacked seven times — and their offensive line has now allowed 37 sacks, the most in the nation.

“We took a pretty good kicking,” Freeze said. The longest completion was just 19 yards.

 

Losing confidence?

 

When a black labrador ran onto the field from Auburn’s sideline to retrieve a kicking tee at the end of the first half, Freeze may have contemplated strapping the football on the dog to get some good broken-field running. The SEC officials, who fell blind in two of the Tigers’ losses, might not have noticed.

The metaphorical black dog is barking along with Auburn fans, who are hoping the powers that be are listening. The scoreboard at Jordan-Hare Stadium kept touting the school’s Heisman Trophy winners (3), national championships (9), SEC championships (15) and All-Americans (81) but didn’t display the number 52 — as in the $52 million combined buyout total for Gus Malzahn, Bryan Harsin and Freeze, if he is dismissed.

Auburn is second only to the U.S. government in wasting money — that $52 million would fund the federal budget for roughly 40 minutes but would also pay for one top-tier coach and a quarterback. At some point, the Auburn administration must stop paying people to not coach at their school, which could save Freeze for another year, although he conceded he is worried his players have lost confidence in him.

“I’m concerned about that after every loss in today’s time,” he said. “I told the kids they can hold their heads high. They deserve better results than we’ve gotten this year. It’s sickening and frustrating and just heartbreaking.”

In a moment of candor, he added: “My job is to get this team ready to play and win games and we have failed to do that this year.”

The consequences are obvious. Lest anyone forget who funds a lot of expectations and influences decisions on the Plains, remember there are two YellaWood logos on the field named for Dye. Is Jimmy Rane willing to give Freeze, who is battling prostate cancer, a little more latitude barring a complete collapse or has he seen enough?

 

Back to the Future

 

Freeze cannot be fully blamed for this unsightly mess. The decline started when Auburn tried to secretly replace Tommy Tuberville with that bastion of decency, Bobby Petrino, and continued through Gene Chizik, Malzahn and Harsin’s disastrous hiring.

In fact, the school might act prudently this time but only because it has no other choice due to its ghastly past coaching decisions.

Fire Freeze and the Tigers still don’t have a functioning quarterback. And who of any substance would want to take his place long term in a job that has fallen into the middle of the SEC at best? Maybe an NFL assistant who understands talent evaluation and development, personnel turnover in today’s game and negotiating contracts with players — in other words, the pro model, because the SEC is semi-pro football with no loyalty.

Freeze, who inherited no offensive linemen when he followed Harsin, has markedly improved the Tigers’ talent level, minus a quarterback. But as in the pros, college coaches and players are now temporary employees.

With Vanderbilt and Alabama left on the SEC schedule, it is a fantasy to believe there is a magic DeLorean hovering over the Plains to transport Freeze and Auburn to a happy ending, as Marty and Doc enjoyed in the debut of “Back to the Future” 40 years ago. In contrast, the Tigers are riding a mule-drawn hay wagon.