The Auburn Tigers are struggling to recruit ahead of Year 3 in the Hugh Freeze era. The program, which often finds itself in the top half of the SEC rankings, is rated near the bottom of the Power 4.
The Tigers‘ 2026 class currently sits at 85th nationally in the 247 Sports recruiting rankings. That’s good for dead last in the Southeastern Conference.
Some of that is due to quantity. Auburn has a league-low seven commitments this offseason and is the only school in single digits.
Some has to do with quality. The Tigers’ average prospect rating is 88.99, which ranks 11th out of 16 SEC teams.
What gives? Freeze was hired in large part due to his recruiting prowess. The Tigers took a chance despite his checkered past. To this point, it hasn’t paid off.
The team is 11-14 across two seasons with the head coach at the helm. Still, they’ve had back-to-back Top 10 recruiting classes to fall back on. That’s changed this summer.
With struggles now being seen both on and off the field, Auburn football supporters are growing anxious. It’s led to over-the-top criticisms from the fanbase.
Hugh Freeze golfs too much!
At least according to some fans. They believe he’s prioritized his golf game above recruiting. Those claims cite his 10 trips to the links over the first 20 days of June.
Auburn’s recruiting ranking alone was enough to cause uneasiness. Rival Alabama’s dominance has fans spiraling.
The Crimson Tide boast a Top 5 class. They’ve swiped a pair of five-star prospects from the Tigers’ grasps in the last week.
Cedarian Morgan, the top-ranked player in the Yellowhammer State, committed to Alabama on July 2nd. Three days later, Jireh Edwards chose the Crimson Tide after taking an official visit to Auburn.
Alabama has been stuffing Auburn in a locker on the recruiting trail. Hugh Freeze says golf isn’t to blame for his poor recruiting. Instead, he referenced shady NIL practices from his competitors.
@auburn_football Hugh Freeze on how the House settlement’s approval of revenue sharing in June has caused new challenges in the ever evolving world of recruiting. #auburn #auburnfootball #nil #recruiting #wareagle #wde #collegefootball #ncaa #nationalsigningday ♬ original sound – Auburn_Football
“We’re doing things the right way,” he said when discussing the House settlement surrounding player payment. “At the end of the day, that’s really what we have to do, in my opinion. We can’t put ourselves in jeopardy…
“If others are operating in a manner not with that, I’m hopeful that they’ll be called out on that at some point… We’re going by what we believe to be the accurate interpretation of [the settlement]. It’s not really to our advantage to what we’re doing right now because others, I think, are operating in a different manner.”
That sudden attention to rule following came off as ironic given his previous firing from Ole Miss. Still, Hugh Freeze believes he’s been put at a disadvantage. He hopes that changes in the coming weeks.
Auburn is struggling to recruit. Should they experience a third straight losing season, criticism of the head coach will grow. But hey, maybe this latest excuse can buy him another few rounds of golf!
The post Hugh Freeze Says Cheating, Not Golf, To Blame After Losing Another 5-Star Prospect To Alabama appeared first on BroBible.
Hugh Freeze Says Cheating, Not Golf, To Blame After Losing Another 5-Star Prospect To Alabama
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