I have total faith in Freeze. When the coaching search was going on, I was very open about the fact that I wanted Auburn not to Auburn, and instead, swing for the fences with a home run hire. I knew it wouldn’t happen. That’s not what we do. But I didn’t want the other end of the spectrum either. I didn’t want UT Chattanooga’s coach, or a 5-19 former AU coach who interviewed well, or the latest hot coordinator. I wanted someone who had lots of experience, had been a consistent winner wherever they had been, and especially someone who had been in this conference, and knew what it takes to compete here. I felt like if you put somebody like that in place, with very little learning curve, and give them the backing and resources that Auburn can provide….look out.
Free checks those boxes for me. Has he won anything significant before? No, but how far can you take Lambuth, Arkansas State, Ole Miss or Liberty? However, he’s won to the tune of 103-47. Now, he’s at a place that has the facilities, overall resources and fan backing that can rival any program in the nation. A program that has won, and played for another MNC in very recent history.
Look, every coach’s personality is different. Lord Saybinz is a total ass to everybody. Coach Prime is all Hollywood, all fuck the haters, all the time. Kiffin spends most of his time trying to be cute on social media and in the press. Freeze has his own style, and no, he’s not Pat Dye. I’m apparently hearing different things from Freeze than some of you. I see the guy being almost brutally honest about the play on the field, and the coaching from the sidelines. I see him saying that shit ain’t right, and needs to be fixed, with both the players and coaches. I see an easy read between the lines, saying, “I hired you guys to handle this shit (Offensively) and it better get fixed or I’m taking it over.” And ultimately, that’s his responsibility. It’s on him, and I think he’s more than up to the task.
As a fan, I see stuff in the first 4 games that chaps my Bo Jackson Underoos. Too many stupid turnovers. Excessive penalties, and yes, shittastic play calling that’s more of a problem than our lack of championship caliber talent. And as a fan, I also don’t think it’s overboard to have expectations that the shit they can control, gets straightened out. But I see U calling it out too, and vowing to get it right.
Most likely, we’re about to be 3-2 come Saturday night. Probably going to get a lot worse, before it gets better. But, outside of a random prognostibator predicting Auburn might surprise some people, the overwhelming majority of experts and analysts said we were either last, or next to last in the West, at best. Lucky to win a league game. That’s what happens when Mr. Potato Head decimates your roster, and you have to try and fill the void with 20+ players from East Carolina, Tulsa, Western Kentucky and North Texas. As long as I see U Free doing what it takes to unfuck all the stuff they’ve been doing to beat themselves, I can live with losing to more talented teams. I think he will.