Auburn 'Sold a Bill of Goods' According to ESPN's Paul Finebaum

As Auburn Tigers head coach Hugh Freeze stacks up wins off the field, wins on the field have been tough to come by.

Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze speaks with Georgia head coach Kirby Smart. / Joshua L. Jones / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Facing up to some hard truths is a minefield that Auburn Tigers head coach Hugh Freeze simply has to venture into right now. Quite clearly, the elephant in the room is trying to balance a catastrophic season against prodigious wins in the recruitment game - such as flipping talented high school quarterback Deuce Knight.

ESPN’s designated pot stirrer Paul Finebaum is well aware that counter balancing recruitment success with the inability of Freeze to post enough wins will undoubtedly define his entire tenure on the Plains.

"I hate to qualify my answer because recruiting has been so good, but I have seen nothing from Hugh Freeze on the actual football field that makes me believe he will make it as the Auburn coach," Finebaum told the McElroy & Cubelic In The Morning Show. "I am amazed at some of the decisions that I see, some of the things that are coming from his mouth before and after games. I know that may sound harsh, but I'm just being real."

Finebaum is certainly an acquired taste, but most Tigers fans would side with him this time around - Freeze has been a complete public relations car crash in 2024. Most starkly, by constantly looking to scapegoat his embattled quarterback Payton Thorne in particular, the tired routine of Freeze has mostly worn thin.

For as much as we all try to make coaching seem difficult, any head coach who manages to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory with such alarming regularity as Freeze will eventually feel the heat.

For as loathed as the power brokers at Auburn will undoubtedly be to compile yet another expensive severance package, it's bound to be crossing their minds.

After all, the boardroom suits cannot be absolved of the blame for the current mess - twas them who made the call to bring Freeze into the program.

Jump-starting the recruitment process has been a real upside of that bold decision, the foundation stones might already be in place, but time always becomes the most important diminishing commodity for any head coach.

Fact is, nobody needs much reminding that the sign above the door on Freeze's door still says, "Head Football Coach", and Finebaum leveled on that reality in his own forceful manner.

"I wonder if Auburn wasn't sold a bill of goods on (Freeze)," Finebaum declared. "If you take away those wins against Nick Saban, what exactly has Hugh Freeze accomplished as a football coach? I know what his record was at Liberty, and I really don't care. I'm looking at Ole MIss and Auburn, and he has been a failure as the Auburn head coach in my mind. And I know Bryan Harsin was fired at this point two years ago with a better record by a game or two, but that's not really telling the story. On the football field, which is where you are ultimately judged, I'm not liking anything I'm seeing."

Taking a step back and taking a broad overview of exactly why he's struggling doesn't have to wait till this chaotic season plays out. Perhaps taking a long, honest look in the mirror would be massively beneficial for Freeze on a cathartic level right now.

When the season is spinning off the rails in the days of the transfer portal, all the good work on the recruiting trail the previous season can be undone quickly.

"It's a challenge to recruit, to recruit your own roster, and to help work on game plan," Freeze dutifully admitted on Monday.

Vultures are circling for the likes of Cam Coleman, Malcolm Simmons, and Keldric Faulk among others. Winning is the world’s best recruiter, and that’s where Freeze needs to spend his time in the short term.