College football expert discusses current alignment at Auburn

Are things coming together with Auburn football?

Auburn has always had multiple forces at play when looking at what could have been hindering some of the recent successes of the program.

At times, the head coach's decisions, or Athletic Director's timelines, or suggestions from the powers that be, have all been reasons that the Auburn fanbase has been frustrated with what was happening within the Auburn football program.

That seems to be getting better since John Cohen and Hugh Freeze have teamed up at Auburn.

SEC Network Analyst and former Auburn player Cole Cubelic went on 440 Sports to discuss several topics including Auburn football. Cubelic had his concerns initially when Freeze was hired.

"When Hugh got hired, I had my concerns," Cubelic told 440 Sports. "Most of them were sort of about him personally, mentally, and emotionally really more than anything else. But just how would he handle some of the criticism? How would he handle teams, programs, and other fan bases that were against him?" 

There was some backlash when he was brought on but quickly died down after a successful opening press conference then won several recruiting battles against Auburn's rivals.

Now, Auburn's levels of leadership are starting to be on the same page.

"I think Auburn football, that building, is probably more aligned, and this is a word that Brian Kelly sort of made famous a couple of years ago when he was hired, and now we use it all over the place, but it's a brilliant word," Cubelic said. "And I think if you look at the top of the totem pole at Auburn, this was kind of their decision. This is what they wanted. John Cohen went along with it and went and got him, brought him in, and made it happen. But I think from the athletic director's perspective, with the head coach, with the power brokers and the people inside that administration. I don't know if I could tell you when the last time that there was this much alignment." 

It clearly was not this way during the Gene Chizik era, the time with Gus Malzahn, and the last two years when Bryan Harsin was the head coach. Perhaps fans are finally getting what they have been asking for. 

NIL efforts seem to be organized with On To Victory, other head coaches at Auburn are supporting what Freeze is doing, and the Tigers are generating more buzz on the recruiting trail than they have in a long time.

"I cannot tell you the last time there was this much alignment at Auburn."@colecubelic talks Tigers.@GrantFrerking busts NIL myths.@BradenGall @TheErinDugan debate SEC scheduling models.

BIG SHOW this week:
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— 440 Sports (@440Sports) June 1, 2023

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