Auburn's Hugh Freeze Reveals Challenge of Redshirting

Auburn Tigers head coach Hugh Freeze discusses his process on redshirting and the difficult conversations that follow.

Auburn Tigers head coach Hugh Freeze on the process and difficult conversations of redshirting. / Steve Roberts-USA TODAY Sports

Competitive fires always burn deep within athletes, it simply defines who they are as people and combatants. Consequently, the sometimes essential process of redshirting a player is always a particularly difficult conversation to have with them.

Auburn Tigers head Hugh Freeze knows intrinsically how tricky it is to approach such matters, especially when somebody is simply desperate to keep playing.

Thankfully, at least the Tigers boss can point toward how it helped the later career trajectory of two NFL stars he once had under his wing when he was coaching at Ole Miss.

"That is incredibly challenging today, to explain to someone that this is going to be best for you long-term," Freeze admitted last week. "I wish I could get Van Jefferson on the phone or D.K. Metcalf to maybe say 'explain how redshirting year one was really good for you.' But that's not the easiest thing to explain for sure."

In truth, the real rub of navigating the entire process is making sure you have compiled enough data on the player as you possibly can, especially prior to having that frequently awkward chat.

Under the current NCAA rules, Freeze is well aware how he can use the four-active-game window to more fully evaluate some of the talent he's perhaps already considering redshirting.

Of course, the decision to redshirt Metcalf back in 2016 was necessitated by an unfortunate foot injury the gifted receiver had suffered only two games into the season.

Therefore, history will tell Freeze that anything can happen on the injury front, particularly because the players are ramping things up more considerably in practice before they head into competitive fixtures. It's also essential to keep monitoring the rates at which different players are adapting to the playbook and doing what's being asked of them.

"I do not even begin to think about redshirting at this point until we kind of get into the season a few games and see how everybody is processing and the chances they get on the field," Freeze conceded. "There are a few right now that I would look at that I think are going to be NFL players, but it is probably in their best interest to give it a year. Most of the time, that is hard for them to see. It is a difficult challenge. We'll play each individual by ear, and it is a week-to-week deal seeing where they are at that point."

In a great many ways, the distinct challenge of man-managing redshirting players is why coaches like Freeze truly excel at the collegiate level. Reason being, getting ambitious young men to fully comprehend that they are going to be developed at different speeds needs a delicate touch.

You can also add a caring demeanor to the list of valuable interpersonal skills, even so, it never gets any easier to sit an athlete down no matter what.