ESPN's Paul Finebaum 'Completely Underwhelmed' by Auburn's Hugh Freeze

Auburn Tigers head coach Hugh Freeze has two things going for him right now: outstanding recruiting, and he's not Bryan Harsin.

Auburn Tigers head coach Hugh Freeze greets Vanderbilt's Jerry Kill after Auburn's home loss to the Commodores. / Jake Crandall/ Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

"Are We Feeling Underwhelmed Yet? When it Comes to Auburn Tigers HC Hugh Freeze, ESPN Analyst Paul Finebaum Certainly Is"

Even the weekly ritual of Paul Finebaum taking aim at struggling Auburn Tigers head coach Hugh Freeze suddenly feels like it's running on empty.

Another lame defeat against Vanderbilt over the weekend might ordinarily have found ESPN’s designated pot-stirrer licking his chops. Not this time around. Instead Finebaum sounds rather apathetic about how things are playing out down on the Plains.

"I'm completely underwhelmed by Hugh Freeze as Auburn's head football coach," Finebaum declared during his weekly appearance on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning. "What does that mean? It doesn't really mean very much in terms of this year. I think this year is essentially over, and now it's a matter of what he can do in the offseason really immediately after the season to shore this program up."

Meekly accepting that Freeze is secure in his position simply because of his previous acumen at working consecutive recruitment cycles is pretty much where everyone is parked right now - Finebaum included.

It would appear that all the Auburn program can really do is stay the course with Freeze in the hope that the freshman talent does indeed improve the team next season, while being able to hold onto talented younger players like defensive lineman Keldric Faulk and wide receiver Cam Coleman.

All of which chooses to blatantly ignore just how poor a job Freeze has actually done coaching the team this season. After all, the listing Tigers are 3-6 for a reason.

If we all take a breath, past history has a nasty habit of proving that making the wrong choice always has dire consequences over the much longer term.

Without much evidence to prove otherwise, it seems pretty mad to somehow assume that Freeze will miraculously morph into a version of Bill Belichick in time for next season.

Heaven knows, Finebaum is just looking for a positive sign that Freeze can provide a degree of improvement in terms of basic coaching skills, but suggesting that will magically come to pass is a serious stretch. 

"A lot of people are optimistic," Finebaum insisted. “They talk to me and you about how well he's done in recruiting. But ultimately I'd like to see it on the field. I'm not about to take anything away from what Vanderbilt has done this year, but that's really hard-nosed coaching and really some tactical decisions in the offseason and I'm really trying to figure out what Hugh Freeze has done other than blame everything on Bryan Harsin."

Despite Finebaum and others suggesting that everyone is turning the page in the current campaign, lest we forget that Alabama and Texas A&M still remain on the Tigers slate.

Consider how embarrassing defeats in both games could possibly offer up a straw which broke the camel's back scenario for the power brokers behind the scenes at Auburn?

If things were to play out exactly like that, pulling the plug on Freeze would be particularly costly, and not just in financial terms.

As for the here and now, apathy and perhaps complete disillusionment reigns down on the Plains.