Hugh Freeze Drops In Power Four Head Coach Rankings

Should Hugh Freeze be a top 25 coach in power four football?

Auburn Tigers head coach Hugh Freeze looks on during the A-Day spring game at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala., on Saturday, April 6, 2024. / Jake Crandall/ Advertiser / USA TODAY

We are heading into year two of the Hugh Freeze era on the Plains, and Auburn fans are hoping to see their head football coach improve on the 6-7 record from a year ago. 

Last season, Coach Freeze was focused on recruiting, and this led to the offense not being as good as many would have imagined under Hugh Freeze. Now, Coach Freeze has hired new coordinators on both sides of the football and improved this roster in nearly every position via the portal and high school recruiting. 

Coach Freeze's goal for this program was to be competitive College Football Playoff wise in 2025. He brought in a ton of talent in this 2024 class, and these players will get their freshman mistakes out of the way this season and truly be ready to go as sophomores. 

Tom Fornelli ranked all of the Power Four coaches, and he had Coach Freeze 33rd. Last season, he was ranked 26th, so he dropped seven spots after the 6-7 record. 

Here is Fornelli's justification for ranking Freeze 33rd on this list, "The Auburn coach was ranked 26th last season upon his return to the SEC, but it looks like our voters weren't overly impressed with the Tigers' 6-7 season as he drops seven spots this year. I wouldn't worry about it too much if I'm an Auburn fan, though, because Freeze's track record suggests there will be improvement. His team's win total has improved in his second season at every stop."

Coach Freeze can take a massive jump this season if his team wins eight games or more.