Hugh Freeze Reveals Key Traits for Quarterbacks Hank Brown, Walker White

New Auburn Tigers starting quarterback may be a freshman, but his relationship with head coach Hugh Freeze goes back several years.

Auburn Tigers Quarterback Hank Brown and head coach Hugh Freeze during the game against the New Mexico Lobos / Photo by Zach Bland, Auburn Tigers

After a solid performance in his first career start against New Mexico, Auburn Tigers head coach Hugh Freeze has decided to stick with redshirt freshman Hank Brown as the team’s starting quarterback.

Freeze and company felt the need to try something different at quarterback after Payton Thorne’s rough outing against Cal, and Brown showed his ability to lead the offense.

Freeze and Auburn quarterbacks coach Kent Austin have believed in Brown for a long time, going back to Brown’s 10th grade year. The pair recruited Brown when they were at Liberty and invited him to play for them at Auburn.

“I don’t believe he started until his senior year [of high school],” Freeze said. “He played behind some really good players. We obviously had a relationship but it really picked up when he started putting tape together his senior year. We decided halfway through that season he was the guy we wanted.”

One thing that about Brown that sticks out to Freeze is his ability to exceed expectations that have been set for him.

“I don’t think there’s anything in Hank (Brown)’s life that, as a coach, you would look at and say has been any less than his attempt to be his best,” Freeze said. “Whether that’s in the offseason workouts and strength training or academics, he’s just that type of kid and that type of leader. He comes from an incredible family and prepares himself every single week whether he’s a starter or not a starter. Great teammate and his offseason work is the same reflection of what you see from him every day.”

Despite likely not getting in the game, freshman quarterback Walker White is another player who will be getting attention this week as he is from Arkansas. Freeze spoke highly of White’s character as well as what he has brought to the team since arriving in January.

“He (White) and Hank (Brown) are two of the best human beings,” Freeze said. “[They’re] in church with us every Sunday and are about the right things for our program. He (White) leads that scout team probably better than any scout team quarterback I’ve ever seen and wants to compete in every single snap in that. It’s hard to say how his development is coming right now because you can’t get reps for everybody in your preparations for a game. In the spring, I thought he had really come on and has a real chance to be a really good player at this level.”

Freeze and Brown will look to lead Auburn to its first SEC win of the season by beating Arkansas inside Jordan-Hare Stadium at 2:30 p.m. CT on ESPN on Saturday. Auburn is a 3.0 favorite over the Razorbacks according to ESPN.