logo
Hugh Freeze Opens Up About Mounting Pressure Before Crucial Season

Hugh Freeze Opens Up About Mounting Pressure Before Crucial Season

Yahoo3 days ago
Hugh Freeze Opens Up About Mounting Pressure Before Crucial Season originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
The 2025 college football season could be crucial for many prominent coaches at major universities.
If these coaches are unable to secure wins this season, they may find themselves looking for new jobs after the season ends. This is the situation for Auburn Tigers head coach Hugh Freeze. The Tigers are on a four-season losing streak, with two of those seasons occurring under Freeze's leadership. This type of losing streak hasn't happened at Auburn in over 70 years. The Tigers also haven't won more than six games since the 2019 season.
Freeze appeared on the podcast "See Ball Get Ball with David Pollack," where he discussed the pressure he faces heading into the upcoming season.
"I don't even have a seat at the table to write the story," Freeze said. "I don't even have a pen to write the story. It's not mine to write. I approach it like that. I don't have the pressure or any of that. At the same time, I'm a realist, and Auburn's a place that has to win. I believe we're going to. I think we finally have enough depth and talent."
Freeze has a record of 11-14 in his two seasons at Auburn. However, he has a proven ability to win, particularly in the SEC. During his five seasons as head coach of the Ole Miss Rebels, he achieved a record of 39-25.
Freeze understands that this is a crucial year for him to demonstrate that he deserves to remain as coach. If he is dismissed after the season, he will be entitled to 75 percent of the remaining value of his contract, with no offsets. He signed a six-year deal before the 2023 season, which began at $6.5 million and increases by $250,000 each year. This season, he is slated to earn $7 million, which would total almost $17 million by the end of the 2025 season.
247Sports reports that there is reason for optimism regarding the Tigers, who have secured the No. 8 recruiting class as well as the No. 8 transfer portal class. Among their notable additions from the transfer portal are quarterback Jackson Arnold and wide receiver Eric Singleton Jr.
In his first season as the starting quarterback at Oklahoma, Arnold passed for 1,421 yards, throwing 12 touchdowns and only three interceptions across 10 games. It is important to note that he was benched midseason after a performance that included turnovers.
Singleton Jr. had an impressive season at Georgia Tech, accumulating 754 yards and scoring three touchdowns. He was also ranked among the top five players in the transfer portal.
Another positive aspect for Freeze is that, despite his seasons not going as well as hoped, ESPN's Paul Finebaum does not see any increasing pressure from Auburn's athletic department. He recently stated that he does not believe Freeze is in a critical situation. Finebaum noted that Freeze is well-liked by the Auburn community and has support where it really matters. However, he described Freeze's first two seasons as quite underwhelming.
Auburn opens the season on Aug. 29 at 8:00 p.m. ET, facing the Baylor Bears on the road.This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 15, 2025, where it first appeared.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Red Sox rookie infielder Marcelo Mayer goes on 10-day IL with right wrist sprain
Red Sox rookie infielder Marcelo Mayer goes on 10-day IL with right wrist sprain

Yahoo

time7 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Red Sox rookie infielder Marcelo Mayer goes on 10-day IL with right wrist sprain

Rookie infielder Marcelo Mayer was placed on the 10-day injured list with a right wrist sprain by the Boston Red Sox on Friday. Mayer, 22, sustained the injury in Wednesday's 9-8 win over the Philadelphia Phillies. He drew a two-out walk against Jesús Luzardo in the fifth inning, but hurt his wrist while swinging and missing at a slider during the at-bat. He didn't come out of the game immediately, running the bases and coming around to score on a Romy González grand slam. But Abraham Toro took over at third base in the bottom of the inning. 'I just felt a little tight grab in my wrist when I took a swing in my second at-bat,' Mayer told MassLive's Chris Cotillo afterward. 'I knew I really couldn't do anything after that so I just called it.' A natural shortstop, Mayer has mostly played third base while Alex Bregman was on the IL with a right quad strain. He's also played at second base and made a couple of appearances at shortstop during his 44 games. Mayer was Boston's 2021 first-round pick (No. 4 overall) and was called up on May 25 when Bregman went on the IL. Ranked as the Red Sox's No. 3 prospect before the season by Mayer has struggled with his hitting as a rookie, batting .228/.272/.402 with eight doubles, four home runs and 10 RBI in 136 plate appearances. Infielder David Hamilton was recalled from Triple-A Worcester to take Mayer's spot on the active roster. He was on the major league roster until Bregman was activated from the IL on July 11. Hamilton's best asset is his speed with 15 stolen bases in 18 attempts. He batted .179/.229/.276 in 133 plate appearances before being demoted. Bregman (.290 avg., .899 OPS) will start at third base for the Red Sox on Friday's series opener versus the Los Angeles Dodgers with Ceddanne Rafaela (.270 avg., .780 OPS) playing at second base. Boston is currently third in the AL East at 55-49, 6.5 games behind the Toronto Blue Jays (61-42) and two games behind the second-place New York Yankees (56-46).

NFL players, employees fined for selling Super Bowl tickets: reports
NFL players, employees fined for selling Super Bowl tickets: reports

Yahoo

time7 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

NFL players, employees fined for selling Super Bowl tickets: reports

More than 100 NFL players and dozens of club employees are to be fined or suspended for selling their allocations of tickets for this year's Super Bowl on secondary markets, US media reported on Friday. ESPN reported that players who sold allotted tickets will be fined one-and-a-half times the face value of the tickets sold and be barred from receiving tickets to the next two editions of the Super Bowl. Players amongst those caught will be given the option of purchasing tickets if their team reaches the Super Bowl in 2026 or 2027. Players who decline to pay the fines face being suspended, ESPN cited league and union sources as saying. ESPN quoted an NFL memo sent to teams which said employees and players had sold tickets to "bundlers" working with a ticket resale site. Tickets to the Super Bowl are consistently one of the hottest -- and most expensive -- tickets in North American sport, fetching as much as $10,000 on resale sites. "Our initial investigation has determined that a number of NFL players and coaches, employed by several NFL Clubs, sold Super Bowl tickets for more than the ticket's face value in violation of the policy," NFL chief compliance officer Sabrina Perel wrote in the memo. Perel cited "long-standing league policy" which "prohibits League or club employees, including players, from selling NFL game tickets acquired from their employer for more than the ticket's face value or for an amount greater than the employee originally paid for the ticket, whichever is less." Perel added that the league will enhance mandatory training before Super Bowl LX for all league personnel to emphasize the rules and "the broader principle that no one should profit personally from their NFL affiliation at the expense of our fans." The league, meanwhile, also planned to improve training to avoid a repeat, with the possibility of stiffer sanctions for future offenses. "No one should profit personally from their NFL affiliation at the expense of our fans," Perel wrote in the memo. rcw/js

Astros place left-hander Brandon Walter on injured list with elbow inflammation
Astros place left-hander Brandon Walter on injured list with elbow inflammation

Yahoo

time7 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Astros place left-hander Brandon Walter on injured list with elbow inflammation

HOUSTON (AP) — The Houston Astros placed left-handed starter Brandon Walter on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to Thursday, with left elbow inflammation. Walter becomes the 18th Houston player currently on the team's IL. In a corresponding move, right-handed reliever Nick Hernandez was recalled from Triple-A Sugar Land. Walter is 1-3 with a 3.35 ERA in nine starts for the Astros this season with 52 strikeouts and four walks. He allowed two or fewer runs in seven starts and limited the Diamondbacks to one run over a career-high seven innings on Wednesday. Walter is Houston's eighth starting pitcher on the injured list. Right-handers Hayden Wesneski and Ronel Blanco are out for the season after undergoing Tommy John Surgery. Right-handers Cristian Javier, Spencer Arrighetti, Luis Garcia, and J.P. France have recently started rehab assignments. Right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. was placed in the injured list Saturday due to a blister on a finger of his right hand. ___ AP MLB:

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store