[autotag]Hugh Freeze[/autotag]’s debut season as Auburn’s head football coach was expectedly disappointing, as he inherited a program needing a rebuild.
Because of this, outlets such as CBS Sports have placed Freeze in the bottom tier of SEC coaches to start the 2024 season. Will Backus of CBS Sports recently released his preseason rankings of SEC head coaches, which include the addition of Oklahoma‘s Brent Venables and Texas‘ Steve Sarkisian. Freeze checks in at No. 10, down two spots from last season’s preseason ranking.
Backus shares that the first season under Freeze was expectedly difficult, but predicts that the Tigers will progress in year two.
Freeze’s first year on The Plains was a bit of a dud, but most knew that at least a slight rebuild was in order given the roster he inherited. The former Ole Miss boss has set out to improve the talent across the board — particularly along the lines of scrimmage — and has surrounded incumbent quarterback Payton Thorne with enough talent to improve upon last year’s six-win total. Thorne himself may be a bit of limiting factor, but Freeze’s teams have always improved between his first and second years. No reason to think 2024 will be different.
Freeze is one spot below Texas A&M‘s Mike Elko and one spot above Venables on Backus’ list. Georgia‘s Kirby Smart checks in at No. 1 while new Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer ranks No. 4.
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