Head coach [autotag]Hugh Freeze[/autotag] met with the media on Monday to further discuss Auburn’s loss to Alabama last Saturday, and to dive into details regarding recruiting, the transfer portal, and bowl season.
After suffering a demoralizing loss such as the one Auburn experienced last Saturday, it can take time to digest. For Freeze, the agonizing loss was enough to keep him awake.
“Well, I never went to sleep. So I didn’t wake up. This profession, we sign up for it and it’s difficult, and I try to keep things in great perspective about the big picture of why we coach. I have to preach that to myself after losses like the last few because my window of coaching, in the spectrum of life, is pretty small. What I do with that window matters long after the program is over. I know fans and media and coaches and all of us live and die with every game. But, if you look at the big spectrum, I know that we’re pouring into the people in this program the right things. You try and get some comfort with that , but it’s hard. There is no two ways about it. You run through every single play that could have made a difference. Do you do anything different? You’re going to relive all of that. I didn’t sleep at all. It means so much to so many people and when you care, you want to deliver when you have an opportunity in a game of that magnitude. When you don’t, you’re not going to sleep very much. I watched the film several times. But again, as disappointing and hurtful as it is, if you’re made of the right stuff, it makes you determined to get in those situations again and to go get some players that want to do it with you. To say that you wake up on Sunday morning and it’s all over in your mind and in your spirit, that’s not real. It’s still not over truthfully, but I’m a fighter and so are these kids and so is this staff. Time makes things a little better, and you’re encouraged that you found a way to compete with one of the elite programs in the country in year one.”
Freeze discussed plenty of items surrounding his program on Monday. Here’s a rundown of everything he said during his weekly press conference.