SEC analyst Paul Finebaum predicts “good season” for Tigers

Finebaum sang praises of Auburn’s new head coach and SEC veteran Hugh Freeze.

New Auburn head coach [autotag]Hugh Freeze[/autotag] will have some expectations to live up to.

SEC pundit [autotag]Paul Finebaum[/autotag] recently made an appearance on the McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning radio show on Monday and spoke on the expectations for Freeze and his team in his first year on the job. Freeze replaced former head coach Bryan Harsin after Harsin was fired on Halloween in 2022.

Here is a little of what Finebaum had to say about Hugh Freeze’s upcoming first season with the Tigers:

We’re really happy to see him get back on the field. I think it’s a long time coming in the SEC, and I’m very upbeat. I know it’s really easy on Feb. 27 to say a bunch of things that come October looks either silly or smart, but I think from the moment that he landed on campus, he has handled himself with great ease and with real smarts. I think from a recruiting standpoint he’s made a lot of good decisions, from a coaching standpoint bringing people in, he’s made a lot of team decisions. I think Auburn is getting what they thought they needed, and that’s an SEC-centric coach who has been there before that knows what he’s doing. I expect a good season.

Finebaum also went into what he believes would constitute a “good season” for Auburn in 2023, mentioning that going to a bowl game and “beating someone (the team) is not supposed to”, which he reasoned would be an upgrade over the seasons Harsin has delivered to the Plains in recent years.

The Tigers will likely be hoping the same, as Freeze went 39-25 at Ole Miss and beat Nick Saban’s Alabama Crimson Tide twice during that span.

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