Auburn is hoping [autotag]Hugh Freeze[/autotag] is the guy who can help restore its football program to prominence. In order to do so, offensive success is vital.
Former Mississippi State and Florida head coach Dan Mullen discussed how Freeze finds success on the offensive side of the ball while appearing on The Matt Barrie Show. An article from On3 includes the statements Mullen made.
“I think the understanding he has of the offense,” Mullen said. ““I think they do some unique things. They’re up-tempo, they’re going to spread the field, use different motions and formations. They’re going to change up maybe not plays as much, with this crazy schematic plays, but how they do it.”
The Tigers have struggled to move the ball over the past few years, last year particularly due to quarterback play. Freeze brought in former Michigan State quarterback [autotag]Payton Thorne[/autotag] through the transfer portal in an attempt to remedy the problem.
“One of the things is you talk about, ‘Hey, we’re going to get in the same formation and run the same play. But one time we’re going to do it on super tempo, one time we’re going to do it slow looking to the sidelines, the next time we’re going to move and jump and quick-motion people to do it,’” Mullen explained. “So I think that’s stuff that causes problems.”
Mullen believes that Freeze knows the trick to get an offense moving.
“There’s one thing to have the playbook to be able to do that. I think Hugh has a great understanding of that offense and how to scratch where it itches,” Mullen said. “As soon as he sees your weakness, which is OK, when we run this formation and this play series out of super fast tempo, you struggle getting aligned. We’re only going to do that at a super fast tempo. Or hey, when we do super fast tempo these ways it’s not a problem for you, but when we put motion that becomes a problem.
“So I think he sees it and really knows the ins and outs of his offense that allows him to continue to apply pressure not just within the scheme but within the game.”
Time will tell if Freeze was able to rebuild the offense in just one offseason or if he will need more time to accomplish that.
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