As Auburn started to seriously struggle on the recruiting trail, the fanbase started asking for an explanation as Hugh Freeze's recruiting class fell apart. When Hugh Freeze spoke on Auburn's recruiting woes he pointed to a reason why and it wasn't the fact that he may be playing too much golf. Freeze declared that Auburn is operating inside of the rules while other programs may not be following what the Settlement says.
"First of all, you want to make sure you are operating with what the settlement says, and we think we are. We’re going by what we believe to be the accurate interpretation of it. It’s not really to our advantage to what we’re doing right now because others, I think, are operating in a different manner."Hugh Freeze
As soon as Hugh Freeze spoke about the matter, fans around the Country started to question Auburn as they're either the only program seeing things the right way or they're the only wrong program. Given some of the circumstances around Freeze, it would make sense for him to just blame the House Settlement rather than take accountability.
Among those who don't believing Hugh Freeze's excuses is former Alabama starting quarterback AJ McCarron. On his podcast "The Dynasty" with Trent Richardson and Chris Stewart, AJ McCarron went off on Hugh Freeze calling Auburn's Head Coach a liar.
"Hugh Freeze is full of shit. I think Hugh Freeze is trying to do whatever he can to save face. He’s starting to feel pressure at Auburn – going into his third year, not having the success that the alumni, the boosters, everybody donating a lot of money thought he would have by this point. I think he’s trying to figure out and scramble on why they are not successful. … The state of Alabama is ran by Alabama fans, Alabama alumni – whether you like it or not."AJ McCarron
Given that it's impossible to know what every program is offering players and what Auburn sees as the issue, in other programs recruiting efforts. Whether you want to believe Hugh Freeze or not, it's hard to think that the Auburn Tigers are one of the few programs to catch onto an issue with the new clearinghouse.
Heading into this season, Hugh Freeze is on one of the hottest seats in the Country after a disastrous season last year. The saving grace for Hugh Freeze was always his ability to recruit but as the Tigers' class ranks 71st in the Country, it only adds another issue to his mountain of struggles. The Tigers staff will need to either get with the times or it'll need to hope that every other school is wrong; otherwise, the on-field results will be the only thing that could cost Freeze his job.