Hugh Freeze faces a ton of pressure heading into his third season leading the Auburn Tigers. While Freeze was expected to turn the program into a serious contender in the SEC, the results haven't matched the expectations, with a 6-7 season followed by a 5-7 season. If there's a reason for optimism around Auburn this season, the offense has improved a ton, while the defense will remain solid.
After Payton Thorne regressed last season, setting the team back, Auburn went out and landed former 5-star recruit Jackson Arnold from Oklahoma. The Tigers lose star running back Jarquez Hunter but, have a loaded room ready to take over. At Wide Receive, Hugh Freeze added Georgia Tech transfer Eric Singleton Jr to help replace KeAndre Lambert-Smith.
The biggest star on the Auburn roster however, is rising Sophomore wide receiver Cam Coleman, who emerged as one of the best players in the Country last season. Cam Coleman finished the season with 37 catches for 598 yards and 8 touchdowns which aren't superstar numbers but, he was incredible down the stretch. To end the regular season, Coleman went for 100 yards and three TDs vs ULM, 128 yards and 2 TDs vs Texas A&M, and 78 yards and a touchdown against Alabama.
I love Cam Coleman so much pic.twitter.com/vRD7KKZAxY
— Liam Blutman (@Blutman27) July 15, 2025
Auburn Head Coach Hugh Freeze appeared on the "See Ball Get Ball" podcast with David Pollack where he broke down what makes Cam Coleman so special.
"Cam is such a likable kid, and so coachable, length first, and speed. Then he has these natural ball skills that just, it seems, I don’t care what’s around him. He just feels like that ball is his, and he’s naturally on the timing where you’ve seen some receivers before they’re in the right position, but they’re covered, but the timing of the jump is a little off. They’re not high pointing it. Man, you don’t ever feel like that’s the case for him."Hugh Freeze
After breaking down the physical side of what makes Cam Coleman so special, the Auburn Head Coach broke down the other aspect of the game for the Sophomore. To hear how mature Cam Coleman is for a player of his skill level at his age clearly shows why he has the potential to end his career as a first round pick.
"It just seems kind of like, natural, at, ‘Alright, here’s where I’ve got to go get it.’ Then, he wants to be coached. In this day and time where kids are, you know, looking at their worth on On3 and whatever they’re supposed to be worth and all of that, you just don’t get the impression that he ever gets caught up in that at all, and it’s kind of refreshing. He’s fun to coach."Hugh Freeze
After speaking on what makes Cam Coleman such a special player, Hugh Freeze looked back to his time at Ole Miss comparing Cam Coleman to several NFL First Round picks and superstars like DK Metcalf and AJ Brown among others.
"But his length and size. He reminds me of the guys I had at Ole Miss when we signed Van Jefferson, DK Metcalf, AJ Brown, Laquon Treadwell, Evan Engram, those guys there. He reminds me of those guys, and you forget he’s just gonna be a sophomore, and he’s still kind of learning the game."Hugh Freeze
Heading into the season, it's almost impossible to predict anything other than a massive season for Cam Coleman. Given his skill set paired with the potential the Auburn offense has, we expect that Coleman will be the second most dominant receiver behind only Jeremiah Smith in our Top 50 rankings.
If Hugh Freeze is going to stay at Auburn past this season, the Tigers' offense is going to need to pull off a total flip after last season. The plan for the Auburn passing attack should be simple: find Coleman early and often as he can carry this group into contention in the SEC.