The Auburn Tigers are coming off a disastrous season, which has moved Hugh Freeze from being the clear leader of the program to the hot seat. The team was derailed by Payton Thorne taking a step back, and when Auburn turned to its backup quarterbacks, they weren't able to get the job done either. In order to take himself off the hot seat, Hugh Freeze needed to find himself a trustworthy quarterback to build the offense around.
When the transfer portal opened, the Auburn Tigers quickly circled their quarterback, picking Oklahoma transfer Jackson Arnold. The former 5-star quarterback mirrored Auburn as he had a miserable season getting benched for Michael Hawkins at times.
Taking Jackson Arnold was a huge gamble by Hugh Freeze, as he'll need to hope he plays to his 5-star potential rather than his 2024 results. Freeze is gambling that Oklahoma's poor offensive line and injuries at wide receiver were the reason for Arnold's struggles. Starting Jackson Arnold over Deuce Knight could prove to be the biggest mistake of the Hugh Freeze tenure and could get him fired.
At Auburn's Fall Camp on Thursday, everyone got a look into how Hugh Freeze and Jackson Arnold are gelling, and it's safe to say this hasn't gone to plan yet.
Breaking: coach yells at player during d1 football practice.
— J.D. PicKell (@jdpickell) August 15, 2025
pic.twitter.com/Ld3xfeLDBG
While many will brush the incident off as a coach just riding one of his players, there's a serious cause for concern with the clip. Last season, Jackson Arnold showed serious struggles reading defenses, which added to Oklahoma's struggles. If Arnold is going to continue to struggle reading defenses, things could get ugly as soon as week 1, as Dave Arranda will throw the kitchen sink at him.
Hugh Freeze addressed the incident after the practice while speaking to the media, addressing the struggles of the offense.
"when we have the right thing called, the expectation is we execute it. From this point forward, the offense needs to execute at a higher level."Hugh Freeze
The next few weeks, the Auburn Tigers will need to find a way to get this offense on the same page. Hugh Freeze's team will need to be able to compete in the SEC, and Baylor will be a great test for where this roster is. Starting the season off with a loss would be a disaster for the Tigers and would only make Freeze's seat hotter.
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