Last Weekend, the Auburn Tigers fired Head Coach Hugh Freeze amid a 4-5 start to the season that included a 1-5 record in SEC play. The Tigers' offense looked lifeless for most of the season, which was an indictment of Hugh Freeze, who was regarded as a quarterback guru when the decision was made to hire him.
The Auburn fanbase became sick of Hugh Freeze, and especially sick of him making the same comments every week. After Auburn would lose embarrassingly, Hugh Freeze would be the first to tell the media how "close" this team was to breaking through, even after a game that couldn't have gone worse.
Hugh Freeze may have been his own problem at Auburn
If Hugh Freeze is watching Auburn's game against Missouri on Saturday, he's likely pointing out that he knew this team was close without realizing he may have been the problem. At halftime against the 16th-ranked Vanderbilt Commodores, this looks like a brand-new Auburn team as they're leading 20-10.
The offense looks the best we've seen the entire season, as they have just as many, if not more, points in the first half without Hugh Freeze than they've scored in all but one of their SEC games. DJ Durkin and the staff chose to start quarterback Ashton Daniels, who looks far better than we've seen Jackson Arnold look this season.
It's not just the offense that looks different for the Tigers with Hugh Freeze no longer leading this team. The group as a whole is playing with a different level of energy as they're clearly more motivated and confident under DJ Durkin.
While Auburn will start a search for its next Head Coach, DJ Durkin may eliminate the need for a search at all. If the Tigers get hot down the stretch of the season and keep playing like we're seeing in the first half against Vanderbilt, it'll make more sense from a recruiting and Transfer Portal approach to keep DJ Durkin and the rest of the staff in place.