Another struggling Auburn coach, another misinformation campaign

Is Hugh Freeze on the hot seat at Auburn? Not yet, but in the court of public opinion, his approval rating as a football coach is at an all-time low. This is a season in which the Tigers schedule set them up for a hot start, but instead, they'll limp into the toughest part of the season with a 2-2 record and the highest turnover rate in the country.

His approval rating as a man isn't too high either. Freeze has done little to redeem himself for his past controversies, both from his days at Ole Miss and at Briarwood Christian High School.

That's why it's odd that the Auburn fan base on social media spent Tuesday wrapped up in a storm of misinformation regarding Freeze's treatment of former players.

It started with a tweet from former Auburn CB Josh Holsey, who claimed to have heard that former players had to buy their own tickets to come to games.

Then Corey Grant, the tailback who was lightning to Tre Mason's thunder in 2013-14, followed up with his own anecdote, saying he was kicked out of Auburn facilities during a game with no explanation.

Holsey's tweet was sent just after noon ET on Tuesday, and Grant's reply just before 3 p.m. ET. They, along with a few other social media posts, set off a firestorm among the Auburn fan base. If losing to Cal and Arkansas at home and openly criticizing his players in postgame pressers wasn't enough, Freeze disrespecting former Auburn players was the cherry on top of a tenure gone awry, right?

There was just one problem. Grant, nearly seven hours later, near 10 p.m. ET, issued a clarification.

This isn't the first time a frustrated Auburn fan base has jumped all over unsubstantiated rumor to punish a coach who isn't winning. When Bryan Harsin was the head man at Auburn, Tiger fans latched onto rumors of an alleged affair in an effort to push out the coach.

Of course, nothing ever came of those rumors. Auburn's investigation turned up nothing on the front of sexual misconduct.

It wasn't enough that Harsin simply wasn't winning and seemingly refused to recruit. It wasn't enough that there was unprecedented staff turnover under his watch. He wasn't a fit at Auburn, and his firing was inevitable. It never had to get salacious.

Harsin wouldn't be tweeting veiled taunts at Auburn after every loss if he was simply fired for not winning. Coaches get fired all the time for lack of success, and most of the time it's amicable. In Harsin's case, Auburn and its fans made things personal. Harsin's family had to go through that. Every time he makes fun of Auburn for losing, it's pretty understandable.

(It's especially understandable when you consider the proven allegations against Freeze are far worse than the unsubstantiated rumors against Harsin ever were.)

In Freeze's case, the misinformation isn't quite as salacious, but it's a trend nonetheless. No fan base likes losing, but when an Auburn coach is losing, the fan base jumps on whatever it can find, or make up, to get what it wants.

Auburn has always been the chaos program in the SEC, and this is the ugly, immature side of that coin. It's fun to be a chaotic school when it means playing spoiler against Alabama or Georgia. When a consistent winner like Gus Malzahn is pushed out in a coupe? When affairs are made up to drive a guy out of town? Now, as the trend already rears its head again in September of Freeze's second season?

This is the part where being the chaos school is not fun. Honestly, its downright embarrassing.

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