Auburn's Hugh Freeze Reveals Key to 2025 Success

Auburn Tigers head coach Hugh Freeze has assembled one of the best group of wide receivers in the nation. Auburn will go as the wide receivers go on offense.

Auburn Tigers Eric Singleton was the No. 1 wide receiver in the transfer portal. He joined an impressive group on the Plains. / Austin Perryman / Auburn University Athletics

Unleashing the plethora of young talent the Auburn Tigers have had at the wide receiver position has been much more problematic than the program had initially foreseen.

Ongoing issues at the quarterback position and some questionable coaching last season, all meant the project spun its wheels rather frequently.

With Jackson Arnold and Deuce Knight now taking snaps, things are on the up, but head coach Hugh Freeze believes the onus is firmly on his group of NFL-caliber pass catching talent making good on all their promise in 2025.

"They better make plays," Freeze declared on Tuesday. "If that room doesn't have success, we won't have success, but it's one of the more talented rooms I've ever been associated with. Somebody asked me the other day how I would rank that room versus DK Metcalf, A.J. Brown, Van Jefferson, Evan Engram. I think it's a bit early for me to put all of that on them, but it rivals it.

“It’s close"

Cam Coleman led the “Freeze Four” with 37 catches for 598 yards and eight touchdowns last season, but Freeze sees growth in other young receivers ready to make a splash as sophomores. 

"I think even Malcolm (Simmons) and Perry (Thompson), who are just a second year in the same system with the same terminology, doing the same things, you see them now catching on," Freeze insisted. "There were still times last year, Payton (Thorne) is ready for Malcolm or Perry to do this, and it may not get it exactly done, and now you start seeing them executing at a better level. So, we are very much dependent on that room having success."

Despite Freeze expecting more from his second year starlets, including Coleman and Bryce Cain, he's also following the successful formula of introducing a veteran transfer portal receiver into the mix.

Last year it was KeAndre Lambert-Smith who provided strong positive leadership, and bags of production for coach Freeze after he transferred over from Penn State. 

This time around, Freeze secured the No 1 ranked receiver in the portal, and in Eric Singleton, he's getting a proven bona fide college player who gets the job done.

"He makes defensive backs very uncomfortable," Freeze said of Singleton. "He's got some straight-line speed along with some lateral quickness that's unique and pretty elite. (We) can use him in a lot of different ways and think he's added another dimension to our offense and is going to have a special year."

Blending the ingredients just right is going to be the challenge at hand, especially with the new quarterbacks taking the reins. For the receivers to flourish, the quarterback play must improve. 

If the receivers flourish, it’s a sign Auburn got it right with Jackson Arnold.

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