Freeze, Arnold Under Building Pressure as Auburn Inches Closer to Baylor

f one were to ask an Auburn Tiger fan the root of their team’s problems the past few years, many would likely provide a similar answer.

Some may say the dreaded Bryan Harsin hire, often referred to as the “potato famine,” or others might mention the roster deficit compared to elite conference rivals like Alabama and Georgia.

But arguably, the vast majority would point to one blaring question mark that the Tigers haven’t been able to correct just yet heading into Hugh Freeze’s third season on the Plains:

The quarterback.

Plagued by less-than-desirable performances under center by Payton Thorne, Robby Ashford, and TJ Finley ever since now-Broncos starter Bo Nix hit the exits and transferred to Oregon, Auburn hasn’t been able to figure it out at quarterback in recent years.

Freeze and company brought in former Oklahoma quarterback Jackson Arnold through the transfer portal over the offseason, which evoked a wide array of reactions from the Auburn fanbase.

Arnold committed well-documented mistakes and inefficiencies in his two years as a Sooner, and while many are optimistic about Arnold’s ability to rebound with a fresh start in a new system, others are somewhat skeptical if he can truly bounce back this season and unleash the star potential that awarded him a five-star rating out of high school and Gatorade Player of the Year honors in 2023.

However, recent reports from Auburn’s fall camp practices aren’t exactly reflecting a positive narrative surrounding Arnold, and Thursday’s viral social media moment certainly didn’t help.

In a video that spread like wildfire in the college football corner of X and Instagram, Freeze was seen slamming his visor down in frustration after Arnold failed to get the ball out before the play was blown dead.

Hugh Freeze, Jackson Arnold, and the Auburn Tigers fate in 2025 are all tied together. | Austin Perryman / Auburn Tigers

To Freeze’s disliking, it was the second time of Thursday morning’s redzone drills from the 5-yard line, in which Arnold was slow to make a decision.

Freeze explained the moment during a media availability window after practice, and broke down the cause of his anger.

“I’ve got to calm down sometimes with quarterbacks,” Freeze said. “It goes back to when we have the right thing called, the expectation, and I think it’s a reasonable one, is we execute it.

“Now, if we haven’t coached it well enough when we get [into the film room], maybe that’s the case,” Freeze continued. “I’ll ask the quarterback staff, ‘what did we tell him?’ because we have [the receiver] wide open and we don’t throw the touchdown. And that’s frustrating as heck. It’s hard enough to score in this league, and in any game, really, but when you finally have one called right, you want to see us execute it. So, that was the frustration.”

Freeze is referring to a play that featured two receivers – Cam Coleman and Sam Turner – facing two defensive backs – Sylvester Smith and Raion Strader. Coleman created great separation on Strader, leaving him wide open in the left corner of the endzone.

However, Arnold didn’t see him and the play was blown dead with the ball in his hands, causing Freeze to visibly display his displeasure with the lack of execution.

Arnold, the top player from the state of Texas and No. 4-ranked quarterback in the 2023 class out of high school, per 247Sports, was rather underwhelming in his freshman and sophomore campaigns in Norman.

Many Oklahoma fans criticized the former five-star for a plethora of reasons, as he was often prone to turnovers, slow to make decisions in a timely manner, and showed an overall lack of confidence.

Arnold was benched about midway through the season last year for Michael Hawkins Jr., which could be one of the catalysts for the confidence issues.

Despite his multitude of less-than-desirable performances, Arnold’s supporting cast didn’t make life easier by any means. Oklahoma’s offensive line was one of the worst in the country, ranking dead last in the nation in sacks allowed per game with 4.2. The Sooners also boasted an injury-depleted wide receiving corps and had their top five wideouts all out at one point in the season.

At SEC Media Days in July, Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables even said he had “no chance” to be successful in the situation in which Arnold found himself.

In regard to Auburn’s overall offensive outlook thus far in fall camp, recent reports from sources close to the program have consistently revealed that the defense is winning the vast majority of the days, including the Tigers’ scrimmage in Jordan-Hare last weekend. However, it’s generally not unusual for the defense to be ahead of the offense in the early stages of preseason practice.

Despite the struggles displayed thus far by Arnold, Freeze assured the media he remains faithful in his offense and believes it can be scary come Aug. 29.

“I’m never totally pleased,” Freeze said of the offense’s performance thus far in fall camp. “It feels like in the live periods we’ve (played), we haven’t executed as well as I had hoped, but I have to say, that’s probably every camp I’ve ever been in. You’re not gameplanning for everything DJ [Durkin] is putting in, and that’s really hard on an offensive line.”

“So, I’m pleased with the effort. I’m pleased with, I think, the community and connection that our team is making,” Freeze said. “I’m still really confident that we can be a really good offense.”

Freeze also pointed out a possible reason why the offense isn’t producing to his liking, which will change when the Tigers enter a real game.

“You’re blowing the whistle here every time somebody gets close to the quarterback, and I do think our quarterbacks have the ability to extend plays. We really aren’t giving them a chance to do a lot of that.”

Freeze added that they will give the quarterbacks a “live period” next week to give them an opportunity to showcase their mobile abilities in a realistic setting and create outside of the pocket.

There’s a lot of chatter around Arnold and if he can lift Auburn over the hump this year. Obviously, other factors play into the success of the team, but it’s not crazy to argue that the Tigers’ season trajectory – and maybe even Freeze’s seat temperature – could rest on the shoulders of Arnold.

“Talking season” leading up to the fall is fun, and speculating about potential storylines is normal. The good thing about football, though, is that the preseason narratives can all be put to bed with a strong performance on the field.

Arnold and the Auburn Tigers have an opportunity to do just that when they take the field at Baylor in 12 days.