SEC Network Analyst Paul Finebaum talks about Auburn’s expectations
Auburn’s Spring practices and A-Day game may have ended, but that doesn’t stop the comments coming in about the state of the Auburn football program.
Finebaum, appearing on McElroy and Cubic in the Morning show, offered his thoughts on Auburn football after the Spring game: “It (his opinion) didn’t change much, and the conclusion is still the same: I think Auburn needs a quarterback, I talked to Hugh Freeze on Friday before the game and you could tell he was saying the right things, but deep down, he knows quarterbacks and he knows he doesn’t have a quarterback on his roster that’s capable of getting Auburn out of the morass that it’s currently in and to the next level. So, I think he’ll be pretty active in the portal.”
READ: Auburn football reaches out to Oregon State quarterback transfer
Finebaum continued, "I mean he had a very interesting comment to us Friday, (he) said, ‘We’re in the portal business.’ And he didn’t shy away from it. I don’t think he wants to be, but he realizes that he is. Now what are the odds of him finding the quarterback at this late date? I mean they’re not great, but you don’t know what’s going on on other rosters that could open the door. It has a lot to do with the last two years. I can’t … to start the conversation, I can’t ever remember a time when Auburn fans had really expected this little. It has to do with the absolutely terrible decision to hire Bryan Harsin, and on top of that, I think you go back even a year or two beyond that, and argue what you want about Gus Malzahn, but his time was up. He probably should have been let go at least a year, maybe two years earlier, but the money situation was so overwhelming, and it’s just been really a calamity of errors for Auburn for about the last five years.
"And I think fans are immune now to mediocrity and they just can’t demand more until they give someone time," Finebaum said. "Why are they where they are? It’s, well, because you had a president years ago who dug deep and bucked the system and thought he knew what he was doing by facilitating a contract extension for Malzahn and then finally getting rid of Malzahn and making a disastrous choice. And that’s what it was, and I think fans recognize that and all the things that went on during the Harsin era. And we talked about it ad nauseam here, I mean he handled some situations well as best he could, but there’s no reason to cry over that. He didn’t understand recruiting in the SEC. He didn’t understand the day-to-day.”
Finebaum finished his statements with a message to fans that for Freeze to get the job done, the Auburn faithful will have to have patience.
"So they have the right coach, but it is just going to take longer, and I know that I don’t want to be there any more than you guys do, but I think it’s the reality of the situation.” Paul Finebaum
The growing trend throughout the media is a concurrence with the idea that Auburn needs a solid portal quarterback to get back to playing winning football again. The portal opens this Saturday and by all accounts, Auburn will be extremely active in it. We here at Auburn Daily and on Twitter @TheAuburnDaily will be your number one source for all the portal activity.
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