Auburn's Hire of Hugh Freeze Impacts Many CFB Programs
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Hugh Freeze has accepted the Auburn Tigers head coaching job. Now, he needs to hire a staff. An entire staff, mind you.
He knows how to do it based on his time at Ole Miss from 2012 until his firing for recruiting violations in 2016. With lessons learned, Freeze has entered the hiring market once again.
Auburn has traditionally hit the states of Georgia, Florida and Mississippi for prep talent. They all border the state of Alabama, so it’s just natural to try and sign coaches and staff from those same locations where the Tigers have recruited, if possible.
That puts all of the schools, in those same states, on notice. Keep in mind, it’s not just assistant coaches that Freeze needed upon his arrival at Auburn.
Traditional assistant coaches were the obvious in addition to support staff in the office, strength and conditioning coaches, and of course the recruiting staff he’s going to need to even remotely compete with Alabama and Georgia for top prep prospects.
Now, it’s nothing personal. At least there’s no reason to believe that it is personal. Still, Freeze has to complete his staff and do the best he can regardless of ruffling feathers at schools like Florida State, Florida, UCF, Miami, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Mississippi State and Ole Miss, among others.
Yes, the Rebels, too. How ironic considering that was his first stop as a SEC coach. On the flip side, former Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn has been at UCF for two years. Who knows, Freeze could come after someone from the UCF staff.
Do note, with how desperate Auburn boosters have been to win again, they will probably reach deep into their pockets for all of those different types of coaches and not blink an eye.
There could be some bidding wars for top assistants, especially if they have top-notch reputations with x’s and o’s and/or are known as being top recruiters. After all of the dust has settled, it will probably have been a situation with more rumors than substance, but still fun for college football fans to follow.
Now it’s just a matter of which schools end up losing members of their staff to Auburn, and how soon? National Signing Day takes place on Dec. 21, so expediency will be a priority for Freeze.
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