Now, what better honor is there than having your fave head coach totally in your corner? Big ups to Auburn Tigers HC Hugh Freeze for spreading good vibes all over his squad. This kind of positive energy? Totally comes from Freeze, who’s been dealing with his own health after getting diagnosed with early prostate cancer a couple of months back. Turns out, his players are the ones keeping him going. The Tigers had their A-Day spring practice last Saturday, April 12th, at the Jordan Hare Stadium. Right now, the big drama down on The Plains is the quarterback sitch. It’s the Deuce Knight versus Jackson Arnold showdown.

Already, Arnold has faced enough side-eyes to seemingly close the door on his QB1 aspirations, with most people leaning towards Knight. But Freeze is jumping in for damage control, straight-up showering his preferred QB (out of the two) with praise. Could this be the start of something, like the head coach sending a heads-up to all 15 SEC teams?

“If I say there legit could be like a real quarterback battle in spring and in fall, like yeah, Jackson Arnold’s probably the frontrunner, but there’s a world where Deuce Knight just looks killer and gets right into the mix,” said analyst Lindsay Crosby. During the A-Day practice, Arnold was chilling on the sidelines while nursing a minor injury. That’s when the $950K Knight straight-up jumped into action and totally wowed Freeze.

“I thought he made some really nice throws putting the ba-l. We talk about all the time, trust our receivers, and put the ba-l in the position for them to make a play. There was some three or four in that skelly period that were just really nice throws.” You know this is going to pump up the Arnold haters who’ve already kind of written him off. That’s when Freeze decided to take control and lessen the blow…..

People have already been comparing Arnold to guys like Garrett Nussmeier and Arch Manning. The Texas Longhorns QB has got 939 yards, a 67.8% completion rate, 9 touchdowns, and only 2 picks. And that’s even playing just a few games. And Nussmeier was second in the SEC for passing yards (4052) in 2024. Arnold, on the other hand, played in 17 games and completed 62.9% of his passes for 1,984 yards, with 16 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. So, even with more game time, Arnold’s numbers don’t really stack up. On April 14th, SEC Network dropped a clip from Freeze’s appearance on The Paul Finebaum Show. The head coach was like, “Really stoked about Jackson. Him and Deuce [Knight], those were our only two guys there, getting all the reps, and I think that was a good thing.”

Then he sounded super confident, saying, “And Jackson obviously has all the tools to be one of the top quarterbacks in the nation.” Auburn fans are already super touchy about the quarterback spot. Well, they probably haven’t forgotten how Payton Thorne threw that killer pick-six late in the fourth that handed Oklahoma the lead. So, Arnold’s big job is going to be bringing consistency.

Freeze thinks the quarterback checks all the boxes. “He’s got the arm talent, he’s got the legs, he’s got the football IQ, and I think he just needs some confidence. I think that confidence grew this spring.” Does this mean the Auburn head coach has found his weapon that might make the SEC big dogs a little nervous?

A fire of redemption burns bright in Hugh Freeze

The pressure is already amplified 100 times on Freeze. That’s because he’s the first Auburn head coach in fifty years to get a third year after two losing seasons. It’s got to be a tough pill to swallow knowing the Tigers’ talent on the field has hit rock bottom. And who’s been catching all the heat? Yep, Freeze. The head coach had a few iffy calls last season. Especially when the team gave the Razorbacks’ Ja’Quinden Jackson a touchdown even though he clearly didn’t cross the goal line at the end of the game. Those calls didn’t seal the deal, but you could tell Freeze was about two seconds away from spiking his headset like a bad football. He thought better of it, probably figuring they’d get picked off just like a bad pass.

This made SEC Mike totally put Freeze under the microscope. “How big of a question mark is Hugh Freeze because again taking over play calling you know that that was supposed to save everything I thought they looked you know even worse at at times.” But he’s trying to fix things bit by bit. His biggest win has been on the recruiting front….

Freeze has had two full recruiting cycles under his belt, ranking 8th for both 2025 and 2024. But with all his experience, he’s got to set the bar high for himself. After all, he knows that without some real wins this season, he could easily be out by his fourth year. Now, does the pressure get to Hugh Freeze? Absolutely not. This pressure is lighting a fire in him, and he’s totally ready to show his 15 SEC rivals that they’ve underestimated him.

“But I do feel optimistic with the two we’ve had, we can compete… should compete this year. So it does look different. So let’s go line up and see what we’ve got.” Can Hugh Freeze get the Tigers roaring again in 2025?