AUBURN | Hugh Freeze is the leader of Auburn’s football program. His staff is nearly complete.
Now comes the hard part. Rebuilding the Tigers’ football program.
It is as difficult a task as any first-year Auburn coach has faced since Tommy Tuberville in 1999. That team finished 5-6, starting three separate quarterbacks and struggling to run the ball.
I believe AU’s 2023 roster, as it stands right now, is worse than 1999, especially at the line of scrimmage.
Just a reminder, AU doesn’t return an offensive tackle or any pass rushers with a college start. It returns just one outside receiver that caught more than 10 passes last season, its returning linebackers combined for 3.5 tackles-for-loss and no sacks and its returning starting quarterback completed less than 50 percent of his passes with seven interceptions and seven touchdowns.
Fortunately, the opportunities to improve next year’s outlook is much better than it was 24 years ago.
The transfer portal, which opens today and ends Jan. 18 for the first period, is the avenue to which Freeze and his staff can make the biggest headway in improving Auburn’s roster.
The Tigers need a number of linemen on both sides of the ball for multiple starting spots and depth. The best way to do that if you want immediate results is seeking out experienced college players.
Yes, Auburn can help itself by finishing out strong in the 2023 class, and could certainly find some important early contributors there, but it’s the transfer portal where it can make the most damage.
The number of former 5-stars and 4-stars that have already declared is impressive and there will be plenty more over the coming weeks. A second opportunity to enter the portal comes May 1-15 for any players not satisfied with their standing coming out of spring.
This is the great opportunity that Freeze has before him. And he comes to Auburn at a time when the majority of people in power understand better than ever that it’s been a talent deficit that’s kept AU from competing consistently for championships.
Auburn’s NIL collective is ready to flex its muscles, really, for the first time. The new Woltosz Football Performance Center will be completed shortly.
Auburn is desperate for a winner and Freeze is desperate to take advantage of his second opportunity to compete against the best of the best in the SEC.
Freeze is the spark. The portal is the fuel. Things are about to really heat up in East Alabama.
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In today’s musical journey, we go back 29 years to the tragic loss of a musician right as two of his songs were becoming big hits. On Dec. 5, 1993, former Gin Blossoms guitarist Doug Hopkins committed suicide at age 32. Suffering from alcoholism and depression, Hopkins was fired from the band during the recording of their second studio album in February and March of 1992. New Miserable Experience was released Aug. 4, 1992 to little attention until the lead single, Hey Jealousy, reached the top 40 a year later and peaked at No. 25 on the Billboard 100 and No. 4 on the Mainstream Rock chart. Hey Jealousy and the next hit single, Found Out About You, were both written by Hopkins. As the songs and band became more popular, Hopkins became more upset destroying the gold record that he was sent for Hey Jealousy. Nine days later he ended his life with a self-inflicted gunshot.
Hopkins was born in 1961 in Seattle, Wash., and then raised in Tempe, Ariz. He formed his first band along with Bill Deen in 1979 while attending Arizona State. In 1987, Hopkins and Deen teamed up with Richard Taylor to form the Gin Blossoms. There were some early personnel changes and the band moved forward with Hopkins as lead guitarist and songwriter, Robin Wilson has lead singer, Jesse Valenzuela and Steven Severson as rhythm guitarists and Phillip Rhodes as drummer. The name of the band came from a photo of W.C. Fields in a book that was captioned, “W.C. Fields with gin blossoms,” which referred to his condition of rosacea. They signed with A&M Records in 1991 and released their first album, Up and Crumbling. Hopkins became increasingly disruptive during the recording of their second album and A&M eventually forced the band to fire him, withholding $15,000 until he agreed to sign over more than 50 percent of his publishing rights. After a slow start, New Miserable Experience eventually sold 4 million units in the U.S. and was certified 4x platinum. The group broke up in 1997 but reunited in 2001 and have continued touring through this year. They’ve released six total albums and had their biggest hit with 1996’s Follow You Down, which peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard 100. Another single, As Long As It Matter, charted in 1996.
