AUBURN | I’ve covered a lot of college football coaches in my time and one of the main qualities of many of the most successful ones is stubbornness.
That may sound counter-productive, and it is at times, but when you’ve risen through the coaching ranks, you know what works and what doesn’t, and are averse to making the same mistakes over and over again.
Yes, I know you’re thinking of Gus Malzahn and how his stubbornness cost Auburn at times. But with some of AU’s better teams, his inclination to run it down opponent’s throats in the fourth quarter, even during a two-minute drill, often paid dividends.
And you better believe Nick Saban was plenty stubborn about everybody in his program doing it his way.
But the best coaches also know when to adapt. When to set aside a bit of that obstinance and make the necessary changes for the betterment of their team.
That brings me to Hugh Freeze.
He made some understandable mistakes his first season at Auburn. He’s also owned up to those and made necessary changes including taking a bigger role in the offense with his guys running his system, and doing a better job in the transfer portal.
A much better job, actually.
Freeze and his staff have added a total of 13 transfers so far and filled all of AU’s biggest needs.
They added three receivers to bolster a huge weakness from last season, a left tackle to solidify the offensive line and four defensive linemen to shore up that side of the ball.
One of the biggest additions was new GM of Player Personnel Will Redmond, who was hired away from LSU in January. He helped sharpen AU’s focus in the portal and it’s paid off with some very talented additions in the spring.
The Tigers added four players that should have a big impact this fall in defensive linemen Philip Blidi and Isaiah Raikes, pass rusher Keyron Crawford and wide receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith.
All are either starters or key rotational players.
Auburn is a better team because of its work in the portal and its portal business this year is a step forward from a year ago.
And it’s because a veteran coach put aside his stubbornness, recognized an opportunity to make changes to improve his second Auburn team and executed a plan to get it done.
Freeze inherited one of the SEC worst rosters when he was hired a little more than 17 months ago.
He didn’t have a whole lot of time to reshape the roster before his first season, but has taken a big step forward with less than four months to go until year two.
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In today’s musical journey, we go back 41 years to the day a producer for a popular radio show in the UK hears a band for the first time and goes on to help launch their career. On May 6, 1983, John Walters, a producer for John Peel’s BBC Radio 1 show, discovers the Smiths opening for Sisters of Mercy at the University of London Union and invites them to be on the show. The Smiths released their first single, “Hand in Glove” on May 13 and then on May 31, Peel began playing a series of Smiths’ songs recorded for the show, which were eventually made into a 1988 album called The Peel Sessions. Peel was an original DJ on BBC Radio 1, serving from 1967 until his death in 2004. Peel helped introduce a lot of new musical genres to UK audiences including psychedelic rock, progressive rock, punk, reggae, metal and hip hop. His Peel sessions often consisted of four songs recorded by artists in the BBC studio. Some of the bands he helped launch in the UK include Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, Sex Pistols, Ramones and Nirvana (before Nevermind). Before his radio career, Peel spent time in the U.S. working for an insurance company where he met John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson in Dallas in 1960. When Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, Peel volunteered himself as a Liverpool Echo reporter and covered the arraignment of Lee Harvey Oswald.
The Smiths were formed in 1982 by Johnny Marr and Morrissey in Manchester, England. The pair first met at a Patty Smith concert in 1978. Morrissey chose the band name, the Smiths, because it was an ordinary name and he wanted to make music for ordinary people. Drummer Mike Joyce and bassist Andy Rourke were added by the end of the year. In 1983, they had two singles, “This Charming Man” and “What Difference Does It Make?” make the top 25 of the UK Singles Chart. They released their debut album, The Smiths, which peaked at No. 2 on the UK albums chart in 1984 and also had their first top 10 single in “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now.” The Smiths released four more studio albums before breaking up in 1987 due to tensions in the band and a dispute over royalties that concluded with a judge ruling Joyce was owed $1 million in back royalties and a 25 percent share of future sales. Rolling Stone ranked two of the Smiths 1984 singles, “William, It Was Really Nothing” and “How Soon is Now?” among its 2004 list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Another single, “There is a Light That Never Goes Out,” was released on a compilation album in 1992, five years after the band broke up, and has become their most popular song on streaming. Morrissey had the most successful post-Smiths career with 10 top 10 UK singles. The band insists it will never reunite and has refused all offers to appear together. The Smiths were marketed as a college/alternative band in the U.S. and had just two songs make it on the U.S. Dance chart. They did tour in the U.S. in 1985 and 86.
