AUBURN | Hugh Freeze has been calling plays for most of his coaching career, but the magnitude of the Auburn job may require him to shift responsibilities.
As the Tigers' new head coach, Freeze will be tasked with competing with its two biggest rivals -- Alabama and Georgia -- on and off the field. For AU to get back on par with both SEC powerhouses and compete for conference and national championships, it will need to start recruiting at a much-higher level.
That could mean Freeze relinquishing his play-calling and some of the offensive game planning to an offensive coordinator.
“Sitting here today and contemplating, that maybe in the new world of rebuilding the Auburn football team and the work it’s going to take to capture the players and recruit, maybe I should get some help in that,” said Freeze. “And really what kind of spurred it on, truthfully, is some of the texts I’ve gotten. And I’ve watched them and I’m like, ‘Wow, they’re really good at what they do.’ Probably better than me, and I think I’m pretty good at it. I’m honest. When I watched some of their games, I think I could really help them with their red zone and they could really help us with everything else.
“So I’m wide open right now and looking forward to having those discussions with these candidates.”
It didn’t take Freeze long to make his first official hire when he met with Cadillac Williams Monday night and convinced Auburn’s interim coach to return as associate head coach and running backs coach.
It may turn out to be Freeze’s most important hire considering what Williams was able to do over the last four weeks with the players on the field and rallying the entire Auburn family behind them.
But it was also a big of a no-brainer. Filling out the rest of the staff won’t be quite as simple.
“Staff has to drive the culture,” said Freeze. “I'm not near as concerned about Xs and Os with most of the staff. The defensive coordinator has got to be masterful at that. But the rest of the staff … if I were to show you the number of texts I received of big-time college coaches wanting to come to this place, it's going to be very difficult, very difficult, to decide.
“But what will be the deciding factor is putting the staff together that I think complements each other and drives the culture consistently. There is none of this, well, you know, that's a suggestion. No, this is not just a suggestion. This is how we do it, and it's proven to turn programs and worked everywhere we've been very, very fast.”
