AUBURN, Ala. – Three weeks from the start of spring practice, Auburn football coach Hugh Freeze and his assistants are fine-tuning the schemes and systems they'll teach the Tigers beginning Feb. 27.
In his first two months on the job, Freeze focused primarily on recruiting, scouring the transfer portal and signing Auburn's 2023 class while making inroads with prospective student-athletes in the classes of '24 and '25.
"The one thing I knew about Auburn is I felt like Auburn sells itself," Freeze said. "If it has someone leading with a vision that people can see and buy in. I do think I have a gift to be able to say, 'Here's what my vision is for you individually and for us collectively as the Auburn football family.'
"If you can get them campus, to come and see, I think they can sense the energy and a feel about this place that is attractive to a lot of players. I come in with a pretty strong belief that we can get something done."
When assembling his staff, Freeze hired assistants whose strengths complement the areas in which he says he needs help.
"One of the things that I do feel very strongly about is the ability to take a group of people, formulate a staff, and say this is the direction we're going in," he said. "It only works if we all are talking alike, believing the same, and are moving in that same direction.
"One of the reasons we've been able to turn programs around really fast is because of that."
When it's time to install Auburn's offense and defense, Freeze will prioritize quality over quantity.
"I don't care if we have just three install days and the rest are just us getting better at those three things," said Freeze, echoing the same theme on defense.
"I don't care if we get two fronts in. Let's get all of those things down and let's go get the ball and take the ball away. Defensively, we must play hard, we must be physical and we must tackle well."
It's been nonstop since day one, but nothing new for someone who grew up on a Mississippi dairy farm, milking cows 365 mornings each year while playing sports after school.
"Never took a break," he said. "I guess that's why I'm a morning guy now. I don't like staying up late at night and I get up really early in morning. We learned hard work. I value the lessons that I learned."
During a recent team meeting Freeze challenged the Tigers to be about team success over individual rewards.
"You have to decide what your identity is going to be," he said. "If you don't get this settled, it's going to be a wrestling match that wins against you time and time again, if your identity is only tied up in what I do or what I get.
"I'm praying and hoping that we can make Auburn different to where the culture we cultivate here, and their value and identity, is gotten from who they're becoming on the journey."
'I come in with a pretty strong belief that we can get something done'
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer
