
With less than two full months before kickoff, how should Auburn football fans feel?
With millions of eyes looking at The Plains, you sense a bit of tempered optimism, mixed with perennial cynicism. Yet, no official games exist until the end of August.
From hearing from friends and relatives, this is recent Auburn football history. However, fans will flock to Jordan-Hare win or lose to watch their beloved Tigers, hoping to smack an opponent in the mouth for sixty minutes. In reality, what should fans truthfully expect?
No one wants a repeat of a disappointing 2023, where glimpses of hope dissipated under the weight of dreary outcomes.
Trust Hugh Freeze
Look, Hugh Freeze inherited a nightmare scenario from the previous coaching administration. In total, the football program looked like an absolute mess. Auburn, for a couple of seasons, actually stopped being Auburn.
They eschewed what brought the program to prominence, and for what? A younger coach that many media touted as the one to bring the program back to prominence? With the utmost respect, the previous hire did not help anyone on The Plains.
Hiring a Northerner to coach Auburn football remains one of the worst modern decisions in program history. Alabamans wouldn’t trust an Idaho recipe for Peach Cobbler, so why entrust the football team to a similarly bad idea? Consequently, the team lost relevance and prestige after back-to-back seven loss seasons under Bryan Harsin.
Hugh Freeze used year one to clear out the mistakes and will get things rolling in year two. Freeze demonstrated the ability to win in the SEC during his time at Ole Miss. Granted, Oxford doesn’t possess the same football environment, pressure, or expectations despite what our friends to the west might say. Auburn continues to recruit well under Freeze, including a top-10 class in 2024. That will start to pay dividends soon.
Annoying Media
For the entirety of the Nick Saban Era, some media members painted Auburn as a destitute little brother that needed the Crimson Tide to simply exist. Some of the same journalists contracted athlete’s mouth from kissing the feet of those in Tuscaloosa.
Remember, all of the pressure exists west of the school, right there in Tuscaloosa. To his credit, Saban set a standard of excellence. However, in keeping it real, Bama hasn’t been Bama since Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs emerged.
Media loves a juggernaut, one to camp their cameras in front of Bryant-Denny, proclaiming the stadium a sacred football cathedral. Meanwhile, the Tigers begin to start to fix problems, many of the self-inflicted variety.
As a result, when you see the inevitable “what’s wrong with Auburn?” article or television segment, ignore it. Focus on what happens on the field and listen to those that know the program area and landscape.
Better Execution
For the articulated praise for recruiting, Auburn will improve in 2024. If you look at the bad angles, missed tackles and blocks, you see a team that looked a few plays away from a better 2023. With time comes practice, that effort turns into result. Not to mention, the confidence that comes from seeing things fall in your favor.
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