Paul Finebaum firmly places Hugh Freeze on the hot seat: 'I don't think there's any question'

It’s now well-known how things have been going recently for Auburn’s Hugh Freeze. That now has his job on the line this season according to Paul Finebaum.

Finebaum sat down with ‘McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning’ on Monday from SEC Media Days in Atlanta with answers about several teams and coaches ahead of the upcoming season. That included a very clear statement on where he thinks Freeze’s job security is, and who is to blame for that, going into his third year on The Plains.

“Hugh Freeze is on the hot seat. I don’t think there’s any question,” said Finebaum. “And, the person who put Hugh Freeze on the hot seat is Hugh Freeze.”

This started about three or four weeks ago when the storylines came up between the program’s recruiting issues for next cycle paired with Freeze’s recent pastime this summer on the tee box. That seemingly only got worse at the start of July when Freeze and AD John Cohen gave their respective answers on the matter. Since then, pressure has only built on the Tigers going into this fall, with the team already being just 11-14 (.440) through his two seasons as head coach.

That’s why Finebaum has Auburn as one of his must-win situations around the SEC. He didn’t consider their program in that group two months ago but does now with what he has heard or seen about them since June.

“I think it’s easier to find schools that are in must-win situations because there’s so many of them. And, I really, I don’t mean to beat a dead horse but I will. Having been in Birmingham recently, I can’t escape the questions just randomly at restaurants, at coffee shops about Hugh Freeze,” said Finebaum. “I really, I think six or eight, ten weeks ago, I think I told you, you know, Hugh Freeze is in good shape, he’s recruited well and I started getting a little bit closer to the sun and I literally can’t believe what I have experienced.

“It could be, maybe, a prisoner of the moment, maybe it’s the headlines but I didn’t think he helped himself at all the other day…and really trying to act like the media, and one or two people in particular, have no earthly idea what we’re talking about because he can’t explain it to his own fanbase what’s going on down there.”

Freeze was already going to have to be better next season with the Tigers being without a winning record since 2020. Now, with how things have turned this offseason, Auburn could have one of the more must-win, hot-seat scenarios this year in the Southeastern Conference.