Lane Kiffin describes the state of his relationship with Hugh Freeze

The coaches in the SEC compete with one another for recruits on and off the field. They also tend to have close relationships, in many cases having worked together in the past. That’s true of Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin too, even if he likes to troll other coaches.

One coach who Kiffin recently seemingly trolled is Hugh Freeze, the Auburn head coach. However, as Kiffin explained at SEC Media Days, he actually has a good relationship with Freeze, and a recent post about him fishing was apparently unrelated to Freeze’s recruiting woes.

“Yeah, I like Coach Freeze a lot,” Lane Kiffin said. “I think he’s done a good job. He was really good to my brother when my brother worked for him and my dad would come visit them. So, I just have fun with people.”

Hugh Freeze has fallen under some recent criticism at Auburn for struggling on the recruiting trail. That, following a disappointing season on the field, has led to further criticism of Freeze for the amount of golf he’s played. Auburn currently has the 66th-ranked recruiting class in the country for the 2026 recruiting cycle, with just nine commits. That’s currently 16th in the SEC.

So, a recent post where Kiffin praised his golf game, saying, “Great job Coach!! Game is on” with a fire emoji at the end. That, along with a fishing video that Kiffin posted, tagging Freeze in, made it seem like he had something to say about the recent online criticism of the Auburn coach. In particular, there was an interpretation that Freeze can’t land the big fish.

“A lot of people think I was directing like when I was fishing that it had something to do with his golf. It wasn’t. It was way back to a years ago thing,” Kiffin said. “When he was kind of flexing on a picture of a two-pound bass or something like that, that he posted. So, that’s kind of where the whole fishing thing started.”

It is a deep connection that Lane Kiffin and Hugh Freeze hold, despite never being at the same program, coaching together. They’ve competed head-to-head for several years. Kiffin is also now coaching Ole Miss, the school where Freeze both made a name for himself and fell into scandal. Then, when the Auburn job came open, Kiffin was rumored to be in play for it before getting an extension at Ole Miss and Freeze landed the gig.

Hugh Freeze fires back at Lane Kiffin over jab about his golf game

Lane Kiffin isn’t going to stop poking fun at other coaches. At the same time, Hugh Freeze doesn’t mind firing back to defend his golf game.

“Hugh Freeze was ready Tuesday for the golf questions and some of Lane Kiffin’s social media barbs on the amount of golf Freeze has played this offseason. ‘Tell him I shot 66 eight times,’ Freeze said laughing,” ESPN’s Chris Low shared.

Ole Miss and Auburn won’t be playing this season. So, for the time being, the two will have to keep battling it out on social media and at press conferences.