Hugh Freeze comments on DJ Durkin, Derrick Nix, Charles Kelly, Auburn's QB room and new GM Will Redmond
Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze was in Mobile on Wednesday watching Senior Bowl practice. Freeze spoke to reporters about a number of topics. Here are some selective quotes courtesy of AL.com’s Ainslie Lee and video published on scene.
Freeze on the hiring of Durkin…
“There was so much interest in (the job) from people I really like. And man, I just loved (Durkin’s) interview. I love the time that we spent with he and his wife, Sarah. They’re great individuals and people I think are going to bring so much experience and value to our building and to our defense. So I’m really excited about having D.J.
“Truthfully, like I said earlier, we really felt comfortable with he and Sarah as people and that they fit with our culture, I loved his passion and his drive. I think our practices will look quite different with him because I’ve watched some of his practice tape. He’s pretty into it and energetic. And I love that about him.
“I’ve often felt like defensive guys in today’s time should maybe coach defense, verbiage wise, more like offensive guys. And he’s one of the first ones when I had the entire staff in there — offense and defense — it was like, oh my goodness, his verbiage is the most simple, but it’s multiple. But it’s so easy to understand exactly what’s going on once you get the base.”
Auburn made the Durkin hire official on Wednesday. Here are official quotes from Durkin and Freeze.
Freeze on the Kelly hire and Kelly’s influence on the DC hire…
“I can not speak high enough of Charles Kelly. I’ve known of him and we’ve had many recruiting battles and he’s tough to beat. The humility that the has is, man, if I was in Charles’ shoes 10 years ago, I would have been clamoring I’m the guy, I’m the one you should hire. I wish I was more like Charles. Charles all the way through would sit through the interviews…and when I watched him and how he handled everything, the humility he exhibited, his whole deal all along was ‘coach, get the best guys in the room. However you want my role to be, you just tell me. I came to serve, I wanted to be with you coach and be at Auburn. If you tell me it’s to do this, great. He exhibited such humility and leadership and I’m so glad we have him.”
Freeze on the Nix and Kent Austin dynamic on offense…
“It’s just a comfort level to have D-Nix and Kent (Austin) in that room knowing that the verbiage and terminology and everything will be things that I understand clearly and can add value to when I need to.”
Freeze on the play-calling structure expected next fall…
“I think it’s too early. You constantly have confidence in D-Nix in that room. But just knowing that it’s in the verbiage that I completely understand or I can suggest things or adjustments… I will know how to help more.”
Freeze on the QB room…
“I really like our room. I wanted to try to build with high school kids like Hank (Brown) and Walker (White) and us try to develop those guys along with, obviously, the experience Payton (Thorne) brings. I kinda wanna see that through.”
Freeze on the Redmond hiring..
“It is different. But I need help with that, I do. You’ve gotta have somebody you can completely trust help us build the roster and then manage it, whether it’s the NIL discussions or whatever the discussions are. I really need some help with that to take some of that off my plate. And I’ve got a guy that I’ve got great trust in that can do.
“Will Redmond, I think, is a star. He blew me away in his interviews and he’s already adding great value to being in there.”
