Key takeaways from Hugh Freeze's signing day press conference
AUBURN — There’s little doubt that what Hugh Freeze and his staff accomplished on early signing day as it pertains to the 2024 class should be widely praised. Auburn currently possesses the No. 7 overall class and No. 4 class in the SEC. The class contains multiple 5-stars and impact players across the board. Freeze met the media on Wednesday to talk about the class. Here are the key points that came out of that press conference.
WATCH FREEZE’S FULL PRESS CONFERENCE HERE
— Freeze said the goal in Year One was a Top-10 class and Year Two a Top-5 class. Freeze talked about stacking classes and chasing a standard every day to accomplish big things in the SEC. That’s a respectable big-picture mindset. Auburn already sits at No. 7 in the 2025 team rankings, so they are off to a good start. These first two classes are critically important to the entire Freeze tenure. The first half went well, now to repeat that performance for 2025, create a stable foundation and go from there. “I’m optimistic,” Freeze said. “With what we did this year in the short time we had, it’s a reasonable expectation we should he around that top-5 range.”
— Freeze made an interesting comment and one that shows perspective early in his Auburn tenure. He said they didn’t win all the recruiting battles, but “we sure were in them.” That’s fair. Nobody could expect Auburn to make up all the ground lost over the last three years or so in one go around, but they certainly made up a good bit of it. Freeze’s comment about being in the heated battles is noteworthy, true, and likely a sign of things to come.
— The focus was on landing the best high school class possible, Freeze said, calling the class part of the “true rebuild here at Auburn.” Freeze and co. could have tried to do both, sealing the deal on high school prospects while also trying to land big fish in the portal, but it could have impacted Auburn’s ability to close strong with high school prospects down the stretch. Freeze made the right decision in my estimation, at least for this first full go around, to focus on high school first, portal second until early signing day came and went. And practically speaking, he didn’t want to chance scaring away a top high school prospect by landing a commitment from a portal player at the same position.
— And then there was the “there are schools in this conference that believe in last-night efforts” comment from Freeze. “You have to fight and hold on,” he said. Freeze said he didn’t always like what was done on that front. It was interesting because Auburn themselves was one of those schools fighting until the last minute to flip prospects like LJ McCray, KJ Bolden and others. My take was that in a perfect world, Freeze wishes he didn’t have to play some of the games that are required to win in big-time college football recruiting. He loves building relationships, but doesn’t seem keen on playing games that possibly undermine his ability to build strong foundations. He likely wishes it were more like college basketball recruiting, where once a prospect is committed, there’s an understanding that programs generally back off and move on. Now, Freeze will play the game and fight the fight, no doubt, but said, “it’s a little out of my comfort zone” to engage in last-minute tactics to hold on or steal a prospect late. Interesting comments nonetheless.
— Freeze said JUCO All-American Seth Wilfred was a great get, along with DeAndre Carter, who Freeze said has the potential to be a NFL “inside guard or center.” Freeze added, “that one position has been the biggest challenge for me to try and figure out and for Jake (Thornton) to figure out. We’re still trying to figure that out, truthfully.” It’s unclear exactly what Freeze meant by “figure that out,” but there’s no question the offensive line position has been a struggle for Auburn to land elite prospects for years now. That position will be a major focus for the 2025 class, starting with a prospect like Micah Dubose from Mobile, Ala., who recently decommitted from Georgia.
— It was risky for Freeze to step back from primary play caller to focus more on recruiting during this first cycle. On the field, the offense struggled mightily at times this season, but the recruiting results seem to point towards Freeze’s decision paying off in that regard. “I’m pleased with the time I took away and I believe it paid dividends,” Freeze said. Now, what will Freeze do as far as play calling in 2024? And how will that impact his ability to match the recruiting efforts he just put forth during the last year?
— It’s odd, but quarterback Walker White is somehow flying under the radar in this class. Maybe that’s not a bad thing, as Auburn landed multiple 5-stars and six total prospects ranked higher than White, who is the No. 11 QB in the nation. “Walker White is going to be a star. He’s got all the attributes of what a quarterback should look like,” Freeze said. I’ve told numerous people, but there’s a lot of Tim Tebow in White, in physical stature, leadership abilities, character traits, mobility, etc. White was also arguably Auburn’s best commitment recruiter and one of the best I’ve seen in all my years of following and covering recruiting. “He’s been so consistent in trying to help recruit his team,” Freeze said.
— This class is highlighted by the receiver haul. Cam Coleman and Perry Thompson are both inside the top 10 nationally at the position, while Bryce Cain and Malcolm Simmons are no slouches, both being ranked 4-stars and Top-225 prospects. “They are going to get thrown into the deep end of the pool,” he said. Expect every one of those receivers to make an immediate impact, with Coleman and Thompson undoubtedly trending towards starting on day one. Freeze said something else that might sound obvious, but sometimes football is obvious. He said when they signed Laquon Treadwell at Ole Miss, “it changed how we called games.” It all starts with talent, and Freeze and co. did their job at the receiver position in Year One.
— The other position group that Auburn crushed it with was linebackers. Demarcus Riddick, Joseph Phillips and D’Angelo Barber would rival any trio of linebacker signees in the nation this cycle, Freeze believes. I don’t disagree. Toss in Jamonta Waller, who will play edge and be considered a linebacker, and yea, that’s an awesome haul. The additions are critical, as that’s a thin position for Auburn at the moment. “I would argue that our receiver class and linebacker class have to be two of the tops in the country.” Freeze said.
— Phillips, mentioned above, committed to Auburn over Georgia in June. One month later, Riddick flipped from Georgia and Thompson flipped from Alabama. Phillips deserves plenty of credit for helping get the ball rolling during the summer months. “He and Riddick jumping in when they had to battle people like Georgia and Alabama…I thought Joseph and Riddick helped kickstart that.” Freeze said.
— It really can’t be understated the difficulty in getting up to speed in recruiting after arriving as a coaching staff, especially in the SEC. Beyond even scouting prospects and getting the lay of the land, Freeze and his group also had to self-scout the Auburn program. What are people’s perception of the program? Does Auburn still have the appeal to land the biggest fish in the ocean? Apparently so. “We were wise about the targets,” Freeze said of trying to go after the right prospects in Year One.
— Massive kudos to receivers coach Marcus Davis, who worked countless hours to land Coleman, Thompson, Cain and Simmons. Davis had to come through for Freeze and Auburn and he did just that. “He had to spend extra, extra time,” recruiting. But Freeze’s comment about Auburn’s pursuit of Coleman was encouraging if you’re looking for perspective on the tenacity of this staff. “When Cam made his commitment to another school, we said that’s fine, but we aren’t going to waiver. We are not going away and we’re going to fight until the end. We’re going to prove that we want you more…we were relentless in making sure he understood that.”
— Freeze pulled back the curtain on two prospects Auburn was paying close attention to on signing day. Amaris Williams flipped from Florida, while Bolden flipped from Florida State to Georgia, while Freeze and the Tigers thought they were in great position a week ago. “Some go quiet sometimes and you wonder,” he said. “To get Amaris…that’s pretty big. I think he’s one heck of an athlete. I loved getting to know him. We were behind, but coach (Jeremy) Garrett did a great job. That’s a difference maker type of kid. Those are rewarding, but at the same time, you think you’ve done all to flip another one, but he goes another direction.” Freeze said on Monday before signing day, Bolden told Auburn’s coaches he was coming. On signing day, Bolden went with the in-state Bulldogs.
— I mentioned on The Corner message board multiple times that while Freeze will play the game, he is very much opposed to the “entitlement syndrome” and going too heavy or deep into NIL. Freeze believes it creates false hopes and perceptions for prospects as they enter college, and makes it more difficult for him to then mesh the prospect into the culture he and his staff have built. “We’re only allowed to give them a range for them to be valued at,” Freeze said of how they approach NIL. Freeze said the message to prospects this year that Auburn has shown it can compete for and win national titles (2010 and 2013), and said he asked prospects to be trailblazers and come help a program return to glory versus simply being another cog in the wheel of an already great program.
— While the high school signing class is getting all the attention so far, the three transfers already signed are noteworthy. Dorian Mausi from Duke has played a ton of football and started for a decent Duke team this season. He’s smart, big (240-ish pounds), savvy, and will help add experience in an Auburn linebacker room that has some of that, but not a ton. “He understands it all,” Freeze said. Mausi will play the middle position with Austin Keys, with Eugene Asante at weak side along with Cam Riley, although Cam Riley may also move to the edge. Georgia State addition Robert Lewis is “solid,” who can play inside or outside and racked up 220 yards in one game last season. Then there’s Kansas transfer Gage Keys, who is built like a brick house. Keys is 6’5 and close to 290 pounds, needs to gain some weight according to Freeze, but the head coach loves his “activeness” and expects him to be in the “rotation of inside guys.”
