Hugh Freeze buyout, contract details as Auburn football coach
Hugh Freeze faces job pressure at Auburn after Saturday night’s 20-10 loss to Georgia, his third straight setback this season and 11th overall in 12 games against nationally ranked competition for the Tigers. It was Freeze, who fell to 14-17 overall at Auburn Firmly on the hot seat preseason and again this week, shifting the focus away from him and toward his team and expected improvements.
Freeze Auburn’s buyout is $15.4 millionalmost identical to Total paid by the Tigers Bryan Harsin is eight games into his second season in 2022 amid the program’s internal failings and on-field struggles. Freeze signed a six-year deal that same year worth $39 million.
“I think it’s very clear that we’re finding ways not to win football games. And that’s got to change.” Freeze saidafter watching his team squander a 10-point lead against the Bulldogs.
Freeze’s latest loss to an elite opponent comes days after he was asked this week on an SEC conference call if he had heard any noise about the importance of the Georgia game in terms of job security.
“I don’t care about any of that,” Freeze said. “Of course, I’m a person of faith, and I know my story is written way above my pay grade, and I know we’re doing things the right way here. We approach every game. You’re playing three top-10 teams in a row, and we have a chance to knock them out. That’s our sole focus, and this isn’t about me. It’s about our kids and preparing them to play in a big competition like Georgia.”
After starting 3-0 this season, Auburn led 11th-ranked Oklahoma on the road in the fourth quarter of its SEC opener before John Mater’s 9-yard touchdown run with 4:54 to play sealed the win for the Sooners.
The following week at No. 9 Texas A&M, the Tigers managed just nine first downs, 177 yards of total offense and went 0-for-13 on third down during another single-possession setback.
It was more of the same against the 10th-seeded Bulldogs, who took control of the game after recovering a fumble at the goal line late in the first half when a touchdown would have given Auburn a 17-point lead.
Auburn Undercover’s Nathan King noted that Freeze was “the most depressed ever” in the postgame frame after the Tigers’ loss to Georgia. Freeze was short on his assessment of how he would handle accountability after his tough setback on Saturday.
“Easy. Go to work on Monday and get ready to win a football game. That’s how it looks,” he said.