Why Hugh Freeze Thinks Auburn’s Rivalry Games will be Different in 2025

The Auburn Tiger football program under Hugh Freeze has seen a bumpy start. Freeze is 0-1 against LSU and 0-4 against Alabama and Georgia during his first two years as the Tigers' head coach. Combine the poor record with the lack of success on the recruiting trail, and Auburn fans are getting antsy to start the head coaching search again for the fourth time this decade.

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If you ask Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze about the poor first two years at Auburn, however, he'll tell a different story than someone who may be on the cusp of losing his job.

"We're bigger, we're faster, we're stronger," Freeze said at SEC Media Days. "Our culture is strong. Our chemistry and carryover in coaching is here for a second consecutive year, and most of our locker room is bought into the standard to which we think it will take for us to win football games.

It's a great talking point, but Auburn needs something to change as they host Alabama and Georgia this season. Why does Hugh Freeze expect a different result this year?

"Number one, playing at Jordan-Hare is a definite advantage in those games for sure, and our roster is one that can compete with those teams. We've been in the games even the first two years, but we haven't found a way to win, and that's one of the secrets, I think, to our success this year is having guys that we think we've brought in that have the combination of all of it, not just skill set, but this guy's a winner and has been proven to win and now will help us get over the edge in all these close games like those two will be."

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Wyatt Fulton is the Tide 100.9 DME and Brand Manager, primarily covering Alabama Crimson Tide football and men's basketball. For more Crimson Tide coverage, follow Wyatt on X (Formerly known as Twitter) at @FultonW_.