Started By
Message

Is Hugh Freeze the second best coach in the SEC right now?

Posted on 5/9/24 at 12:28 pm
Posted by DawginSC
Member since Aug 2022
4625 posts
Posted on 5/9/24 at 12:28 pm
Kirby Smart is #1 with Saban having retired.

Of all the rest, only one coach has ever beaten Kirby Smart as a head coach... that being Hugh Freeze when he was at Ole Miss in Smart's first season as a head coach.

Lebby, Sark, Deboer, Elko and Venables haven't played Kirby yet so they could be in the mix. Everyone else have tried and failed multiple times against Smart.
Posted by Ag Zwin
Member since Mar 2016
20128 posts
Posted on 5/9/24 at 12:29 pm to
I notice you asked this after Jimbo left.






/s
This post was edited on 5/9/24 at 12:30 pm
Posted by Lord of the Hogs
Member since Sep 2023
1701 posts
Posted on 5/9/24 at 12:31 pm to
New Mexico State says no.
Posted by Tideroller
Lower Alabama
Member since Jan 2022
2389 posts
Posted on 5/9/24 at 12:36 pm to
No. It's:

1. DeBoer

2. Smart
Posted by Willietd
Member since Apr 2017
1791 posts
Posted on 5/9/24 at 12:36 pm to
Perhaps compare coaching resumes beyond one game in Kirbys 1st season.
Posted by Pettifogger
Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone
Member since Feb 2012
79452 posts
Posted on 5/9/24 at 12:40 pm to
Obviously you're trolling LSU fans but Hugh can probably catapult into the top 5 pretty quickly if the turnaround goes well.

And it's true that Deboer and Sark could move down equally quickly (not saying they will) starting next season.

T1 - Kirby

T2 - Tested but short of elite status: Lane and Kelly

T2 - Potentially elite but TBD in the SEC: DeBoer and Sark
Posted by Henry Jones Jr
Member since Jun 2011
68733 posts
Posted on 5/9/24 at 12:45 pm to
I would take him back tomorrow if we didn’t have Kiffin. He shouldn't have been fired. We should have suspended him for a season, taken the NCAA punishment and moved on.

It all worked out in the end but I’m still pissed at our administration for ousting him. If the Auburn boosters get the frick out of his way and give him the support he needs, they will be winning 9+ games a year starting in year 3
This post was edited on 5/9/24 at 12:49 pm
Posted by BigScoreboard
Member since May 2021
967 posts
Posted on 5/9/24 at 12:45 pm to
No
Posted by 167back
Dos Gris
Member since Jun 2012
4711 posts
Posted on 5/9/24 at 12:46 pm to
Short answer NO. Long answer NO he's not
Posted by ukraine_rebel
North Mississippi
Member since Oct 2012
2269 posts
Posted on 5/9/24 at 12:48 pm to
At the end of 2015, Freeze was the second best coach in the SEC. I think that's a pretty fair assessment if you go back and look at who was coaching at the time. The NCAA wrecked the program during the following offseason and it was spiraling by the time Freeze was let go.

However, that was 8 years ago. The game, the way programs are built, have changed dramatically. So to try and say he's the second best coach b/c of what he accomplished 8 years ago, is just inaccurate. He's going to have to show he can build a program with the new way of doing things before being considered that highly.
Posted by Stidham8
Member since Aug 2018
7097 posts
Posted on 5/9/24 at 1:05 pm to
He very well may be. The talent he’s bringing in is at the highest level since the Chizik era.
Posted by RT1941
Member since May 2007
30302 posts
Posted on 5/9/24 at 1:06 pm to
It's been 8 yrs since Freeze was considered among the best in this conference. Things have changed will he evolve?

Freeze wants to build relationships, team loyalty, player comradery and he wants to have a genuine personal relationship with his players. He wants to build with high school talent & mix in a few portal guys to plug holes until the roster is dependable and he can train them on his system.

Can he juggle re-recruiting his own players, evaluating high school talent, recruiting the portal in addition to raising his own funds for NIL plus the demands of actually coaching his players, game planning, and in-game play calling?
This post was edited on 5/9/24 at 1:24 pm
Posted by Leto II
Arrakis
Member since Dec 2018
21581 posts
Posted on 5/9/24 at 1:06 pm to
No
/thread
Posted by Double Down
Mayor of St. George
Member since Dec 2007
6606 posts
Posted on 5/9/24 at 1:21 pm to
Anyone that thinks Freeze is in the top half of the league is an idiot.
Posted by BevoBucks
H-town
Member since Dec 2022
4066 posts
Posted on 5/9/24 at 1:35 pm to
quote:

Is Hugh Freeze the second best coach in the SEC right now?
It’s interesting because the man is brilliant in many ways. He has the potential to be #2. But, he’s also not very bright. He can just as easily be #12 depending on the day. That lack of consistency will eventually drive Auburn fans mad.
Posted by Glorious
Mobile
Member since Aug 2014
24607 posts
Posted on 5/9/24 at 2:00 pm to
He’s averaged over 5 losses a year as a Power 5 head coach
Posted by Bigdawgb
Member since Oct 2023
980 posts
Posted on 5/9/24 at 2:18 pm to
Kirby lost like 5 games his first year right? Including an L to Vandy??

Hugh can definitely scheme with the best of em. I think he's got room to grow on the CEO/org standpoint but he's better than Heupel at least.
Posted by DirtyCreekBottoms
Member since Mar 2024
826 posts
Posted on 5/9/24 at 2:34 pm to
Nope. It goes like this:

Kirby, Heupel, Sark and Kiffin with Freeze eli dorky as a potential contender.

BK will not survive for more than three years. He's pulling a Jimbo on LSU and riding off into the sunset nonchalantly but their fans are too delusional to see it.
This post was edited on 5/9/24 at 2:38 pm
Posted by rebeloke
Member since Nov 2012
16181 posts
Posted on 5/9/24 at 2:37 pm to
With all the resources and advantages he has at Auburn he should win big. We will find out soon enough.
Posted by John Milner
Member since Jan 2015
6547 posts
Posted on 5/9/24 at 4:01 pm to
So basically you think Malzahn was a better coach than Smart because Malzahn beat Saban 2 or 3 times and Kirby Smart was 1 of 6 vs Saban.
first pageprev pagePage 1 of 2Next pagelast page

Back to top
logoFollow SECRant for SEC Football News
Follow us on Twitter and Facebook to get the latest updates on SEC Football and Recruiting.

FacebookTwitter