Hugh Freeze addresses elephant-sized failure that has defined his Auburn tenure thus far
While the development of the transfer portal and NIL spending has made it easier than ever for coaches to overhaul their programs, those big changes haven't led to breakout teams left and right. The core of successful teams is still landing impact high school recruits and developing those players into stars. Auburn head coach Hugh […]
While the development of the transfer portal and NIL spending has made it easier than ever for coaches to overhaul their programs, those big changes haven't led to breakout teams left and right. The core of successful teams is still landing impact high school recruits and developing those players into stars.
Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze intended to build through high school pipelines, and his 2025 recruiting class was a massive one. But his desire to avoid an Indiana-type approach where the constant churn continues beyond the first two years has not worked.
Freeze remains committed to Auburn’s goal of developing the program primarily through high school recruits, but it's evident that, at this time, the transfer portal still plays a significant role.
“I said I wanted to build it primarily through the high school ranks. That had to be rethought a little bit, but not as much as I thought,” Freeze said on signing day in December.
Since Hugh Freeze took over as head coach at Auburn after the 2022 season, the Tigers have heavily relied on the transfer portal to strengthen their roster. They've brought in a total of 55 players from the portal since Freeze's arrival, averaging about 18.3 new additions each offseason.
It's not uncommon to see a large influx of transfers following a coaching change. Freeze’s first offseason at Auburn was the most significant, with 20 players joining. Last year, that number dropped to 16, but this year, after the 2024 season wrapped up, they’ve signed 19 transfers—an increase, even as Freeze now works with his third high school signing class.
A big factor in this transfer activity is the number of players leaving the program. Auburn lost 23 scholarship players to the portal this offseason. As long as players exit, there will inevitably be a need to replace them with new transfers.
The more interesting aspect is Auburn's mixed results with transfers since Freeze came on board. While some positions have benefited greatly from the transfers over the past two seasons, others have been a letdown, with young players stepping up in ways transfers haven’t.
When looking at overall performance and success rates, Auburn has seen better results from its defensive transfers under Freeze than from those on offense. Out of the five players seeing the most defensive snaps in 2024, three were brought in through the transfer portal during Freeze's time.
As we consider what the 2025 transfer class might look like, it's tough to predict how many of these 19 players will exceed expectations. Only five of them are slated to be starters, but many are anticipated to contribute in some capacity during 2025.
Whether Auburn will keep recruiting double-digit transfers each year largely hinges on how many players leave the program each offseason. As the transfer portal landscape evolves, forecasting that becomes increasingly challenging.
