“Coach Hugh Freeze led that charge”: Auburn’s GM sheds light on the process adopted to keep Alabama away from poaching their targets

After two straight losing seasons, Hugh Freeze and the Auburn Tigers will look to turn things around in 2025. To do it, they focused on getting more talent on the roster.

In an interview with On3's JD PicKell on Monday, Auburn general manager Will Redmond explained the roster-building philosophy ahead of the 2025 season.

"We made a priority our state," Redmond said. "And looking down our borders here in what we call the state of Auburn. What we wanted to do is some unprecedented things, and Coach Freeze led that charge. It started with him." (7:07).

According to On3, the Tigers had the eighth-ranked recruiting class, landing five of the top 10 prospects from Alabama. In total, 12 of the school's 26 commits come from their home state.

Defensive lineman Malik Autry leads the list as the No. 2 recruit from Alabama, followed by edge Jared Smith (No. 3), safeties Anquon Fegans (No. 4) and Eric Winters (No. 5) and linebacker Jakaleb Faulk (No. 9).

"We were going to do everything within our power to make sure student athletes, families and high school coaches in the state of Alabama knew that Auburn was here and Auburn was here to stay," Redmond said.

The Tigers didn't sit out on the transfer portal either, landing 20 players, including four-star transfers in quarterback Jackson Arnold (Oklahoma), wide receiver Eric Singleton Jr. (Georgia Tech), tackle Xavier Chaplin (Virginia Tech) and cornerback Raion Strader (Maryland).

The Tigers will open the season on Aug. 19 against Baylor. This will be Hugh Freeze's third season leading the Tigers.

Hugh Freeze talks to Paul Finebaum about Jackson Arnold's development

Former Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Jackson Arnold is among the Auburn Tigers' newcomers. After a disappointing 2024 season, Arnold is expected to lead the Tigers in 2025.

After spring practice, Hugh Freeze spoke about how he sees Arnold heading into the 2025 college football season in an interview with the SEC Network's Paul Finebaum.

“Really excited about Jackson. I thought he and Deuce [Knight], we were able to just – we only had those two guys here, so they got all the reps, and I think that was a good thing. And Jackson, obviously, has all the tools to be one of the top quarterbacks in the nation," Freeze said.

Auburn struggled at the quarterback position in 2024. Payton Thorne led the team with 2,713 yards, 21 touchdowns and nine interceptions, but he is now with the Cincinnati Bengals.

Hank Brown, who also saw some action last season, transferred to the Iowa Hawkeyes, leaving the door wide open for Arnold to compete for the starting job.