"He's insecure" - Paul Finebaum delivers harsh warning to Hugh Freeze after Auburn's consecutive recruitment failures

College football analyst Paul Finebaum criticized Auburn coach Hugh Freeze after the Auburn Tigers lost five-star receiver Cederian Morgan and five-star safety Jireh Edwards to the Alabama Crimson Tide.

On "McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning" on Monday, Finebaum suggested he doesn't have the confidence that Freeze has what it takes to turn things around:

"I don't know if you can solve that problem in a week, but you better be forceful, Greg (McElroy). And that's not really Hugh Freeze's forte. He's a very cagey guy who most people have always liked, but there's always that group out there who's suspicious of him."

Finebaum said that some fans hold the perception that Coach Freeze is "insecure, that he's thin-skinned, that he takes criticism poorly."

With two strong recruiting seasons in their back pocket, Auburn was looking optimistic heading into the 2025 campaign. It hasn't been until their recent misses that fans have begun to have even more doubts, given the program is currently on a run of four back-to-back losing seasons.

“I thought he had done a good enough job with the fan base and in recruiting that even if it was a seven- or eight-win season, the argument would be you have to stand behind Coach Freeze because of the alignment,” Finebaum added. “I'm not sure that alignment is there anymore.”

Coach Freeze could be on the hot seat in 2025

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Hugh Freeze was hired by Auburn in 2023 to take over the program after coaching Liberty from 2019 to 2022. After stints with Arkansas State and Ole Miss, Freeze was expected to turn around an Auburn program that hasn't had a winning record since 2019, when they finished 9-4 under Gus Malzahn.

In his debut season with the Tigers, Freeze led them to a 6-7 record. They saw one less win last season, finishing 5-7. Auburn is hoping for a dramatic shift heading into 2025 as the program could look to make a change in leadership should Freeze not see a significant improvement from his squad next season.

The Auburn Tigers will kick off their 2025 season against the Baylor Bears in August.