Auburn football's Hugh Freeze projected to enter 2025 on 'scorching seat'
Auburn football is on a bye before facing Louisiana Monroe. However, that won't stop people from talking about the job security of head coach Hugh Freeze , who is in his second season with the Tigers.
Now, with Florida head coach Billy Napier's job safe , Freeze might have one of the hottest seats in the country going forward, via Richard Johnson of CBS Sports.
"It's hard to imagine the Hugh Freeze era in Auburn going worse than it has through nearly two seasons," Johnson wrote. "Statistically Auburn actually isn't that bad but has a remarkable ability to blow games it shouldn't leading to a pitiful 3-6 record that will result in missing a bowl game."
After 22 games as the team's coach, Freeze has a 9-13 record, including 4-10 in the SEC. To make matters worse, he's 1-6 in SEC home games and also suffered a loss to New Mexico State in 2023. In comparison, his predecessor, Bryan Harsin was fired after only 21 games, despite having a better record than Freeze.
Hugh Freeze's nightmare: Diego Pavia
Hugh Freeze has struggled since being hired by Auburn, there's no doubt about that. However, during his time with the Tigers and even further beyond that, Freeze has struggled severely against Diego Pavia.
In 2022, Freeze's last year at Liberty, he faced New Mexico State with Pavia at quarterback. The Aggies ended up winning that game in dominant fashion, 49-14. Pavia threw 16 of 21 for 214 yards and three touchdowns.
In 2023, Freeze once again faced New Mexico State and Pavia, this time at Auburn. Despite being a heavy favorite, Pavia once again blew Freeze out, 31-10. This time, Pavia threw 19 of 28 for 201 yards and three touchdowns.
Finally, in 2024, Freeze and Auburn faced Pavia once again, now with Vanderbilt. Once again, Pavia won by double digits, 17-7. He finished the game 9 of 22 for 143 yards and two touchdowns.
All in all, Pavia has completed 44-of-71 (62%) passes for 558 yards and eight touchdowns. He also has thrown no interceptions.
