At a time when college football programs were surviving on Gatorade to run the 2026 recruiting trail, Hugh Freeze marked himself safe from the rat race. It was quite evident from how the Auburn Tigers struggled with the 2026 recruiting class. They lost two back-to-back commits. 5-star linebacker Shadarius Toodle flipped to the Georgia Bulldogs. Then, more heartbreak came for Freeze. They lost 4-star wide receiver Devin Carter, who swapped wagons and hopped onto the Florida State Seminoles.
During this time, they also lost four-star linebacker recruit JaMichael Garrett. With this, Freeze’s program fell 15 spots in the 2026 recruiting rankings. While the head coach was supposed to sit with his squad, sketching out the recruiting strategies, Freeze was spotted trying his hand at golf. And obviously it invited some more trolls.
With Auburn sitting at No. 86 in the 247Sports team recruiting rankings for the 2026 class and dead last in the SEC, Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin could stop himself from passing a jab. He took a not-so-subtle swing at Freeze and re-shared a Freeze’s tweet from May. In that picture, the Auburn head coach is spotted posing a bright smile with the Ryder Cup in his hands. Kiffin penned down his comment, “Great job Coach!! Game is on .” As the plot thickens for Freeze’s new love for golf, so much so, that his head coaching duties have gone for a toss, David Pollack had the chance to interview him. On the July 9th episode of the See Ball Get Ball with David Pollack podcast, the host attached the clip. “Hugh, how was the golf game by the way, we solved with golf?” asked Pollack.
Freeze kept it humble, claiming, “You know everybody seems to talk about my golf game. It’s not as good as it used to be.” Things started to get interesting as Pollack questioned, “I heard Jill’s given you all run for your money, you want?” And Freeze did not push the conversation under the table. He said, “Jill, is going to with the GHIN system. She most days going to beat me right now. And if she is not beating me when it gets to the last few h- – – s she comes up with a new GHIN system that gives her a straight advantage to win.” That’s how Freeze’s best friend, his wife, Jill, is giving him some tough time. Meanwhile, the Auburn head coach has got the back of his insider.
(This is a developing story…)
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