Freeze Talks Spring, Recaps Recruiting AU Jungle Expanding with Auburn Athletics

BY WIL CREWS SPORTSCREWS@ OPELIKAOBSERVER.COM

AUBURN —

Less than three weeks before the Auburn Tigers start spring football practice, head coach Hugh Freeze talked with the media last week recapping a whirlwind of a recruiting period and previewing the work that is to come.

“It’s not an ideal calendar for us in year one,” Freeze said. “But it’s part of taking over a new job and the transition of it. I appreciate that February is a dead month that you can really start focusing on your team, but typically you would like to take a little breather right now. We are not afforded that opportunity. We have got to really hustle to get everything installed.”

Freeze has been steady in rebuilding the Auburn football brand and culture since arriving to The Plains in November 2022. Since then, he has made good moves: re-hiring Carnell “Cadillac” Williams as associate head coach and bringing in experienced coordinators Ron Roberts and Phillip Montgomery from Baylor and Tulsa, respectively. Among other things, Freeze explained that this period in the calendar is big for getting his entire staff on the same page.

“We are all coming from a plethora of backgrounds,” he said of his staff. “This is the first week that we have really sat down and said, ‘What are we calling this?’ I’m really open to new ways; I just want to do what is best. We have got a long way to go. We have got

SPEAKMANS >>

FROM B1

Guiding athletes through the process of getting to the next level is nothing new to Speakman, and he has plenty of useful tips.

“The biggest thing is pick somewhere where you fit and where you can go play,” Speakman said on the advice he gives to his athletes during

PHOTO BY AUSTIN PERRYMAN

a full month of February facing us.”

Freeze added that he has relied on guys like Williams and secondary coach Zac Etheridge to get a sense of what needs to change in order for Auburn to be more successful.

“I lean on Cadillac quite a bit, and Zac,” he said. “And there are some in the off-field roles that we kept too, and I value all of their input as I’m trying to make decisions as to what do we change, what do we try to get a lot better at, or this was pretty good and how did work. Their input is valuable to me.”

In addition to filling his staff with quality and experienced members, Freeze did wonders on the recruiting trail for the Tigers across the last two months. National Signing Day just passed on Feb. 2, and the head ball coach has Auburn’s 2023 class ranked No. 18 overall by 247Sports, and its 2023 transfer class ranked No. 4.

“I would love to say that I knew our team better, but the current roster demanded that we hit it hard,” Freeze said about the recent recruiting period. “I wasn’t afforded the opportunity to sit in the office and try to do anything else other than recruit. How much can you really do in two and a half weeks? It’s hard to really say how much we have closed that gap on the teams we are trying to catch. But I do think we have improved ourselves.” the recruiting process.

The area of the roster where Freeze and his staff did the most work was undoubtedly the offensive line — signing eight new players overall.

“We always use the term around here 'do you want to play, or do you want to be on the team?' Because there is a difference.”

Bryce took this advice to heart when choosing where he would continue his academic and baseball career.

“I was looking for somewhere that I could play immediately or have the potential to play immediately,” he said. “I

“That’s unheard of to try and get to your 16 number,” Freeze said of the new offensive linemen. “That’s a big challenge. There was no way around it. And you also feel like you’re behind on the 2024 class. That made for a full January to try and catch up on some of those.”

In terms of the roster he inherited, Freeze lamented the lack of time he has had to this point to get familiar with his squad. Going forward, however, getting acquainted is one of Freeze’s top priorities.

“I don’t know if it is the right approach, but I’m listening and watching right now, trying to know them by their actions,” Freeze said. “Looking forward to getting to know our team. It’s one of the most uncomfortable things about transition right now, and the way we have to recruit is you don’t get to know your guys. So I am excited to get to know them.”

The head coach added that aside from getting to know his team, it’s the culture that he is trying to develop that is crucial to Auburn’s success right now.

“There are so many dynamics to running a program at this level today,” he said. “I’m very convinced that the culture and locker room for teams that have talent — if the culture is right, it’s going to pay dividends. I think there is an enormous amount of time that I can put into that that will help us.”

Freeze and company are turning their attention to spring practice now, with an eye firmly

See RECRUITING, page B3 really like coach Lewis and what he had to offer.”

Bryce is ready to make the transition from the Bulldogs outfield to that of the Cardinals. His father’s expertise and leadership has helped many different athletes out of Opelika High School achieve their dreams of playing their sport in college. This time, however, it is even more special for the veteran coach.

BY NOAH GRIFFITH FOR THE OBSERVER

AUBURN —

The year 2022 was a thrilling year for Auburn University sports.

Auburn climbed to the top of the men’s basketball rankings for the first time in program history, gymnastics reached the National Championships under the leadership of Olympic Gold Medalist Suni Lee, baseball made a College World Series run and softball broke into the NCAA Tournament behind an electric freshman class.

But the experience was filled with more excitement for all these teams when compared to past years, thanks to the AU Jungle. It’s not a special occasion — it’s an ongoing celebration.

“If you want to be an ‘everything school,’ you need to back that up with students that serve as a student section for an everything school,” said AU Jungle Vice President Michael Floyd. “The Jungle believes in Auburn and loves it.”

To go along with the historic athletic year for the Tigers, their ferocious student section, known far and wide as one of the loudest in the nation, became an official student organization last spring. According to Floyd and Jungle President Jenny McBride — both juniors at Auburn University — this simply solidified what had already been brewing.

When the Bruce Pearl era began on The Plains in 2014, one of his priorities was reviving student involvement in basketball. All it took was a few students buying in, headed up mainly by Clint Richardson and Jacob Varner, and it took off.

The movement kept building, and when Floyd brought his “iconic, tattered and torn” straw hat from the bookstore into Auburn Arena his freshman year, and McBride brought her spirit and energy to the arena at the “crack of dawn” each weekend, The Jungle chose them as leaders.

When former President Jacob Hillman and others requested them as Jungle leaders, he found two of the peppiest personalities to get the crowd raging in today’s Neville Arena.

But it goes beyond the arena. The group of now 13 leaders — which more than doubled in size from last year’s six — takes to social media, creates flyers, inspires student section themes (white out, jersey night, jungle theme, etc.) and provides shakers to match the game’s theme. Oh, yeah, and they do that one thing.

“I don’t know what it’s called — you know, that one thing that gets people there? Yeah, giveaways,” McBride said with a smile. Simply put, they spread the word. Because it’s not just Saturdays in the fall when there’s a party on The Plains. Auburn roars on throughout the week for men’s and women’s basketball, gymnastics, baseball, softball, volleyball, soccer and, from time to time, tennis.

Lesser-attended sports’ growth is a mission of The Jungle because, at one time, basketball was a lesser-attended sport. Look at it now.

“(Over the years,) I definitely think that the lines have gotten a lot longer, and we’ve gotten a lot more support from all the

See JUNGLE, page B3