aubiefifty

This should be J hunters Theme Song.................

the only time i ever tripped in my life was in 75 and i washome on leave.mushroom juice mixed with koolaid. nasty tasting. i watched walls melt and other interesting things. they say now THEY have medicinal benefits. but mr woodster i am just an ol pot head.

if the shrooms are growing out of a cow patty they are your friend. the others will kill the hell out of you. grins..............

Until fall camp starts! i sure am getting excited after a year or two of no hope. I think we will be better than a lot of folks think we might be. This is just a gut feeling as i am certainly no expert. actually yesterday was the two week thing so we are one day closer to fall camp. these are the days that are special for all the kids with dreams who will lay it all out on the line. they have been grinding and now they compete for those starting and backup jobs. is anyone else getting fired up or is it just my half a gummy kicking in?

auburnwire.usatoday.com Hugh Freeze details DeMario Tolan's departure from program Taylor Jones ~2 minutes Last week it was reported that transfer linebacker DeMario Tolan was no longer with the program. On Tuesday, head coach Hugh Freeze shed light on the situation. During his time at SEC Media Days, Freeze was asked about Tolan’s departure. To which he provided a brief, yet weighty response. Buy Tigers Tickets “DeMario’s dealing with some personal family issues,” Freeze said Tuesday. “We want to support him every way we can to make sure he is in the best spot possible for him and his family.” Freeze also said that a possible return for Tolan will be determined. Tolan was a heavy target for Auburn during his recruiting days, but he ended up at LSU for his freshman season. After visiting in January, Tolan said that he felt that Auburn was a “perfect fit” for him. “The highlight of my visit today was just the new staff and how well I feel like they’re going to be for me,” Tolan said. “Just overall I feel like it’d be a great place for me moving forward. I think that they’re at a great place — just a great coach. I feel like they’re going to be a perfect fit for me and just happy to have it be my first visit.” Tolan recorded nine total tackles during his lone season at LSU in 2022. Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Taylor on Twitter @TaylorJones__

yahoo.com Former Auburn DC shares prediction for Tigers’ 2023 season Daniel Locke ~2 minutes 2023 will be a pivotal year for the Auburn football program, and many predictions have been made as to how it will go. It is tough to predict. Hugh Freeze has wasted no time improving the roster since he took over the program but it is difficult to truly know what kind of team you have until conference play rolls around in mid-September. Former Auburn defensive coordinator Derek Mason, who spent one season with the Tigers in 2021, has predicted how things will go for Freeze and the Tigers in 2023. Mason’s predictions are included in an On3 article written by Nick Kosko. “I think 7-5,” Mason said. “I think we understand what their quarterback situation is. We understand that this unit right now is somewhat saddled a little bit in terms of where they sit, but I think what they did in recruiting, what they did in recruiting was outstanding. And they did a good job in the portal and getting (Payton) Thorne and making sure you know really that they can get some competition in the quarterback room. “But I think all the way around, they’ve got pieces. When you look at that secondary, you know Keionte (Scott)… guys coming back, Cam Riley, the production. It gives this group a chance offensively and defensively by what he’s done.” Mason also noted that each game besides Georgia and LSU could be a win for the Tigers.

i wish greene and trump would have sex with each other and get the clap. i am not quite as hateful as either of them but i am getting there.

they have a bunch of idiots on the right. they say MAGA folks are less educated than others and i believe it totally now.

yahoo.com Marjorie Taylor Greene Inflicts Hunter Biden Nudes on Congress Justin Baragona 4–5 minutes Fox News Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) briefly sent Wednesday’s House Oversight hearing into chaos when she displayed nude photos of President Joe Biden’s son Hunter engaging in sexual activities, prompting committee Democrats to deem her latest attention-grabbing stunt inappropriate. Wednesday’s hearing was centered on the testimony of two IRS whistleblowers who allege that the criminal probe into Hunter Biden, which resulted in a plea deal on tax charges, was mishandled by the Justice Department, who they claim gave preferential treatment to the younger Biden. For the first few hours, the hearing largely went as expected. Republicans touted the whistleblowers’ testimony as extremely credible while using it as a launching point for further speculation about the “Biden crime family” and allegations of foreign bribery schemes. Democrats, meanwhile, labeled the entire investigation into the Bidens as an “exercise in futility and embarrassment,” noting that House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-KY) has yet to provide any evidence of the president’s wrongdoing. It wasn’t until Greene got her chance to ask questions, however, that the hearing really turned into a circus of the absurd. Armed with a series of posterboards emblazoned with X-rated images from the younger Biden’s infamous laptop, the MAGA congresswoman asked the two witnesses if they believed the president’s son’s involvement with prostitutes violated any federal laws. “So when Hunter Biden paid for this woman to do this with him, to travel across state lines from California to Washington, D.C., on June 15, this is a violation of the Mann Act. This was prostitution,” she said, holding up censored photos of a nude Hunter Biden. Joseph Ziegler, an IRS Special Agent with the Criminal Investigation Division, eventually told the Georgia lawmaker that he would need to refer her questions about Hunter Biden allegedly writing off payments to prostitutes to the House Ways and Means Committee. However, she persisted. Even after Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-MD) pointed out that Greene was nearly two minutes over her time, the congresswoman kept asking Ziegler about a potential IRS investigation into “Hunter Biden making sex tapes” and “online pornography.” She then waved around yet another large nude photo of the presidential scion, prompting gasps from the crowd and an objection from Raskin. “Should we be displaying this, Mr. Chairman?!” Raskin exclaimed while another Democrat said this was “unbecoming” of the chamber. Asking for a point of order, Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) complained about Greene publicizing images that “are not actually even allegations much less evidence of anything.” Conceding that it was a “good point,” Comer went on to say that the material had been “on the internet long before I became chairman of this committee” and therefore was already publicized. Following Greene’s antics, some Democrats took her to task. “Today’s hearing is like most of the majority’s investigations and hearings: A lot of allegations, zero proof, no receipts—but apparently, some dick pics,” Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) said later in the hearing. Lacking a certain amount of decorum in his response, however, Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) tweeted that the photos revealed that “perhaps we should call Hunter Biden the ‘Big Guy,’” referencing an alleged nickname for the president in Hunter’s emails. Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment about whether Greene’s behavior was appropriate and if he planned any disciplinary action against her. In a Newsmax interview later Wednesday, Greene admitted the sexually explicit images made her “uncomfortable,” but maintained that they amounted to evidence that “the American people deserve to see.” “This is a weaponized Department of Justice. They are protecting Hunter Biden,” she argued on Rob Schmitt Tonight. i cannot wait until karma catches up with this bad. she is pure trailer trash and of course the right put her in office. hunter should sure the crap out of her.

he is a lot like the rest he just talks nicer. when i was in grade school they used to make us crawl under our desks or kneel in a hallway over nukes and it scared everyone. now they are scared of their own countrymen coming in and killing them because too many folks carrying guns should in fact not be allowed anywhere near them. and for the record i am talking assault weapons. and yes they do make a difference. one hell of a difference.

this might be a double post guys and if so my apologies my memory is not what it used to be..............

i post this in case anyone has interest in most of the sec stuff instead of just Auburn.

247sports.com Freeze says change needed for Auburn program to move forward Jason Caldwell 8–10 minutes Auburn's Hugh Freeze talks about flipping the script on the Plains. NASHVILLE, Tennessee—Taking over an Auburn program that has lost four or more games in nine straight seasons, Hugh Freeze said the first order of business wasn’t rebuilding the roster or finding a quarterback. The first order of business for Freeze was convincing those inside and around the program that it was time for a change and not to just keep doing more of the same. “The first thing that I think had to be flipped was the mindset, because I really believe as a man thinketh, so he is,” Freeze said. “What do we think about ourselves at Auburn, and they had heard so much and will hear so much about what people's opinion are or where you should be picked to finish and all of these things. But man, we first have to rewire the way we think. That's the first thing that I think needed to be flipped, and that's why I chose that as the spring theme.” The mentality was the first thing that had to change for Auburn to move forward under Freeze, but without some changes to the roster the opportunity to win right away probably wasn’t going to happen. It’s still not a guarantee with the Tigers again facing one of the nation’s toughest schedules, but Freeze said they wanted to create more competition across the board “I don't want to be negative,” Freeze said. “Just, it was off from what I believe an Auburn roster should look like. Recruiting has been a little more challenging than I thought for Auburn, because of what I believe Auburn should be and what it's proven it can be. It's, what, one of six teams that has played in two national championship games in the last 13 years or so? I mean, that's pretty recent. “I want to be careful not to -- I love our team. They're my team. They're Auburn's team. We're going to coach the heck out of them. Does our roster from top to bottom look like Alabama's, Georgia's, LSU's, Florida, A&M, Ole Miss? I don't know yet. I know a couple they don't because I've watched the tape. “Do I think we've improved Auburn with the additions that we've had since I've been there? Yes. Does that mean we close the gap at all? I have no clue. I do know we improved Auburn, and I hope that means that we somehow close the gap enough to -- if we have a good game plan, to be in some of those games in the fourth quarter and have maybe a shot to pull an upset.” With a month to try to mesh together several transfer newcomers to a group that is still picking up things installed during spring practices, Freeze admits this will likely be a season of ups and downs. As long as he sees effort and improvement, that’s all he can ask for in year number one on the Plains. "Well, I think our program is a work in progress,” he said. “I think anybody that has followed it will say that. I'm OK with that, and they've got to be OK with that. We're really going to have to stay tunnel visioned on what today brings. I'm not a big goal setter, I don't believe in that. I believe in what we can do today to get better. If we can stay there, then hopefully from Game 1 to Game 12 there's considerable improvement." Auburn hopes to 'constantly recreate' feeling from Cadillac Williams' run as interim coach "Coach Lac, he's an incredible man, incredible ambassador for the school, has been for a long time. People with orange and blue in their blood, they want to see him around forever." NASHVILLE, Tennessee — Eight months later, there’s still some energy left over from that night in Jordan-Hare Stadium, wafting above the new practice facility. It’s most concentrated above Cadillac Williams’ office. The Tigers have completely turned the page from the 2022 season, sure, with fall camp two weeks away, and well inside two months until the start of the Hugh Freeze era. But at this year’s SEC Media Days in Nashville, Auburn’s 13-10 victory over Texas A&M may have been the most inconsequential game — relative to the rest of the conference in terms of its result — that was brought up several days over the course of the Tigers’ time in the spotlight Tuesday. That is, of course, because it was so emblematic of how Williams, in an interim role, began to steer Auburn back in the right direction weeks before the program hired a new head coach to replace Bryan Harsin. “People may not understand how pivotal that was for us,” fifth-year senior tight end Luke Deal said Tuesday. “I would argue that this football program, this team, this university, this town has still built off of that moment, off of those games, off of that energy. That's what we're going to take into next season. That kind of energy, that kind of unity is something that you build on hopefully for years to come. So it's been huge.” Williams went 2-2 as Auburn’s interim head coach, including a loss at Mississippi State where the Tigers came back from down 21 points and forced overtime, and a home victory over Texas A&M in one of the loudest, most electric nights in Jordan-Hare Stadium in recent memory — for a game between a pair of 3-6 teams. But entirely separate from any on-the-field results, the mood around the program and in the building had been raised by Williams’ humble and simple manta: serve, discipline and believe. A sunken Auburn squad lost four straight games earlier in the season and could have packed it in after their head coach was fired — but instead responded to Williams’ leadership with reinvigorated passion and intensity that, according to one of their senior leaders, still permeates within the walls of the football complex in mid July. “Whenever you saw he had the spotlight on him as a coach, you saw that positive energy,” Deal said of Williams. “You saw that positive light, that positive outlook on everything in life. That was something that energized us. It motivated us. That's something that he brings every single day.” (Kyle Okita, 247Sports) Both Williams and athletic director John Cohen confirmed Williams interviewed for the head coaching job, and in November, Williams joked that Cohen and university president Christopher Roberts looked more disappointed than him when they delivered the news that he didn’t get the position. But Freeze’s first priority after being hired, he said at his introductory press conference, was to retain Williams on his staff: “I’ve got to have Cadillac at my side.” Williams was promoted to associate head coach, where, in his words, he has a “seat at the table” for major team decisions, and can also serve as a constant line of counsel for Freeze in their attempt to revive Auburn back into a championship-contending program. Keeping the former All-SEC running back on staff and repeatedly praising his impact on the program were the first wins of Freeze’s Auburn tenure — and he would have been dealing with a disgruntled fanbase right off the bat if he hadn’t done so. “People are going to be pretty upset if you get rid of Cadillac Williams” Deal said. “I know I would be. Coach Lac, he's an incredible man, incredible ambassador for the school, has been for a long time. People with orange and blue in their blood, they want to see him around forever. That was definitely important for our success.” At SEC Media Days, Freeze retold the story of watching Auburn beat Texas A&M under Williams, and how the fanbase responded to one of their program’s icons at the helm. To Freeze, Williams not only represented what he believes Auburn stands for, but reminded the rest of the college football world, too. “You started hearing and seeing what was going on at Auburn (under Harsin), and hearing that this isn’t Auburn,” Freeze said. “And I remember vividly Cadillac taking over and watching the Texas A&M game. And that atmosphere in that stadium that night — I remember looking at Jill and saying, ‘It’s still Auburn.’ I hope the passion they played with down the stretch, I hope that’s a staple of something we can constantly recreate every Saturday.” *** Subscribe to Auburn Undercover for the latest news and intel, podcasts, recruiting coverage and more *** *** Get Auburn news straight to your inbox with the Auburn Undercover newsletter ***

al.com How Hugh Freeze addressed his return to the SEC at media days Updated: Jul. 18, 2023, 9:42 p.m.|Published: Jul. 18, 2023, 7:30 p.m. ~3 minutes Hugh Freeze talks challenges of rebuilding a program, Auburn culture at SEC Media Days 2023 Hugh Freeze wasn’t sure he’d be back in the SEC. When he resigned from Ole Miss in 2017 in scandal, a return to the conference wasn’t something he had time to think about it. Frankly, he said it didn’t cross his mind again until he began winning at his Liberty. And now, six years later, Freeze is back. On Tuesday, the whirlwind of the SEC Media Days -- the eager fans waiting in the lobby, the shuttling around from press conference to press conference, podium to podium, TV interview to social media photoshoot and a flight back to Birmingham right after it all for a speaking event -- hit Hugh Freeze again. It was a day that could have been contentious. The questions on Freeze’s past, as he stood in front of the whole conference’s media, were obvious. Instead, Freeze handled the day with poise and reflection -- though kept his speech vague in doing so. He described his resignation and the scandals including phone calls to an escort service as “the way it ended.” He didn’t directly discuss the phone calls or other violations found in an investigation into his Ole Miss program. But Freeze continued with a long remark on what he’s learned in the time between his SEC coaching jobs. “As time passes and things tend to settle back in and you work through -- I tell people all the time, I think that one of the greatest judges of people, and our players included and the people I come in contact with, are when you experience disappointment, failure, whether it was of your own doing or whether it was circumstances that come into your life,” Freeze said. “Those are tough circumstances, but how a person responds to those and reacts to those probably tells you more about them than the successes do.” The questions in the main media room then shifted away from his past and onto his future, on how he can mend Auburn and move forward. If Freeze wanted to set a tone for moving quite literally past his past, then his media days press conference was the start. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. By browsing this site, we may share your information with our social media partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

247sports.com PMARSHONAU Auburns Luke Deals lessons in leadership Phillip Marshall 10–12 minutes #PMARSHONAU: Auburn's Luke Deal's lessons in leadership Auburn's senior tight end shows the way on and off the field NASHVILLE, Tennessee – Senior Auburn tight end Luke Deal won’t likely be among those chosen on the preseason All-SEC team. He might or might not be a starter on head coach Hugh Freeze’s first Auburn football team. Yet, Deal was one of three players chosen to represent Auburn at SEC Media Days on Tuesday. That’s because he is the kind of football player and the kind of man that every coach wants on his team. Deal said Tuesday that Auburn has changed his life in ways that transcend winning and losing football games. “I think it has set me up for life,” said Deal. “Life definitely throws curveballs at you. It’s how you respond. I have had so many positive moments. People like to focus on the negative. I wouldn’t change anything for the world. Hopefully, it’s made me into a better husband and future father.” Last season, Deal and his teammates went through a season they never expected when they signed with Auburn. After a 41-27 loss to Arkansas, Auburn’s fourth consecutive loss, second-year head coach Bryan Harsin was fired. But from that grew new hope with the help of interim head coach Cadillac Williams. “Last year was a tough moment,” Deal said. “What we experienced midway through the year was something not many college football teams experience. It was the way in which we responded, the way Auburn University and the Auburn family responded. Having a sellout crowd against Texas A&M after being that bad is something you don’t see every often. It’s something I was blessed to be a part of it. We are building off of it to this day. “That was a turning point. It was a very low point in my career, but it has led me to here.” In June of that year, Deal dealt with something far more difficult than a lost football game or a lost football season. Less than two months after Deal married his wife, Ansley, his father, the man he called his hero, died far too young, finally losing his battle with ALS at the age of 50. “It was absolutely the most difficult time of my life,” Deal said. “It also has helped mold me. Seeing someone at their lowest ebb does that to you – I have the ALS ribbon on for a reason. It’s a horrible disease. It takes everything from your body. For somebody who was a big football player like my dad and a big, strong, loud guy, to see everything taken from you is something that is heartbreaking.” Even in tragedy, Luke Deal learned lessons of strength and sacrifice. He proudly wears an ALS ribbon on his lapel. “To see how he responded, to see how he led our family when he was at his lowest physical point, is something I will never forget,” Deal said. “In his last days, I learned some of the most valuable lessons I will ever learn. I hopefully will take that in leadership with this team and with my family at home.” Deal has an Auburn degree. He is working on a graduate degree. It didn’t take long for Freeze to recognize Deal has unusual qualities of leadership, compassion and dedication to his team and teammates. “I just think he’s a quality human being first and foremost who understands the qualities and the core values of our program — faith and attitude and mental toughness and integrity and love,” Freeze said. “He exemplifies those. And he’s tough, loves the game, obviously. I think anytime we go through hardships in life, whether we cause them or they’re through circumstances that come into your life, how you handle those says probably more about you than how you handle all the good times. I see that in him.” Deal’s teammates see it, too, on the field and off. “I see the way the kids follow him,” Freeze said. “His voice matters. I wish I could talk him into taking a sixth year and staying with us. I don’t know if I’m going to win that battle or not, but he’s definitely a great human being, man and, obviously, teammate.” More words of wisdom from Deal: On NIL’s locker-room impact “I think it is obviously a challenge. We are human, and we are going to think about those things. Coach Freeze has addressed us and done a really good job with it. He has said operate out of your blessing and not your entitlement. I have carried that with me. NIL is a blessing for us. I have been very fortunate and blessed to things for my family that I couldn’t have without NIL. “It’s not worrying about other people, not worrying about what this guy or that guy is getting. It is operating out of my blessing. On Freeze’s arrival as head coach “We were sitting there figuring out who is going to be our coach. We are much more assured now, knowing who we have here and knowing what he’s about. He’s been in the SEC. He has beaten teams we need to beat. I’ve bought in to what he is saying. Our team has bought into what he is saying.” On what it will take for Auburn to have a big season “Really, it is going to take a winning culture and everybody being bought in. There is always a challenge every year with every college football team. That is to get everybody bought in and moving in the same direction. I think we’ve done a good job of that. We have built relationships. We have brought the young guys along, brought the transfers along. We have some really good leadership. I am excited for it. That’s what is going to bring his back.” Auburn hopes to 'constantly recreate' feeling from Cadillac Williams' run as interim coach "Coach Lac, he's an incredible man, incredible ambassador for the school, has been for a long time. People with orange and blue in their blood, they want to see him around forever." NASHVILLE, Tennessee — Eight months later, there’s still some energy left over from that night in Jordan-Hare Stadium, wafting above the new practice facility. It’s most concentrated above Cadillac Williams’ office. The Tigers have completely turned the page from the 2022 season, sure, with fall camp two weeks away, and well inside two months until the start of the Hugh Freeze era. But at this year’s SEC Media Days in Nashville, Auburn’s 13-10 victory over Texas A&M may have been the most inconsequential game — relative to the rest of the conference in terms of its result — that was brought up several days over the course of the Tigers’ time in the spotlight Tuesday. That is, of course, because it was so emblematic of how Williams, in an interim role, began to steer Auburn back in the right direction weeks before the program hired a new head coach to replace Bryan Harsin. “People may not understand how pivotal that was for us,” fifth-year senior tight end Luke Deal said Tuesday. “I would argue that this football program, this team, this university, this town has still built off of that moment, off of those games, off of that energy. That's what we're going to take into next season. That kind of energy, that kind of unity is something that you build on hopefully for years to come. So it's been huge.” Williams went 2-2 as Auburn’s interim head coach, including a loss at Mississippi State where the Tigers came back from down 21 points and forced overtime, and a home victory over Texas A&M in one of the loudest, most electric nights in Jordan-Hare Stadium in recent memory — for a game between a pair of 3-6 teams. But entirely separate from any on-the-field results, the mood around the program and in the building had been raised by Williams’ humble and simple manta: serve, discipline and believe. A sunken Auburn squad lost four straight games earlier in the season and could have packed it in after their head coach was fired — but instead responded to Williams’ leadership with reinvigorated passion and intensity that, according to one of their senior leaders, still permeates within the walls of the football complex in mid July. “Whenever you saw he had the spotlight on him as a coach, you saw that positive energy,” Deal said of Williams. “You saw that positive light, that positive outlook on everything in life. That was something that energized us. It motivated us. That's something that he brings every single day.” (Kyle Okita, 247Sports) Both Williams and athletic director John Cohen confirmed Williams interviewed for the head coaching job, and in November, Williams joked that Cohen and university president Christopher Roberts looked more disappointed than him when they delivered the news that he didn’t get the position. But Freeze’s first priority after being hired, he said at his introductory press conference, was to retain Williams on his staff: “I’ve got to have Cadillac at my side.” Williams was promoted to associate head coach, where, in his words, he has a “seat at the table” for major team decisions, and can also serve as a constant line of counsel for Freeze in their attempt to revive Auburn back into a championship-contending program. Keeping the former All-SEC running back on staff and repeatedly praising his impact on the program were the first wins of Freeze’s Auburn tenure — and he would have been dealing with a disgruntled fanbase right off the bat if he hadn’t done so. “People are going to be pretty upset if you get rid of Cadillac Williams” Deal said. “I know I would be. Coach Lac, he's an incredible man, incredible ambassador for the school, has been for a long time. People with orange and blue in their blood, they want to see him around forever. That was definitely important for our success.” At SEC Media Days, Freeze retold the story of watching Auburn beat Texas A&M under Williams, and how the fanbase responded to one of their program’s icons at the helm. To Freeze, Williams not only represented what he believes Auburn stands for, but reminded the rest of the college football world, too. “You started hearing and seeing what was going on at Auburn (under Harsin), and hearing that this isn’t Auburn,” Freeze said. “And I remember vividly Cadillac taking over and watching the Texas A&M game. And that atmosphere in that stadium that night — I remember looking at Jill and saying, ‘It’s still Auburn.’ I hope the passion they played with down the stretch, I hope that’s a staple of something we can constantly recreate every Saturday.”

si.com Hugh Freeze provides timeline for Auburn football quarterback battle Lance Dawe 6–8 minutes Auburn fans want to know who their starting quarterback is going to be this fall. Most already have an idea, but Freeze has yet to discuss how he and the staff want to approach the battle in August. Freeze was asked at SEC Media Days about a timeline for the quarterback battle. "Yeah, I told Ken and Philip yesterday that they need to present to me a plan by next week," Freeze said. Auburn's current quarterback room includes incumbent Robby Ashford, who was inconsistent but electric as a freshman a season ago, Holden Geriner, a redshirt freshman and former four-star QB that saw one snap of action a season ago, Hank Brown, a three-star signee in the 2023 cycle, and Payton Thorne, a transfer from Michigan State. Thorne is currently the projected starter, but Freeze and his staff are electing to have a battle that works its way into fall camp. "Look, Hank Brown, I love that he can make every throw, but realistically you can't get four kids reps and camp," Freeze said. It's probably is going to be, you know, those other three (quarterbacks) for the first 10 days trying to get enough reps where we get it down to at least two guys and then move from there." 10 days of Ashford, Thorne and Geriner taking reps with the race trimmed to two shortly after. Here's an in-depth look at Auburn's QB room: Payton Thorne Thorne was a two-year starter at Michigan State before transferring to Auburn over the weekend. The Tigers were in search of a new starting quarterback, and the expectation among fans is that Thorne comes in and wins the job in fall camp with (relative) ease. It's unknown how Hugh Freeze is going to play things out before Auburn takes the field vs UMass, but expect incumbent Robby Ashford to push for the job regardless. Thorne finished an accomplished quarterback at Michigan State, setting single-season records for total yards, total touchdowns and passing touchdowns. He ranks fifth in career total touchdowns, fifth in career total yards, fourth in career passing touchdowns and third in single-season passing yards. He's not a dazzling arm talent but was excellent attacking downfield in his two seasons with the Spartans. He's a great system fit for Freeze and Montgomery. Career pass attempts - 861 (7.5 YPA) Career pass yards - 4,693 (61.0%) Career pass touchdowns - 49 Career rush yards - 270 Career rush touchdowns - 6 Best game of career: Vs Pittsburgh (12/30/2021) - 29-of-50 passing, 3 touchdowns, 1 interception Robby Ashford Ashford spent his first two seasons at Oregon, where he did not see the field. He transferred in to Auburn in 2022 and earned the backup role to TJ Finley to begin the season. He essentially split time with Finley on the field through the first two weeks. Following Finley's injury in week three vs Penn State, Ashford took over the starting role and never relinquished it - completing only 49.2% of his passes on the season but showing serious promise as a dual-threat - churning out over 700 rushing yards and solidifying himself as the best option in Auburn's quarterback room heading into 2023. Hugh Freeze, known to develop quarterbacks well, should be able to elevate Ashford's passing game. If the Tigers decide to ride with him as starter, and Freeze is able to round him out as a true quarterback, he could be a serious problem in the SEC next season. The athleticism is more than there. Polishing up his mechanics is the next step. Career attempts completions - 250 Career pass yards - 1,613 Career pass touchdowns - 7 Career rush yards - 710 Career rush touchdowns - 7 Best game of career: At Alabama (11/26/22) - 11-of-23, 77 yards, 1 TD, 17 carries, 121 yards, 2 TD OR Vs LSU (10/1/22) - 19-of-38, 337 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT, 11 carries, 19 yards Holden Geriner Geriner now enters his second season with the Tigers after redshirting in 2022. He recorded a stat in one game - coming in for a drive against Missouri - but did not receive any sort of meaningful playing time. While raw, it was evident in fall camp that Geriner had the best passing mechanics in Auburn's quarterback room. It will be interesting to see how Hugh Freeze works with Geriner - or, if Freeze decides to bring in a QB from the portal, Geriner may decide to transfer himself. The former four-star quarterback has talent and could work well in a system like Freeze's. Career pass attempts- 3 Career pass yards - 8 Career passing touchdowns - N/A Career rush yards - N/A Career rush touchdowns - N/A Best game of career: N/A Hank Brown The Baby Goat himself. Brown joins the 2023 Auburn football quarterback room as a three-star freshman from Lipscomb Academy in Nashville, Tennessee. Originally committed to Liberty, the 6-foot-4, 195 pound signal-caller won't be involved in the race this season, but should expect to compete with 2024 four-star commit Walker White in future seasons. Career pass attempts- N/A (73.3% as a HS senior) Career pass yards - 3,264 yards Career passing touchdowns - 47 Career rush yards - N/A Career rush touchdowns - N/A Best game of career: N/A *All numbers are high school stats. Daily Wire's Jake Crain predicts Auburn to finish third in SEC West College football analyst claims there are 'more questions about Auburn than anything else' Auburn TE Luke Deal 'gets chills' thinking about Cadillac Williams' win over Texas A&M Jayden Daniels shared his thoughts on playing in Jordan-Hare Stadium Jake Crain believes Auburn football can be 'sneaky' under Hugh Freeze SEC commissioner Greg Sankey discusses the elimination of divisions in future conference scheduling College football expert 'doesn't see' eight wins on Auburn football's 2023 schedule The Tigers kick off the 2023 season on September 2nd at home vs UMass at 2 p.m. CT on ESPN. Here's a look at the entire 2023 schedule: Sept. 2nd vs UMass Sept. 9th at California Sept. 16th vs Samford Sept. 23rd at Texas A&M Sept. 30th vs Georgia Oct. 14th at LSU Oct. 21st vs Ole Miss Oct. 28th vs Mississippi State Nov. 4th at Vanderbilt Nov. 11th at Arkansas Nov. 18th vs New Mexico State Nov. 25th vs Alabama Engage with Auburn Daily on Socials!

al.com Auburn injury and roster updates, DeMario Tolan: Notes from Hugh Freeze at SEC Media Days Updated: Jul. 19, 2023, 2:11 p.m.|Published: Jul. 19, 2023, 10:50 a.m. 3–4 minutes Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze speaks during NCAA college football Southeastern Conference Media Days, Tuesday, July 18, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)AP In SEC Media Days press conferences with local media and national media, Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze provided various updates on his roster and program as the beginning of fall camp quickly approaches. Below, we have a notebook of news and notes from Freeze’s day in Nashville. DeMario Tolan Last Wednesday, AL.com first reported linebacker DeMario Tolan was no longer part of the Auburn program. Tolan transferred to Auburn this offseason from LSU. The circumstances around his departure still are unconfirmed. Freeze was asked about Tolan during a meeting with local reporters. “DeMario’s dealing with some personal family issues,” Freeze said. “We want to support him every way we can to make sure he is in the best spot possible for him and his family.” Freeze said it is still to be determined if Tolan could return to the team. Injury updates Freeze rattled off a few injury updates heading into fall camp: Junior USF transfer running back Brian Battie (toe) is going to “suck it up and go” at fall camp, Freeze said. Battie dealt with the injury during spring practices but did play in the A-Day spring game. Battie had surgery, Freeze said, and he wishes Battie’s recovery was going a bit quicker. Sophomore cornerback JD Rhym is “back and going,” Freeze said. Rhym missed most of spring practices with an undisclosed injury but was seen wearing a boot at the practice fields, AL.com previously reported. Tate Johnson (elbow) is healthy, Freeze said. Senior North Texas transfer wide receiver Jyaire Shorter is going to be limited. “We’re going to have to manage Shorter some,” Freeze said. Junior wide receiver Malcolm Johnson is “good.” Junior offensive lineman Jeremiah Wright is “good,” Freeze said. So is senior offensive lineman Kameron Stutts. As a whole, Freeze said Auburn is a “pretty good spot,” with regard to injuries. Recruit, JuCo transfer working to get on the roster Two new faces -- junior college transfer defensive lineman Quientrail Jamison-Travis and 247Sports four-star rated freshman receiver Daquayvious Sorey -- are still not on the roster, Freeze said during his meeting with local media. Freeze said he feels good about Jamison-Travis being able to get onto the team at some point. “He’s finishing up his work and it looks promising there,” Freeze said. But he said he’s not feeling “quite as good” about Sorey. Freeze seemed to say Sorey’s situation could be revisited in the future. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. By browsing this site, we may share your information with our social media partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

247sports.com Freeze says change needed for Auburn program to move forward Jason Caldwell 8–10 minutes Auburn's Hugh Freeze talks about flipping the script on the Plains. NASHVILLE, Tennessee—Taking over an Auburn program that has lost four or more games in nine straight seasons, Hugh Freeze said the first order of business wasn’t rebuilding the roster or finding a quarterback. The first order of business for Freeze was convincing those inside and around the program that it was time for a change and not to just keep doing more of the same. “The first thing that I think had to be flipped was the mindset, because I really believe as a man thinketh, so he is,” Freeze said. “What do we think about ourselves at Auburn, and they had heard so much and will hear so much about what people's opinion are or where you should be picked to finish and all of these things. But man, we first have to rewire the way we think. That's the first thing that I think needed to be flipped, and that's why I chose that as the spring theme.” The mentality was the first thing that had to change for Auburn to move forward under Freeze, but without some changes to the roster the opportunity to win right away probably wasn’t going to happen. It’s still not a guarantee with the Tigers again facing one of the nation’s toughest schedules, but Freeze said they wanted to create more competition across the board “I don't want to be negative,” Freeze said. “Just, it was off from what I believe an Auburn roster should look like. Recruiting has been a little more challenging than I thought for Auburn, because of what I believe Auburn should be and what it's proven it can be. It's, what, one of six teams that has played in two national championship games in the last 13 years or so? I mean, that's pretty recent. “I want to be careful not to -- I love our team. They're my team. They're Auburn's team. We're going to coach the heck out of them. Does our roster from top to bottom look like Alabama's, Georgia's, LSU's, Florida, A&M, Ole Miss? I don't know yet. I know a couple they don't because I've watched the tape. “Do I think we've improved Auburn with the additions that we've had since I've been there? Yes. Does that mean we close the gap at all? I have no clue. I do know we improved Auburn, and I hope that means that we somehow close the gap enough to -- if we have a good game plan, to be in some of those games in the fourth quarter and have maybe a shot to pull an upset.” With a month to try to mesh together several transfer newcomers to a group that is still picking up things installed during spring practices, Freeze admits this will likely be a season of ups and downs. As long as he sees effort and improvement, that’s all he can ask for in year number one on the Plains. "Well, I think our program is a work in progress,” he said. “I think anybody that has followed it will say that. I'm OK with that, and they've got to be OK with that. We're really going to have to stay tunnel visioned on what today brings. I'm not a big goal setter, I don't believe in that. I believe in what we can do today to get better. If we can stay there, then hopefully from Game 1 to Game 12 there's considerable improvement." Auburn hopes to 'constantly recreate' feeling from Cadillac Williams' run as interim coach "Coach Lac, he's an incredible man, incredible ambassador for the school, has been for a long time. People with orange and blue in their blood, they want to see him around forever." NASHVILLE, Tennessee — Eight months later, there’s still some energy left over from that night in Jordan-Hare Stadium, wafting above the new practice facility. It’s most concentrated above Cadillac Williams’ office. The Tigers have completely turned the page from the 2022 season, sure, with fall camp two weeks away, and well inside two months until the start of the Hugh Freeze era. But at this year’s SEC Media Days in Nashville, Auburn’s 13-10 victory over Texas A&M may have been the most inconsequential game — relative to the rest of the conference in terms of its result — that was brought up several days over the course of the Tigers’ time in the spotlight Tuesday. That is, of course, because it was so emblematic of how Williams, in an interim role, began to steer Auburn back in the right direction weeks before the program hired a new head coach to replace Bryan Harsin. “People may not understand how pivotal that was for us,” fifth-year senior tight end Luke Deal said Tuesday. “I would argue that this football program, this team, this university, this town has still built off of that moment, off of those games, off of that energy. That's what we're going to take into next season. That kind of energy, that kind of unity is something that you build on hopefully for years to come. So it's been huge.” Williams went 2-2 as Auburn’s interim head coach, including a loss at Mississippi State where the Tigers came back from down 21 points and forced overtime, and a home victory over Texas A&M in one of the loudest, most electric nights in Jordan-Hare Stadium in recent memory — for a game between a pair of 3-6 teams. But entirely separate from any on-the-field results, the mood around the program and in the building had been raised by Williams’ humble and simple manta: serve, discipline and believe. A sunken Auburn squad lost four straight games earlier in the season and could have packed it in after their head coach was fired — but instead responded to Williams’ leadership with reinvigorated passion and intensity that, according to one of their senior leaders, still permeates within the walls of the football complex in mid July. “Whenever you saw he had the spotlight on him as a coach, you saw that positive energy,” Deal said of Williams. “You saw that positive light, that positive outlook on everything in life. That was something that energized us. It motivated us. That's something that he brings every single day.” (Kyle Okita, 247Sports) Both Williams and athletic director John Cohen confirmed Williams interviewed for the head coaching job, and in November, Williams joked that Cohen and university president Christopher Roberts looked more disappointed than him when they delivered the news that he didn’t get the position. But Freeze’s first priority after being hired, he said at his introductory press conference, was to retain Williams on his staff: “I’ve got to have Cadillac at my side.” Williams was promoted to associate head coach, where, in his words, he has a “seat at the table” for major team decisions, and can also serve as a constant line of counsel for Freeze in their attempt to revive Auburn back into a championship-contending program. Keeping the former All-SEC running back on staff and repeatedly praising his impact on the program were the first wins of Freeze’s Auburn tenure — and he would have been dealing with a disgruntled fanbase right off the bat if he hadn’t done so. “People are going to be pretty upset if you get rid of Cadillac Williams” Deal said. “I know I would be. Coach Lac, he's an incredible man, incredible ambassador for the school, has been for a long time. People with orange and blue in their blood, they want to see him around forever. That was definitely important for our success.” At SEC Media Days, Freeze retold the story of watching Auburn beat Texas A&M under Williams, and how the fanbase responded to one of their program’s icons at the helm. To Freeze, Williams not only represented what he believes Auburn stands for, but reminded the rest of the college football world, too. “You started hearing and seeing what was going on at Auburn (under Harsin), and hearing that this isn’t Auburn,” Freeze said. “And I remember vividly Cadillac taking over and watching the Texas A&M game. And that atmosphere in that stadium that night — I remember looking at Jill and saying, ‘It’s still Auburn.’ I hope the passion they played with down the stretch, I hope that’s a staple of something we can constantly recreate every Saturday.” *** Subscribe to Auburn Undercover for the latest news and intel, podcasts, recruiting coverage and more *** *** Get Auburn news straight to your inbox with the Auburn Undercover newsletter ***

247sports.com Why Payton Thorne brings 'it factor' to Auburn QB competition Nathan King 9–12 minutes “He’s a veteran quarterback, and you can tell." NASHVILLE, Tennessee — Luke Deal has seen more than his fair share of quarterback competitions within Auburn’s offense. From Bo Nix, Joey Gatewood, Malik Willis, T.J. Finley and Robby Ashford, the Tigers’ fifth-year senior tight end will get to experience one last QB race in his final college season, beginning in just a couple weeks when Auburn begins fall camp. Ashford, the incumbent starter, will challenge experienced transfer Payton Thorne from Michigan State, as Hugh Freeze looks to raise Auburn’s passing game from the depths of inefficiency it fell to as the Bryan Harsin regime spiraled to a conclusion. After entering the portal at the 11th hour as a grad transfer, Thorne reported to Auburn in mid May. The Tigers don’t begin full preseason practices until Aug. 3, but Thorne has been working with members of Auburn’s offense in player-led practices and obviously in summer workouts and conditioning alongside his new teammates. “He’s a veteran quarterback, and you can tell,” Deal said Tuesday at SEC Media Days. “He’s got the swagger to him, he’s got that ‘it’ factor when it comes down to experience.” Thorne brings 26 games of starting experience to new offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery’s quarterback room, throwing 49 touchdown passes with the Spartans to 24 picks, with a 61 percent career completion rate. Freeze said Tuesday on the main stage in Nashville that one of the biggest things that’s impressed him about Thorne has been his immediate impact as a leader. When he arrived, Thorne asked for pictures of every employee in Auburn’s new football facility so he could recognize and call everyone by name. “He’s what, a two-time captain at Michigan State — and rightfully so,” Deal said. “I think a lot of the guys trust him, and that’s the main thing on a new team, especially a team with some older guys on it. … He's got that savvy quarterback demeanor that you look for in a quarterback. He's somebody that I think will help us. One way or another, he'll help us in our strides this year.” Of course, Thorne, Ashford and redshirt freshman Holden Geriner have been preparing all summer for the start of a crucial competition in August. Thorne seemingly spent every day at the Tigers’ practice fields after arriving, developing a rapport with his new receivers, tight ends and running backs, while Ashford is enjoying a healthy offseason of work with his teammates after dealing with several injuries from head to toe in his nine starts last year. “I see all of them out there getting in extra work,” offensive guard Kameron Stutts said. “It’s going to be really fun this fall.” Freeze said he approached Montgomery and analyst Kent Austin earlier this month to hash out a blueprint for how the QB race will break down this preseason. Reps will be spread evenly at first, but Freeze said after 10 practices, it won’t be realistic to be working more than two quarterbacks — presumably Thorne and Ashford — in the first-team offense, as important scrimmages take place and Week 1 fast approaches. “That's going to be a challenge for us, not because — I'm very truthfully a lot more optimistic than most people are,” Freeze said of his QB situation with Thorne now in the fold. “I think we've got a good room. But I'm an optimist. We've been able to do things with quarterbacks everywhere we've been and produce good enough results to win. I thought spring practice, we got better there. Obviously we want to create competition in that room. That's why we brought in Payton, who's had great experiences.” The projection by many has been that Thorne will ultimately win out — either at the end of camp or a couple games into the season — due to his significant advantage in experience and production as a passer at the Power Five level. But despite his inefficient numbers in 2022, Ashford flashed his dual-threat ability as a dynamic player, and Freeze has only seen improvement from the former Oregon transfer since taking over as his coach. “We’ve challenged Robby since I’ve been here to elevate what comes with being the quarterback at Auburn,” Freeze said Tuesday morning when meeting with local reporters. “And I think he’s responding, mostly positive with that. We haven’t been in the fires yet. We haven’t been in the competition yet to see how everyone is going to respond. Not just Robby. It’s going to be everyone, how do they handle it? This is life. On great teams, you’re never going to be the only guy that should be competing. Hopefully, he handles it well because I do think Robby Ashford helps us win football games.” *** Subscribe to Auburn Undercover for the latest news and intel, podcasts, recruiting coverage and more *** *** Get Auburn news straight to your inbox with the Auburn Undercover newsletter *** Auburn hopes to 'constantly recreate' feeling from Cadillac Williams' run as interim coach "Coach Lac, he's an incredible man, incredible ambassador for the school, has been for a long time. People with orange and blue in their blood, they want to see him around forever." NASHVILLE, Tennessee — Eight months later, there’s still some energy left over from that night in Jordan-Hare Stadium, wafting above the new practice facility. It’s most concentrated above Cadillac Williams’ office. The Tigers have completely turned the page from the 2022 season, sure, with fall camp two weeks away, and well inside two months until the start of the Hugh Freeze era. But at this year’s SEC Media Days in Nashville, Auburn’s 13-10 victory over Texas A&M may have been the most inconsequential game — relative to the rest of the conference in terms of its result — that was brought up several days over the course of the Tigers’ time in the spotlight Tuesday. That is, of course, because it was so emblematic of how Williams, in an interim role, began to steer Auburn back in the right direction weeks before the program hired a new head coach to replace Bryan Harsin. “People may not understand how pivotal that was for us,” fifth-year senior tight end Luke Deal said Tuesday. “I would argue that this football program, this team, this university, this town has still built off of that moment, off of those games, off of that energy. That's what we're going to take into next season. That kind of energy, that kind of unity is something that you build on hopefully for years to come. So it's been huge.” Williams went 2-2 as Auburn’s interim head coach, including a loss at Mississippi State where the Tigers came back from down 21 points and forced overtime, and a home victory over Texas A&M in one of the loudest, most electric nights in Jordan-Hare Stadium in recent memory — for a game between a pair of 3-6 teams. But entirely separate from any on-the-field results, the mood around the program and in the building had been raised by Williams’ humble and simple manta: serve, discipline and believe. A sunken Auburn squad lost four straight games earlier in the season and could have packed it in after their head coach was fired — but instead responded to Williams’ leadership with reinvigorated passion and intensity that, according to one of their senior leaders, still permeates within the walls of the football complex in mid July. “Whenever you saw he had the spotlight on him as a coach, you saw that positive energy,” Deal said of Williams. “You saw that positive light, that positive outlook on everything in life. That was something that energized us. It motivated us. That's something that he brings every single day.” (Kyle Okita, 247Sports) Both Williams and athletic director John Cohen confirmed Williams interviewed for the head coaching job, and in November, Williams joked that Cohen and university president Christopher Roberts looked more disappointed than him when they delivered the news that he didn’t get the position. But Freeze’s first priority after being hired, he said at his introductory press conference, was to retain Williams on his staff: “I’ve got to have Cadillac at my side.” Williams was promoted to associate head coach, where, in his words, he has a “seat at the table” for major team decisions, and can also serve as a constant line of counsel for Freeze in their attempt to revive Auburn back into a championship-contending program. Keeping the former All-SEC running back on staff and repeatedly praising his impact on the program were the first wins of Freeze’s Auburn tenure — and he would have been dealing with a disgruntled fanbase right off the bat if he hadn’t done so. “People are going to be pretty upset if you get rid of Cadillac Williams” Deal said. “I know I would be. Coach Lac, he's an incredible man, incredible ambassador for the school, has been for a long time. People with orange and blue in their blood, they want to see him around forever. That was definitely important for our success.” At SEC Media Days, Freeze retold the story of watching Auburn beat Texas A&M under Williams, and how the fanbase responded to one of their program’s icons at the helm. To Freeze, Williams not only represented what he believes Auburn stands for, but reminded the rest of the college football world, too. “You started hearing and seeing what was going on at Auburn (under Harsin), and hearing that this isn’t Auburn,” Freeze said. “And I remember vividly Cadillac taking over and watching the Texas A&M game. And that atmosphere in that stadium that night — I remember looking at Jill and saying, ‘It’s still Auburn.’ I hope the passion they played with down the stretch, I hope that’s a staple of something we can constantly recreate every Saturday.” *** Subscribe to Auburn Undercover for the latest news and intel, podcasts, recruiting coverage and more *** *** Get Auburn news straight to your inbox with the Auburn Undercover newsletter ***

wrbl.com Auburn’s Luke Deal preparing for fifth season on the Plains a year after his father’s death Josiah Elmore 3–4 minutes NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WHNT) — In four seasons on the Plains, Deal has been through several ups and downs. More News from WRBL He’s been through three head coaches, four offensive coordinators and three different quarterbacks. Deal received in degree in political science and married his wife, Ansley. But, the most difficult of it all was the loss of his father, Chris. Chris Deal passed away in June 2022 from ALS, a progressive neurological disease that results in the death of nerve cells called motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord. Over 5,000 in the U.S. are diagnosed with ALS each year. Currently, there is no cure for the disease. Representing the Tigers at SEC Media Days, Deal sported a blue ribbon on his coat collar to show his support for those battling the disease and spoke up about his father’s death. “It’s helped mold me,” said Deal. “Seeing someone at their lowest point physically, ALS does that to you, I’ve got the ALS awareness ribbon on for a reason. It’s a horrible disease. It takes everything from your body.” Like Luke, Chris Deal played football, starring as a student-athlete at Lenoir- Rhyne University, a division 2 school, in Hickory, NC. Chris was a 4-year starter and All-Conference football player. “Someone who was a big football player like my dad and a big strong, loud guy for everything to be taken from you is something that is heartbreaking,” said Deal. “But to see how he responded, to see how he led our family even at his lowest physical point it was something that I’ll never forget, and some of his last days I learned some of the most valuable lessons I’ll ever learn in life and hopefully take that in leadership with this team and with my family at home.” Deal is expected to be a leader on a team that will feature nearly 45 new faces between high school and transfer player commits. He will attempt to help lead the team through the coaching change and get them back to where they believe Auburn should be. “Being able to be one of those leaders is something I’ve dreamed about for a long time,” said Deal. “There’s nothing like having the respect of your teammates, having the respect of your teammates to the point where they will follow you anywhere. That’s kind of what I want to be done. We’ve got a really good core group of leaders, we’ve got guys that have been there and done it before and really the biggest thing for us is just keep on building on our winning culture. While he has been through a lot during his career, Deal sees his role in his fifth season on the Plains as a blessing, not a responsibility. “I’m so blessed and excited just to be able to lead these guys and get to know these guys on a deeper level,” said Deal.