12.26.22 Auburn Articles

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Five things that Hugh Freeze has given Auburn fans for Christmas

Zac Blackerby

~3 minutes

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The first month of the Hugh Freeze era at Auburn has been a wild ride.

From celebrating the "Merry Flipmas" season by flipping over a third of the class to join the 2023 Auburn Tigers, to building out a staff that can compete in the SEC, Hugh Freeze is winning Auburn fans over at a very quick rate. 

It's Christmas, and the Auburn Daily staff hopes that you all have a very happy day with your loved ones. We put together a list of five things the Freeze has already given Auburn fans for Christmas this year. 

A revamped 2023 class

As stated above, Auburn has found a way to flip key players like Keldric Faulk and Kayin Lee to join the class. He's also led the charge in starting to assemble a transfer class to help build a better roster for the 2023 season. 

An offensive scheme that makes sense in 2023

Freeze has had an elite offense everywhere that he's been. Auburn got a taste of what elite offenses looked like in 2010, 2013, 2014, and 2017 and have been chasing that high ever since. Perhaps Freeze will get Auburn back to the top offensively soon. 

He kept Caddy home

Every Auburn fan wanted Carnell Williams to stay on staff following his run as Auburn's interim head football coach. While the move wasn't permanent, Auburn fans wanted him around for the Freeze era. One of the first decisions made was to keep the Auburn legend on staff and give him a promotion. 

He also kept Zac Etheridge, another Auburn legend, on staff. A quick way to garner some love from the fanbase. 

Yahtzee

We had the "Boom" during the Gus Malzahn era and the "Just Watch" motto didn't stick during Bryan Harsin's time on the Plains. While "Yahtzee" is a little cheesy, I love it. Freeze seems to be leaning into it already. 

Hope

For the first time in several years, this part of the year has been fun for Auburn football fans. Early signing day was a blast, the weeks leading up to it were energetic, and the public statements acknowledging that Auburn isn't where Auburn needs to be is refreshing. 

Having someone at the helm of Auburn where Auburn fans feel hopeful for the future is something that all Auburn fans are happy to see under their tree this Christmas. 

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What is Hugh Freeze saying in this cryptic tweet?

Zac Blackerby

~2 minutes

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The Auburn coaching staff is coming together under Hugh Freeze. 

Many are waiting for the announcement of who will be named Auburn's next wide receiver. 

After Ike Hilliard was not retained, the most popular name has been Missouri wide receivers coach Jacob Peeler. 

On Christmas morning, Freeze quote tweeted a message from Matrix Analytical that was praising Missouri's wide receivers since 2009. Freeze just added the "eyes looking" emoji to it. 

Peeler arrived in Columbia to coach wide receivers in January of 2022. So it isn't a perfect match to the tweet but it certainly matches what a lot of the rumors could be. 

Missouri's season ended with a loss in the Gasparilla Bowl at the hands of Wake Forest. If both parties were waiting for the season to end, the timing now seems right. 

This is all speculation and some Christmas fun from Freeze and breaking down a cryptic tweet. 

Auburn fans are catching on. One of the top responses is someone using a peeler. 

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Looking at Dillon Wade's PFF grades

Zac Blackerby

~2 minutes

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Auburn keeps landing offensive linemen under Hugh Freeze. 

The latest is transfer offensive tackle Dillon Wade from Tulsa. His previous relationship with offensive coordinator Philip Montogmery makes him an even greater fit on the Plains. He will have three years of eligibility. 

After looking at some numbers on PFF, here are a few things worth noting about Wade's game. 

He took a huge step forward in playing time from 2021 to 2022. During the 2021 season, Wade played 39 snaps on offense. This past year, Wade became a full-time starter and played 818 snaps. 

In 2021, 37 of his 39 snaps were at right tackle. The other two were at an inline tight end. 

In 2022, 816 snaps were at left tackle. The other two were at inline tight end. He also played 45 snaps on the field goal unit. 

Wade's PFF offensive grade for the 2022 season was 66.4. His pass block grade for the season was 66.7. The run-blocking grade was 67.2.

His biggest jump from 2021 to 2022 came in the pass-blocking category. In 2021, he graded out at 36.1 in pass protection. That jumped to 66.7 this past year. Run blocking appears to be Wade's biggest strength when it comes to PFF. 

Wade was flagged six times on penalties during the 2022 season. He was flagged twice in 2021. 

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Caldwell Column: Auburn football Christmas wish list

Jason Caldwell

4–5 minutes

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Santa came early on Friday for the Auburn football Tigers when Tulsa offensive lineman Dillon Wade committed to Hugh Freeze’s program. Already with a strong group of offensive linemen in the 2023 class with Bradyn Joiner, Clay Wedin, Connor Lew and Tyler Johnson on board from the high school ranks and Izavion Miller from junior college, Auburn continued perhaps its best offensive line haul in a decade with the addition of Wade on the eve of Christmas eve.

Wade is a talented offensive line prospect who projects as a starting tackle for the Tigers, and that’s a big deal with no experience returning on the current roster at that position. A physical player who was a wanted man with offers from all over the country once he went into the portal, Wade is a huge present under the tree for the Auburn program and great news for new OL coach Jake Thornton.

There is still more work to be done for the Tigers up front with a veteran center and another experienced offensive lineman an ideal finish to a strong group. There are still a few names on the board and several more will likely enter the portal in the next few weeks as bowl games wrap up. If Auburn can add two more veterans to an already strong group, it will be perhaps the most important present the program could have gotten this year.

Just like the offensive line, Auburn needed to get help up front on defense in a big way following the losses of Colby Wooden, Derick Hall and Eku Leota. While the Tigers have done a strong job of shoring things up with the additions of high school signees Keldric Faulk, Darron Reed, Wilky Denaud, Brenton Williams and Stephon Johnson, junior college signee Quientrail Jamison-Travis and Vanderbilt transfer Elijah McAllister, adding another experienced pass rusher would be the icing on the cake heading into the 2023 season.

A lot has been made of Auburn looking for a quarterback and not getting Devin Leary from NC State and passing on Grayson McCall from Coastal Carolina. It appears that Spencer Sanders from Oklahoma State is on the Tigers’ radar, but I believe we’re going to see a big run on quality quarterbacks entering the portal following bowl season. A name to watch is Garrett Nussmeier at LSU. A redshirt sophomore in 2023, Nussmeier would likely be sitting another season at LSU with the return of Jayden Daniels next year. After lighting up Georgia in the second half of the SEC Championship Game, Nussmeier would be an intriguing addition to the portal should he decide to dip a toe into the waters following LSU’s bowl game against Purdue on Jan. 2.

While adding a big, physical wide receiver is going to be important as well, I think the position that slides to the top for the Tigers is linebacker. Even though Cam Riley, Wesley Steiner and Desmond Tisdol return after all got valuable experience a year ago, Auburn definitely needs help at the position with new defensive coordinator Ron Roberts counting on the linebackers in a big way in his 3-3-5 scheme.

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With Robert Woodyard and Powell Gordon both coming off redshirt years, Auburn will add two athletic players to the bunch, but the Tigers need some experience from a true middle linebacker for the 2023 season. Like with the other positions, I would expect some talented names to enter the portal in the coming weeks and Auburn will be on the lookout.

Merry Christmas to everyone that makes this place so special. Thanks for joining us and letting us into your lives to share the story of Auburn athletics. We truly couldn’t do this without you!

">247Sports

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With Christmas here it’s a quiet time on campus and for Auburn’s intercollegiate athletic teams, both athletes and coaches alike, as we come to the end of 2022, a year full of highs and lows on the Plains.

On the plus side it was an historic season for the men’s basketball team, which moved to No. 1 in the polls for the first time in program history. On the down side, the Tigers peaked too early and struggled in the SEC and NCAA Tournaments.

The football season began with major concern about the direction of the program, which proved to be warranted, sparking a late season purge with Carnell “Cadillac” Williams and the reworked coaching staff making positive changes on the fly for the final four games. With Hugh Freeze now leading the way, the Tigers will enter the new year with very realistic expectations that better days are on the immediate horizon.

After a down 2020-21 sports year on the Plains, 2021-22 was much better for many Auburn teams. Two that really stood out as having the best seasons in program history are the gymnastics and volleyball teams and there is no reason each group can’t do it again.

There have been multiple sightings of AubieClaus around the area in recent weeks and if he has been checking out Christmas wish lists for Auburn’s head coaches they are definitely hoping for a variety of gifts they can use throughout the coming year.

For Bruce Pearl, who is always into giving in a major way, the coach could use the gift of consistent three-point shooters and strong guard play, which have been keys to success for his previous Auburn basketball teams.

For baseball coach Butch Thompson, AubieClaus could make him happy by bringing long-discussed major upgrades to Plainsman Park, the home of the baseball Tigers. If it is not too much to ask, another trip to the College World Series would be appreciated.

For women’s basketball coach Johnnie Harris and volleyball coach Brent Crouch and their players, a great gift would be more fans when they play at Neville Arena. Both programs are trending in a positive direction. The volleyball team, a freshman dominated group this year, started to see fan support grow during the 2022 home schedule, but there will still be plenty of good seats available for both teams in 2023.

A program not having trouble putting fannies in the seats is gymnastics. Coach Jeff Graba’s 2023 team is talented and experienced. Maybe this is the year the Tigers can bring home one of the big prizes in their sport, either an SEC or NCAA team title.

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Over at Jane B. Moore Field, perhaps the best gift softball coach Mickey Dean could receive is a 2023 season with all of the players staying healthy, which would greatly enhance the odds of the group earning a trip to their sport’s world series in Oklahoma City.

Aubie Claus is always a favorite of Auburn fans, young and old. (Photo: John David Mercer, USA TODAY Sports)

Golf coaches Nick Clinard and Melissa Luellen have their programs in great shape and, if it is not too much to ask, AubieClaus needs to look into his bag of presents to see if there are any national championships in there. Both have come very, very close to winning the big one on their watches so those shiny new red bike type of presents seem to be reasonable requests.

For soccer’s Karen Hoppa, whose teams are almost always very good defensively, the best presents she could find under the Christmas tree are a couple of players who are excellent scorers. If that happens the Tigers will be back in the NCAA Tournament right away.

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Two programs on the rise are the women’s and men’s tennis. For coaches Caroline Lilley and Bobby Reynolds the best gift would be continuing their success with bringing in better and better players so both teams can challenge for SEC titles and make deeper runs into the NCAA Tournament.

On the subject of programs on the rise, the men’s and women’s swimming and diving squads are making a strong comeback after too many years of neglect from previous AU administrators. Hopefully, new athletic director John Cohen will give Ryan Wochomurka and his assistants all of the tools needed so Auburn can once again become a championship program in this sport.

Leroy Burrell should have one of the longer wish lists of any of Auburn’s coaches. In addition to much needed upgrades to the Hutsell-Rosen Track and Field complex, AU’s second newest head coach could use athletes who run faster, jump higher and throw things farther for the 2023 season and beyond.

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For equestrian’s Greg Williams, whose teams are always strong, SEC and national championships are always the gift of choice, even though the Tigers already have a lot of them.

Last, but not least AubieClaus, you need to seriously consider filling up a whole row of stockings for new head football coach Hugh Freeze. He needs one of almost everything when it comes to football players and at many positions he needs multiple newcomers to arrive ready to be positive difference-makers to expedite the rebuilding process for the football program.

">247Sports

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out of all the names folks call coach good or bad i like FREEZE WARNING. it has that certain ring to it.

[AEAugirl 9,649]

4 hours ago, aubiefifty said:

What is Hugh Freeze saying in this cryptic tweet?

Zac Blackerby

~2 minutes

---

The Auburn coaching staff is coming together under Hugh Freeze. 

Many are waiting for the announcement of who will be named Auburn's next wide receiver. 

After Ike Hilliard was not retained, the most popular name has been Missouri wide receivers coach Jacob Peeler. 

On Christmas morning, Freeze quote tweeted a message from Matrix Analytical that was praising Missouri's wide receivers since 2009. Freeze just added the "eyes looking" emoji to it. 

Peeler arrived in Columbia to coach wide receivers in January of 2022. So it isn't a perfect match to the tweet but it certainly matches what a lot of the rumors could be. 

Missouri's season ended with a loss in the Gasparilla Bowl at the hands of Wake Forest. If both parties were waiting for the season to end, the timing now seems right. 

This is all speculation and some Christmas fun from Freeze and breaking down a cryptic tweet. 

Auburn fans are catching on. One of the top responses is someone using a peeler. 

Blackerby needs to lay off the post Christmas egg nog.

The tweet had nothing to do with Mizzou’s WRs, it was analytics for the WR coaches they have data on dating back to 2009.  
 

no one knows who Bartoo was talking about and nothing about the tweet had anything obvious to do with Missouri. 

 

Edited December 26, 2022 by AEAugirl