2024 season is a success if…

[AUwent 3,817]

What it sounds like. Trying to gauge what will make people satisfied. The catch is, QUANTIFIABLE GOALS ONLY. No vagueness (“show improvement,” “offensive identity,” etc.).

Mine:

-At least seven regular season wins.

-Another consensus top 10 class.

-Sign either Juju or at least a 4* transfer portal QB.

EDIT: I feel like at least eight RS wins *might* give Freeze the goodwill needed to only add someone like Lacey and focus on developing Walker. Nine definitely would.

EDIT 2: No major transfer portal losses.

Edited July 15 by AUwent

[AU120289 408]

Hmmmm. Success. 🤔
 

1) 10 wins. CHF owes the family a few he left on the table last season. You earn the paycheck on the field.

2) Actual player development and growth seen on the field. Less preachy - more teachy  

3) A passing offense in the top half of the conference. 

4) Not lose to a New Mexico or Tennessee team. Yes, that is a low bar  

5) My liver survives the season. 

[Win4AU 4,151]

I think Auburn could actually over perform this season before it takes a step back next year due to youth.  
 

7 wins minimum. 8-9 likely.  >9 would be phenomenal 

top 10 recruiting class.  Top 5 would be great but still very much in a filling needs/building depth phase.

An offense that doesn’t make me want to walk into traffic.  I get there will be better teams that cause the offense to sputter but I need to see an offense like I saw against Arkansas and Vandy last year against the good teams this year.  
 

Icing on top is looking competitive in Athens and Tuscaloosa.  It’s been 2010 in Tuscaloosa and 2016 in Athens since it’s been a close game.  Auburn used to own these towns in the 90s and 2000s

[Viper 3,457]

20 hours ago, AUwent said:

Another consensus top 10 class

This will be a given every year.

It’s like what Herbstreit said about Saban in 2007, “This will be his worst class that he brings in.” 

[CoffeeTiger 5,843]

at least 7 wins in the regular season. 

Not getting completely blown out in any games. (losing by more than 21 points)

Not dropping a 'cupcake' buy game shouldn't need to be said....but. 

Showing an ability to quickly change or adapt if initial plans or strategies don't work or stop working. Especially on offense

continued success on the recruiting trail.

[SRBautigerfan 1,040]

A successful '24 season?  8 wins at least.  10 wins would be outstanding considering where the program has been to date and a great sign of things to come.  7 wins or less would be very damaging to Freeze's fb program.  The recruiting "looks" good so far but its got to translate to on-field performance pretty quickly in today's CFB world.

[Viper 3,457]

1 hour ago, SRBautigerfan said:

7 wins or less would be very damaging to Freeze's fb program

With road trips to GA & bammer, 7 wins wouldn’t be as damaging as one would think. Recruiting wouldn’t miss a beat.

The 2025 season is our target season for major improvement.

[AUwent 3,817]

1 hour ago, Viper said:

With road trips to GA & bammer, 7 wins wouldn’t be as damaging as one would think. Recruiting wouldn’t miss a beat.

The 2025 season is our target season for major improvement.

History says that we do not make major improvements when young, even with very talented recruiting classes. There is very little precedent. Now, if the conditions at QB I referenced above happen, that might be negated.

Edited July 8 by AUwent

[Viper 3,457]

14 minutes ago, AUwent said:

History says that we do not make major improvements when young, even with very talented recruiting classes. There is very little precedent. Now, if the conditions at QB I referenced above happen, that might be negated.

This situation is vastly different from our history. We’ll have an ultra talented QB by 2025, young or experienced. Too much talent at WR to not be able to attract one.

Keep in mind I’m not saying we’ll win a title of any kind in 25. Just predicting we’ll make our biggest improvement from 24 to 25 instead of 23 to 24. GA/bammer home games are always a big factor.

Edited July 8 by Viper

[japantiger 4,104]

20 hours ago, AU120289 said:

Hmmmm. Success. 🤔
 

1) 10 wins. CHF owes the family a few he left on the table last season. You earn the paycheck on the field.

2) Actual player development and growth seen on the field. Less preachy - more teachy  

3) A passing offense in the top half of the conference. 

4) Not lose to a New Mexico or Tennessee team. Yes, that is a low bar  

5) My liver survives the season. 

This right here...+

6) CHF - No bull**** excuses when losing a game...be a man

[AUloggerhead 2,507]

Hmm ... 7 wins equals success?!  OK.  Success has a spectrum associated with it -- let's work with Ultimate Success:  undefeated season & Natl Champs!  Metaphorically speaking, AU has been wandering in the wilderness far too long.  Winning on the road is where they'll find success and yes, I'm talking about Athens & tuscalooser.  One (or both) is going to happen this season.  WDE 

[AUwent 3,817]

4 hours ago, Viper said:

This situation is vastly different from our history. We’ll have an ultra talented QB by 2025, young or experienced. Too much talent at WR to not be able to attract one.

Keep in mind I’m not saying we’ll win a title of any kind in 25. Just predicting we’ll make our biggest improvement from 24 to 25 instead of 23 to 24. GA/bammer home games are always a big factor.

Given point #3 in my OP, I don’t think we’re very far apart here. The pressure to beat UAT in 2025 will likely be very, very high. If Walker (or even Hank) turns out to be the guy, awesome! Need an insurance policy though.

Edited July 9 by AUwent

[JerryAU 1,822]

IMHO, Auburn has to win 8 regular season games + a bowl win in order to prove this thing is headed in the right direction.  These stud WR's aren't about to hang around while the staff builds a foundation when they can portal out and shine elsewhere.  

[Viper 3,457]

14 hours ago, AUwent said:

Given point #3 in my OP, I don’t think we’re very far apart here. The pressure to beat UAT in 2025 will likely be very, very high. If Walker (or even Hank) turns out to be the guy, awesome! Need an insurance policy though.

Agreed. However, I’m saying despite being young in 25, we’ll have more improvement than 24 due to overall sheer talent. 

I hate referencing dink, but look at the improvement in his 08/09 teams as compared to his 07 team. Many of his 08/09 starters were Freshmen/Sophomores. 

We’ve got the studs coming in. It’s just not a full cupboard of them yet. Give it another season.

[JuscAUse! 1,630]

1 hour ago, Viper said:

Agreed. However, I’m saying despite being young in 25, we’ll have more improvement than 24 due to overall sheer talent. 

I hate referencing dink, but look at the improvement in his 08/09 teams as compared to his 07 team. Many of his 08/09 starters were Freshmen/Sophomores. 

We’ve got the studs coming in. It’s just not a full cupboard of them yet. Give it another season.

I see it about the same way. The exceptions being Dinky had gobs of money to throw around, better talent his first year, and didn't have to worry about NIL and getting out bid for players. A lot of our true freshmen will play this year, along with the true sophs and redshirts. 

[Viper 3,457]

10 minutes ago, JuscAUse! said:

I see it about the same way. The exceptions being Dinky had gobs of money to throw around, better talent his first year, and didn't have to worry about NIL and getting out bid for players. A lot of our true freshmen will play this year, along with the true sophs and redshirts. 

Absolutely they’ll play this year and will get invaluable experience. I just don’t see our overall talent with the GA/bammer road games getting us more than 8 wins. 

[JuscAUse! 1,630]

6 minutes ago, Viper said:

Absolutely they’ll play this year and will get invaluable experience. I just don’t see our overall talent with the GA/bammer road games getting us more than 8 wins. 

We'll see. I'll feel better if we get to the point where those teams might beat us, but they do not look forward to playing us. The wins will come after we get to that point.

[Viper 3,457]

26 minutes ago, JuscAUse! said:

We'll see. I'll feel better if we get to the point where those teams might beat us, but they do not look forward to playing us. The wins will come after we get to that point.

Of course we get there by signing multiple blue chip linemen.

[AUwent 3,817]

4 hours ago, Viper said:

Agreed. However, I’m saying despite being young in 25, we’ll have more improvement than 24 due to overall sheer talent. 

I hate referencing dink, but look at the improvement in his 08/09 teams as compared to his 07 team. Many of his 08/09 starters were Freshmen/Sophomores. 

We’ve got the studs coming in. It’s just not a full cupboard of them yet. Give it another season.

Again, given OUR history with young talent (2008, 2011/12, 2015), we absolutely *need* to throw the sink at a portal QB with Juju seemingly out. In theory we should be able to land one (very talented receivers, and no more Under Armour handicap—we’re really going to need to convince J Wright to stay though), but given how the last couple of cycles have gone I’m apprehensive. 

Edited July 9 by AUwent

[cbo 8,556]

We have to get 8 wins. No bad losses. 

Alabama A&M, Cal, New Mexico, Arkansas, Vandy, and La Monroe give you 6. Can't drop any of those. 

We aren't beating Bama or UGA on the road. 

So we need to win 2 of Oklahoma, Missouri, Kentucky, and Texas A&M. 

[alabastertiger 637]

Simple ... Beat Bama!!!   That is a successful season in my book.

[Viper 3,457]

1 hour ago, AUwent said:

Again, given OUR history with young talent (2008, 2011/12, 2015), we absolutely *need* to throw the sink at a portal QB

Again, this situation is vastly different from our history given NIL. We no longer have to fight for scraps after dink and kirbs get their’s.

[AUwent 3,817]

1 hour ago, Viper said:

Again, this situation is vastly different from our history given NIL. We no longer have to fight for scraps after dink and kirbs get their’s.

I hope, but why haven’t we been able to get a good one the last couple of years? This December must be different. If it comes down to it I’m good not putting any $ towards Lacey or Knight. For the most part I’m a big believer in leaning on HS players but this could make or break CHF’s tenure here.

Edited July 9 by AUwent

[CoffeeTiger 5,843]

19 hours ago, alabastertiger said:

Simple ... Beat Bama!!!   That is a successful season in my book.

I'd take an 11-1 season with A spot in the playoffs, but a loss to Bama , any day of the week.

 

The Turds are our rivals and i love to beat them but our performance against them doesn't define our program and years aren't good or bad solely based on if we beat Bama or not. 

 

[DAG 34,554]

1 hour ago, CoffeeTiger said:

I'd take an 11-1 season with A spot in the playoffs, but a loss to Bama , any day of the week.

 

The Turds are our rivals and i love to beat them but our performance against them doesn't define our program and years aren't good or bad solely based on if we beat Bama or not. 

 

I would hope we would grow out of the simply “beat Bama” mindset , given where the college football landscape is currently at.