The sore loser is everybody’s least favorite kid on the playground.
When they lose a game fair and square, they spend the whole walk back from recess complaining and making excuses, whether it was the refs screwing the pooch or the opponent just getting lucky.
There’s an SEC football coach who never grew out of that childhood archetype, and his name is Hugh Freeze.
The Auburn football head coach once again went viral for all the wrong reasons after his embarrassing comments on the “Tiger Talk” radio show on Monday two days after his team’s loss to Arkansas.
“I mean no offense to Arkansas…I love Sam Pittman, I hope he wins the rest of his games. But the hard truth is if we play them nine more times, we beat them nine times,” Freeze said.
I genuinely couldn’t believe that clip was real the first time I saw it. It sounds like something you’d hear a fan say after he’s had a few too many beers, not the post game remarks of a man who gets paid millions of dollars to “lead” a football program.
Hugh Freeze on Cloud Nine For Thinking Auburn Wins Nine
Why would a head coach ever say something so soft, petulant and patently absurd? It’s also just plain silly to suggest that Auburn in any way deserved to win the game on Saturday.
Arkansas was far from perfect, but Auburn did literally everything you’re not supposed to do when you’re trying to win, and that starts with the turnovers – five of them, to be exact. Playing like that will not only make you lose at home to teams like Cal, it’ll get you eaten alive in the SEC.
Razorback fans quickly jumped on Twitter to dogpile on Freeze for his ludicrous suggestion. Athletic director Hunter Yurachek also couldn’t help but laugh.
You know it’s bad when even Bret Bielema’s lawyer chimes in to dunk on the wounded Auburn coach. Talk about kicking a cat while it’s down.
And that wasn’t even all from this gem of an interview, as the salty Freeze had even more to offer during his airtime.
Freeze Throws Players Under Bus, Then Runs Them Over
Coach Freeze’s disparaging comments on Saturday concerning his struggling freshman quarterback Hank Brown drew a ton of negative attention for throwing his players under the bus. Even former players of Freeze’s went public with their own stories of his selfishness and penchant for dodging responsibility after losses.
Well if his postgame presser was him throwing his kids under the bus, then his radio interview was him putting the bus in reverse and running them over again for good measure.
On Monday Freeze apparently offered some additional insight into the Tigers’ offensive struggles, saying that he let Hank Brown have some input on the scheme – and the freshman actually threw a pick on his personal favorite play. Not only that, Freeze also said it was Brown’s fault for the ground game’s struggles for failing to audible out of run plays against unfavorable defensive looks. That’s quite the burden to put on a freshman in his second career start.
The head coach also referred to his scheme, which has coughed up a nation-leading 14 turnovers, as “beautiful.” There’s no need to change it, as he sees it. According to Freeze, it’s entirely everyone else’s fault.
Freeze’s Comments Shoot Himself and Auburn in the Foot
There’s little question that Freeze’s meltdown in the aftermath of the Arkansas loss is going to have a negative impact on the future, both for his own reputation and the state of the Auburn program. Imagine being a parent of a recruit and seeing these clips online. Would you want your kid to go play for that guy? Certainly not.
It’s already caught the attention of other SEC head coaches, as Ole Miss’ Lane Kiffin contrasted himself to Freeze with how he treated former quarterback Matt Corral when he threw six interceptions against none other than Arkansas in 2020:
In just a couple days’ time, Freeze’s comments are already being used as a negative recruiting tactic by his rivals. If Kiffin’s point is what gets out publicly, then just imagine what could happen behind closed doors. Hell, Auburn football fans are themselves turning on their own head coach in spades at this point. “The guy is turning out to be a massive loser, which is exactly the man that [Ole Miss’ fans told us he was,” Uncle Baby Billy wrote on the Auburn Rivals board. “Can we just keep him away from microphones? Everyone is laughing at us.”
This could get real ugly.
For Arkansas, however, this situation is a gift that keeps on giving. Freeze prefacing his all-time idiotic comment by saying he loves Pittman, and he might be telling the truth with how much he’s helping the Hogs.
All the publicity and flak heading his direction gives Arkansas some positive PR by proxy. His postgame saltiness is also sure to provide bulletin board material for the Razorbacks when they match up with Auburn next year. Usually the losing team has the chip on their shoulder, but this is a rare case of a team who won the previous matchup actually being more motivated for the next one.
Speaking of the future, the potential recruiting ramifications of Freeze’s delusion could lead to less-talented Tiger teams in the coming years, which only bodes well for the Hogs.
Auburn fans’ patience with Freeze is already wearing thin. He might think he can win the next nine games against Arkansas in the future, but at this rate, he won’t last even a third of that span on the Plains.
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On3 Sports, Pig Trail Nation and Locked On Auburn offer their takes on Freeze’s recent antics:
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More on Arkansas and Auburn football from BoAS:
