During a Wednesday interview with Birmingham radio's WJOX 94.5 FM, U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) predicted first-year Auburn head football coach Hugh Freeze would win six or seven games in the 2023 football season.
Tuberville, who led Auburn football from 1999-2008, praised Freeze as a "good coach" and said the Tigers would "do fine" with their new coach after going three straight seasons with six or fewer wins.
"I sat down with [Freeze] when he first got here - and I've known Hugh for 30 years. I knew him when he coached high school ball in Memphis, and he's a good coach," Tuberville outlined while on hand for the Regions Tradition Celebrity Pro-Am golf tournament at Greystone. "He understands you have to have a plan. ... He understands the offense he wants to run."
He continued, "I talked to him about defense. You know, being an offensive head coach, sometimes you get too far away from defense. You win in the SEC by playing defense. You can't outscore people. It's just not going to happen. You're going to end up running against somebody that actually plays defense, which most teams don't do anymore, and when you do, then you've got huge problems."
Tuberville noted Auburn's quarterback last season, Robby Ashford, "struggled," and he advised Freeze to bring in another one. The Tigers did just that in signing two-year Michigan State starter Payton Thorne as a graduate transfer.
"[I] told him, 'You've got to get a quarterback.' I saw every game last year," he said. "And the kid just - he struggled. He might've gotten better in spring ball. I understand they got a transfer from Michigan State ... but it's just, you know, I think they'll do fine."
"He's looking at six, seven wins probably," Tuberville concluded.
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