Auburn Football Recruiting: HUGH-GE HAUL
September 6, 2023
Skye Underwood
Hugh Freeze leads his squad in the singing of the fight song after his first game as Auburn’s head coach, a 59-14 drubbing of UMass in front of a Jordan-Hare Stadium season opener record crowd of 88,043 (Auburn Athletics)
This summer Auburn Football recruiting hit fever pitch and hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down en route to what’s trending to be a top-10 2024 recruiting class for new head coach Hugh Freeze.
Auburn was one of the biggest risers in team recruiting rankings during the summer months after garnering thirteen commitments since June after only having five commitments prior to the summer month. With those 18 commitments, Auburn’s 2024 recruiting class now rank No. 12 On3, No. 14 247Sports, and No. 13 Rivals.
And while team recruiting rankings are certainly a good way to measure a school’s success on the trail, they are flawed until the final result because they give credence to the quantity of your class, and that number won’t be complete till at the soonest Early Signing Period on December 20, 2023, or at the latest National Signing Day on February 7, 2024.
The best way to judge an incomplete recruiting class is by gauging the quality of the commitments you have, and On3 Sports does a great job monitoring that.
The recruiting platform recently published a graphic featuring the top programs with the highest percentage of blue chip (four-star & five-star) recruits in their class.
Auburn’s 2024 recruiting class of 18 commitments currently ranks as the No. 3 best class in the country only behind Ohio State and Georgia when factoring in which teams have the highest percentage of blue chip recruits.
And what a sweet summer it was for Auburn Football and its pursuit of blue chip prospects because the Tigers had a Hugh-ge haul. Auburn earned 13 commitments from June-present and 11 of the 13 recruits were blue chip’s.
It’s all about the Jimmys and Joes, and Hugh Freeze understands that. If Auburn is going to compete for championships with the Georgia’s and Alabama’s of the world then they have to sign as many blue chip recruits as they can and build a blue chip roster.
College football ain’t rocket science. Sign the best players. Love the shit out of ‘em. Coach the shit out of ‘em. Go see if you can win some championships. That was certainly the Pat Dye blueprint at Auburn and it’s already proven to be uber-successful after he won four SEC Championships in the 1980’s.
Freeze‘s determination to make Auburn a winner reminds me a lot of Coach Dye. If early signs are any indication, Freeze’s recruiting is on par with the Auburn legend.
And I knew Hugh Freeze was a good recruiter, but I didn’t know he was this good. Anonymous rival SEC coaches say he’s relentless on the trail. You’ve gotta love your head coach setting a standard of excellence in recruiting that’s certain to inspire and influence his staff.
Think about it, if you were the head coach and put forth a lot of effort and tenacity in recruiting, wouldn’t you expect your staff to do the same?
Houston Texans offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil is a eight-year NFL veteran after being drafted 13th overall in the 1st round of the 2016 NFL Draft. He was one of Freeze’s prized recruits that was a part of the 2013 Ole Miss recruiting class. A video clip of an interview with Tunsil from a few years ago recently surfaced where he talked about his recruitment by Freeze’s former staff.
Perhaps Freeze and his new staff were just as relentless when Auburn picked up their Laremy Tunsil of the ‘24 class when the No. 1 ranked interior offensive lineman in the country DeAndre Carter committed to Auburn on Sunday. The 6-foot-4, 335-pound mauler is a four-year starter for arguably the No. 1 high school football program in America at Mater Dei in Santa Ana, CA.
Brother Hugh’s barely been on the job long enough to smoke a cigarette and drink a cup of coffee, but you mean to tell me he’s already recruiting nationally pulling one of the top offensive linemen in the country out of California!?
Hugh-ge load indeed.
