Head Coach of Major College Football Program Under Fire For Golfing Amid Recruiting Struggles

Head Coach of Major College Football Program Under Fire For Golfing Amid Recruiting Struggles originally appeared on Athlon Sports.

There are quite a few hot seats across the SEC heading into the 2025 college football season, but it may be challenging to find one as toasty as Hugh Freeze's at Auburn.

After replacing Bryan Harsin, who had an abysmal, drama-filled 21-game tenure, Freeze has been unable to replicate the magic that he had at Liberty that got him the gig. In his two seasons on the job, the Tigers have gone 11-14, and fans are losing what little patience they have left.

A tough position to be in, as any blemish along the way will have the Tiger faithful ready to chase him out of town. With it being the offseason, the only way to really appease fans is by recruiting well, which Freeze has not.

The Tigers have the No. 86 class in the country according to 247Sports, with programs like Texas State, Idaho, Temple, Miami (OH) and Fresno State all ranking higher.

To add more salt to the wound, it was discovered by Matt Stahl of Al.com that Freeze spent most of June golfing. 

"Yes, Freeze has been playing a ton of golf," wrote Stahl. "The Auburn coach has posted 10 rounds since the start of June, and has maxed out the number of public rounds that the GHIN will show at one time, meaning he’s over 20 for the calendar year."

In that span, Auburn saw two recruits decommit in the month of June and also lost another on the first day of July.

While the news of his golfing tendencies may not have gone viral, Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin made sure to poke fun at Freeze on social media.

Great job Coach!! Game is on 🔥 https://t.co/EluxmXfkZc

— Lane Kiffin (@Lane_Kiffin) July 7, 2025

His tweet has nearly one million views, which certainly has shed some light on how often Freeze is on the links.

While Freeze may be working hard on his golf handicap, it may bode well to lock in on the recruiting trail.

Related: Florida Receives Unfortunate News on 7-Foot-9 Center

This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 7, 2025, where it first appeared.