Hugh Freeze, the former coach of the Auburn Tigers, was the target of some nasty remarks from former quarterback Robby Ashford.
Robby Ashford, a former quarterback for the Auburn Tigers, makes reference to Hugh Freeze’s lack of candor with him while he was at Auburn. In 2020, after excelling as a quarterback at Alabama’s Hoover High School, Ashford moved to the West to join the Oregon Ducks. Before returning home to play for Bryan Harsin and the Auburn Tigers, Ashford would play for the Ducks for two seasons without seeing any action in a game.
That’s when Freeze went down, following Harsin’s firing at the end of the 2022 season. Even though Ashford had been on the team the year before, Freeze signed former Michigan State quarterback Payton Thorne through the transfer portal, who went on to earn the starting role.
Let’s fast-forward to 2024. Hugh Freeze, Ashford’s previous coach, has received some harsh remarks from him after he decided to move this past offseason to the South Carolina Gamecocks, under head coach Shane Beamer.
What was said about Hugh Freeze by Robby Ashford?
Ashford left out Freeze while praising coaches such as Beamer and Harsin.
“During my first year at Auburn, I had the only genuine opportunity from a coach who told me it would be a competition, and it was,” Ashford remarked. “I hold him in high regard for that.” I heard Coach Beamer say a lot of the same things that Harsin had said, and I could tell he meant it when he told me it was a competition. Coach Beamer told me the same things, and I thought, “Okay, I believe that.” Perhaps the coaches aren’t blowing smoke in my ears as much as they used to.
To be fair, though, Ashford might have been hinting at Mario Cristobal in addition to or instead of Freeze. Cristobal spent his first two seasons as Ashford’s Eugene coach. It is unlikely, though, that Ashford was referring to Cristobal as the coach in “smoke being blown in my ears” because he is such a young player. Freeze is the only other coach to go.
Why did Robby Ashford hint that Hugh Freeze hadn’t been completely truthful with him?
Nobody truly knows why Ashford hinted at freezing throwing smoke in his remarks because we were not present during any possible conversations. But in 2023, Ashford had the opportunity to play live for the Tigers and demonstrate his abilities on the pitch.
This past season, Freeze started Ashford as quarterback for the Tigers against Ole Miss in addition to having him play in specific packages. Ashford ran the ball eight times for 27 yards in that game and completed three of his four passes for 22 yards.
Throughout the season, Ashford was also frequently employed in package circumstances, mostly for the Tigers as a runner. In actuality, he had five rushing touchdowns during the season.
These stats scarcely justified Ashford’s long-term retention as quarterback. Ashford seems a little out of line to publicly criticize his old coach in this way.
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