We are set to speak with Hugh Freeze at 12:30 pm as Auburn opens up practice to prepare for the Music City Bowl against Maryland.
Follow along and refresh for all updates.
*** Excited to start practice. Hugh said he has missed the kids and seeing them around.
*** Feeling a little scattered combining bowl prep and having recruits and the schedule they have right now.
*** Playing a very good opponent. They played the upper echelon of their conference, especially Michigan, and it was impressive. Maryland is very efficient. Runs the screen game more than Auburn has seen so have to tackle well against them.
*** Hugh knows Locksley pretty well. Spent time with him at Alabama when Hugh had the two years off from coaching.
*** On opt outs: He believes DJ, Pritchett and Marcus Harris will not play, but nothing has been confirmed. The guys in the transfer portal are a different conversation.
*** On transfer portal and how they are doing managing it: "Don't think I've handled it very well, truthfully. We want to build this program through high school (kids). Saying that, you can't corner yourself in that."
*** Hugh thinks the transfer portal calendar is extremely messed up. Needs to be adjusted for what's best for college football.
*** On being thin up front: "I just told these young guys that they are going to get thrown in there. It will be fun to watch them. It's going to be good to see how they prepare for a game."
*** On talking to the transfer portal kids and how he chooses to stand out: He says again he hasn't done a good enough job in recruiting these kids so far. "Maybe I need to change our approach."
*** On quarterback position and thoughts on moving forward with that room: "I had a great conversation with Robby and I will all those guys the best. We try to give them great advice. In some cases it is best for them to leave."
*** Hugh just went on a rant about the cool thing in most people's eyes is that every quarterback who enters the transfer portal should have a bag thrown at them by Auburn. "I believe if we get the right pieces around Payton, Holden, Walker and Hank, I think our quarterback room will be fine next year."
*** Mentions Payton threw for 6,700 yards at Michigan State when he had two NFL receivers at MSU.
*** On being thin at receiver for bowl game: "We are going to be thin in that room and we will probably do some 12 personnel, which helps. I think Jay Fair is going to get better. I think Camden Brown is going to get better."
*** On keeping Keionte and Eugene: "I was very involved in talking to our players." Says he shared the NFL scouting reports on each player. I can give them my opinion but it is ultimate their decision.
*** On finishing this recruiting class: "I'm optimistic but I've done this long enough to know that some crazy things can happen before signing day."
*** On spots trying to fill in portal: "If I knew what was going to happen on Wednesday...." He's committed to signing the best high school class we can and it is hard to manage the 85 and juggle the numbers.
*** On Payton's development: "Really just after the second half of the season and we got better at receiver and got more comfortable doing the things that we were going to do moving forward ... he's got the ability to be a dual-threat guy and if you get the right pieces around him he's going to be efficient."
*** On Payton having a full offseason: "I just think Year 2 for him will make a drastic difference."
That's it for Hugh. Have a great Saturday!
Follow along and refresh for all updates.
*** Excited to start practice. Hugh said he has missed the kids and seeing them around.
*** Feeling a little scattered combining bowl prep and having recruits and the schedule they have right now.
*** Playing a very good opponent. They played the upper echelon of their conference, especially Michigan, and it was impressive. Maryland is very efficient. Runs the screen game more than Auburn has seen so have to tackle well against them.
*** Hugh knows Locksley pretty well. Spent time with him at Alabama when Hugh had the two years off from coaching.
*** On opt outs: He believes DJ, Pritchett and Marcus Harris will not play, but nothing has been confirmed. The guys in the transfer portal are a different conversation.
*** On transfer portal and how they are doing managing it: "Don't think I've handled it very well, truthfully. We want to build this program through high school (kids). Saying that, you can't corner yourself in that."
*** Hugh thinks the transfer portal calendar is extremely messed up. Needs to be adjusted for what's best for college football.
*** On being thin up front: "I just told these young guys that they are going to get thrown in there. It will be fun to watch them. It's going to be good to see how they prepare for a game."
*** On talking to the transfer portal kids and how he chooses to stand out: He says again he hasn't done a good enough job in recruiting these kids so far. "Maybe I need to change our approach."
*** On quarterback position and thoughts on moving forward with that room: "I had a great conversation with Robby and I will all those guys the best. We try to give them great advice. In some cases it is best for them to leave."
*** Hugh just went on a rant about the cool thing in most people's eyes is that every quarterback who enters the transfer portal should have a bag thrown at them by Auburn. "I believe if we get the right pieces around Payton, Holden, Walker and Hank, I think our quarterback room will be fine next year."
*** Mentions Payton threw for 6,700 yards at Michigan State when he had two NFL receivers at MSU.
*** On being thin at receiver for bowl game: "We are going to be thin in that room and we will probably do some 12 personnel, which helps. I think Jay Fair is going to get better. I think Camden Brown is going to get better."
*** On keeping Keionte and Eugene: "I was very involved in talking to our players." Says he shared the NFL scouting reports on each player. I can give them my opinion but it is ultimate their decision.
*** On finishing this recruiting class: "I'm optimistic but I've done this long enough to know that some crazy things can happen before signing day."
*** On spots trying to fill in portal: "If I knew what was going to happen on Wednesday...." He's committed to signing the best high school class we can and it is hard to manage the 85 and juggle the numbers.
*** On Payton's development: "Really just after the second half of the season and we got better at receiver and got more comfortable doing the things that we were going to do moving forward ... he's got the ability to be a dual-threat guy and if you get the right pieces around him he's going to be efficient."
*** On Payton having a full offseason: "I just think Year 2 for him will make a drastic difference."
That's it for Hugh. Have a great Saturday!
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