Hugh Freeze is coaching for his career this week against Missouri

October 17, 2025 – AUBURN, AL – To say the first half of the 2025 football season has been "a disappointment" would be an understatement. Auburn has played three SEC opponents and Auburn has lost to all three.

For Auburn head Coach Hugh Freeze (now in his third season on the Plains) the situation is getting precarious. To say that he is a coach on the hot seat would also be an understatement. There used to be a time when coaches were given 4 or 5 years to build a program before judgements were made. Not anymore.

Freeze's predecessor – Brian Harsin – was let go in just his second season. Penn State's James Franklin was just a few plays away from playing in the national championship game last year. Three conference losses to start this season and his tenure with the Nittany Lions was ended Sunday. Franklin was the second winningest coach in Penn State history. Freeze hasn't had a winning season at Auburn yet and his conference record is terrible.

Mike Gundy was let go at Oklahoma State after 21 seasons following a 1–2 start and a blowout loss to Oregon. Gundy was the winningest coach in school history.

DeShaun Foster was fired three games into his second season at UCLA after getting blown out by New Mexico.

Brent Pry was dismissed after an 0–3 start in his fourth season at Virginia Tech – including a humiliating loss to South Carolina and Coach Shane Beamer – the son of Virginia Tech legend Frank Beamer.

Trent Bray was fired at Oregon State after starting 0–7 in his second season.

Sam Pittman was fired on Sept. 28 in Arkansas after loosing to Notre Dame. He finished 32 and 34 overall, with a 14–29 SEC record. Freeze has a record of 14–17 overall and 5–14 in SEC play since taking over in 2023.

Trent Dilfer was fired six games into his third season at UAB after a disappointing 2 and 4 start.

Fans are donating to their school's NIL collectives for Coaches to go get the best players through the transfer. That increased level of fan commitment to the recruiting process has led to greater than ever expectations that coaches win – and win now. Thus far Freeze has not shown any great aptitude at picking players through the portal.

This brings us to the SEC showdown between Missouri and Auburn on Saturday, October 18, 2025. The number 16 Missouri Tigers (5–1, 1–1 SEC) are coming off their first loss of the season-a narrow 27–24 defeat to Alabama. Missouri has been dominant offensively and defensively but faces a very difficult road test at Jordan Haire.

Auburn has kept the last three games close due to almost heroic efforts on the part of the Auburn defense.

The offense is where Auburn has been struggling – and Freeze is an offensive coach who is heavily involved in the play calling. Reporting over the offseason claimed that Freeze calls all the second down plays and can and does overrule the other two offensive play caller on first and third downs. Third downs in the SEC losses have been a struggle for Auburn this year. Auburn has struggled to run the ball consistently against SEC opponents. This is compounded by Auburn's base scheme where the quarterback lines up virtually every play in the shotgun meaning either he or the ball carrier have to run the ball eight yards to even reach the line of scrimmage giving defenders precious seconds to react to the Auburn run game.

In the passing game, Auburn Quarterback Jackson Arnold has thrown for 983 passing yards, five touchdowns, and a 64.2% completion rate. He also has 247 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns. Against SEC opponents Arnold has thrown for a total of 482 yards over these three games, with just one passing touchdown and no interceptions. He has just one rushing touchdown against SEC opposition.

Arnold and the offense performs well in the first quarter where most of the plays are scripted, but tends to struggle after that – particularly in come from behind position.

Missouri QB Beau Pribula: has 1,370 passing yards, 11 TDs, and a 72.8% completion rate. He also has 182 rushing yards and four rushing TDs. Missouri running back Ahmad Hardy is one of the top players in the country at his position with 782 rushing yards, nine touchdowns, and averaging 130.3 YPG. Missouri tight end Brett Norfleet has five receiving TDs and is a key red-zone target for MIzzoo.

Auburn needs to feed the ball to running back Jeremiah Cobb the ball early and often to keep Missouri off the field. He has 453 rushing yards and four touchdowns. Wide receiver Cam Coleman has contributed 305 receiving yards and just two touchdowns on the season.

Auburn has struggled to score in SEC play.

Freeze needs to figure it out and score against Missouri. Alabama relied heavy on its passing game last week to beat Missouri in Missouri. Auburn has the advantage of playing them in Auburn.

The game is at 6:45 p.m. CDT at Jordan-Hare Stadium, Auburn, AL. It is televised on the SEC Network.

If Freeze can get a win here that could be the beginning of turning this season around and ending the year in a bowl game. If Auburn loses, the conversation becomes about his future and whether or not the program can bring Freeze back for a fourth year or not.

Freeze signed a six-year, $39 million deal in 2022. His buyout equals 75% of the remaining payments on his contract. The payout would be made in monthly installments through January 31, 2029. The current buyout is approximately $15,437,500 - $406,250. The program could save millions by bringing Freeze back for a fourth season – but at what cost to the program. Auburn has not won seven games since the first Trump administration - 2019.

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