Auburn’s head coach, Hugh Freeze, is nothing if not ambitious. Now leading the Tigers and previously Ole Miss, Freeze has strong opinions about how his teams should have fared against Nick Saban’s Alabama.

In a recent interview with ESPN, Freeze boldly claimed, “Nick is incredible, but I should have four wins against them.” While those “four wins” were unclear, ESPN’s Paul Finebaum throws the question at Freeze to elaborate.

Speaking with Finebaum Tuesday, Freeze expanded on his comments, jokingly starting with, “Maybe this one will go viral too.” He then explained, “We had the opportunity to have four wins for sure. In my third year at Ole Miss, we were up 24 to 3, and truthfully, I didn’t coach well enough.”

To rewind, Freeze secured two victories against Alabama in 2014 and 2015 with the Rebels. But he believes he missed out on two more. Things took a turn in that third year, with a 24-3 lead. Saban’s Alabama clawed back to win 48-43. And his Auburn Tigers fought fiercely last year, losing a close 27-24 battle. Reflecting on those games, Freeze admitted, “When you get those types of leads, you know, we ended up getting what, 50-49 or something like that…we could have won that.”

He also took responsibility for his coaching decisions, saying, “I should have controlled the clock more in the game.” While some found his previous comments overly ambitious or even disrespectful to Saban, Freeze clarified, “That certainly doesn’t mean that I’m saying in any way we were better than his squad or better than his staff.” Though the losses seem to sting, Freeze is slowly gaining some momentum.

Hugh Freeze stealing the spotlight in Alabama

The rivalry between Auburn and Alabama has always been intense, especially with both schools hailing from the same state. Their classic “Iron Bowl” matchups are legendary, with the Bama fans often seeing celebrations under Saban’s 11-5 record in these games. But for Hugh Freeze, those losses sting, including the 2023 Iron Bowl. “Not winning the game sucked…It stuck. It was disappointing. Hard,” he admitted.

However, things are changing in Tuscaloosa this year. With Nick Saban no longer at the helm, new head coach Kalen DeBoer is stepping in. Along with this shift, Auburn’s luck in recruiting seems to turn around. They’re finally getting some homegrown talent to commit to the team. This August was a big month for the Tigers, as they secured 4-star defensive lineman Antonio Coleman after his whirlwind of commitments. Coleman initially committed to Saban, Freeze, DeBoer, and finally back to Freeze. It seems the sting of previous losses is getting some relief. But that’s not all — Auburn also landed 4-star edge rusher Jared Smith and coveted wide receiver Derick Smith, who chose Auburn over Alabama.

Now, Auburn boasts an impressive 50% of its 2025 recruits from within the state, while DeBoer’s Alabama has only 14%. It looks like Hugh Freeze is gaining a stronghold in his home state, and perhaps the SEC should take notice!