How hot is Hugh Freeze's seat entering the 2025 season? USA TODAY Sports breaks it down

In its history, Auburn football has never kept a head coach through three consecutive losing seasons. Recent history will show that one losing season is enough for the Tigers to axe its deal with a coach. However, the circumstances are different for Hugh Freeze as he was tasked to repair the program following the Bryan Harsin era, which saw a dip in several aspects including recruiting and overall morale.

However, as Freeze enters year three, patience will become thin among the Auburn fan base should the team fail to show significant progress on the field, which is a driving force for USA TODAY Sports college football experts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams to include Freeze in their preseason SEC hot seat rankings.

Adams believes that Freeze has a cooler seat than the likes of Florida's Billy Napier, Kentucky's Mark Stoops, and Arkansas' Sam Pittman. At the same time, Toppmeyer feels that Pittman's job security is the only one thinner than Freeze's. When breaking down Freeze's job security, the blames Auburn's blown opportunities in close games last season, as well as a stall in recruiting, for pressure mounting.

Here's a trivia question: Name an Auburn coach who endured three consecutive losing seasons and got invited back for Year 4. It's a trick question. The answer doesn't exist. Freeze has produced two losing seasons in a row. He cannot endure a third.

Freeze's current buyout of about $17 million is skimpier than some others on this list. Auburn paid more to fire Gus Malzahn, who never had a losing season.

Last fall, Freeze could point to recruiting gains as a reason to remain optimistic, even as Auburn repeatedly blew opportunities in winnable games, and losses mounted. Recruiting has stalled, though. In Year 3, Freeze cannot expect an Auburn fan base starved for success to remain patient. It's time to win.

This summer has been mysterious for Auburn, as the Tigers ended May with a top-25 recruiting class but saw it dip to the 80s after several blue-chip recruits such as Shadarius Toodle and Jamichael Garrett backed away from their pledges. Freeze has worked to salvage the class by landing four four-star recruits: Jaquez Wilkes, Peyton Falzone, Wilson Zierer, and Adam Balogoun-Ali, since June 26. However, Auburn's 2026 haul ranks No. 70 in 247Sports' rankings, and repairs will need to continue to be made for Tiger fans to feel comfort about this class.

In terms of success on the field, Auburn has lost seven games in four consecutive seasons and has not posted a record above .500 since 2020, when Gus Malzahn was fired after going 6-4 in an SEC-only schedule due to COVID. Freeze has worked wonders in the transfer portal and high school recruiting, and fans are ready to see the results on the field. Should Auburn fail to win at least seven games this season, it will spark discussion about player development, which could fuel job security chatter.

The good news is that Auburn faces a favorable SEC schedule this season. The Tigers will play one College Football Playoff participant from a year ago, Georgia, and one team that won 10 games in Missouri. Outside of those two games, Auburn will face two teams that won at least eight games in Alabama and Texas A&M, while the rest of their schedule that includes Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Arkansas, won seven or fewer games. Auburn came close to winning several SEC games last season, and a different result could dramatically change their trajectory, thus would cool off Freeze's hot seat talk.

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This article originally appeared on Auburn Wire: Hugh Freeze's seat is among the hottest in the SEC ahead of 2025