Hugh Freeze continues to make it very difficult for Auburn to finally fire him

He may not be the most likable guy, but Hugh Freeze is a great college football head coach. He has won everywhere previously, from Arkansas State, to Ole Miss, to most recently at Liberty. Hiring him away from Liberty was a tad controversial with how it ended for him at Ole Miss. The idea behind hiring Freeze was to instill fear within the Tigers' three biggest rivals in Alabama, Georgia and LSU.

While Freeze did lead Auburn to a bowl game in his first year on the job last season, it is not looking good for him in year two down on The Plains. Auburn enters its Week 12 matchup with ULM at 3-6 on the season. Not only do they have to beat the Warhawks, but they need to beat Texas A&M and rival Alabama to even get to 6-6. War Eagle Nation may be done with Freeze, but let's have patience.

Auburn has to allow Freeze enough time to completely flip the roster. He has to let the Bryan Harsin debacle gradually make its way out of the program. John Cohen hired him for a reason, so why punt on him after only two years? Keep in mind that he left his alma mater of Mississippi State to go to Auburn to hire the former disgraced head coach at Ole Miss. No, Cohen is not firing Freeze this year.

Plus, Freeze is doing wonders on the recruiting trail, as illustrated by getting Shamar Arnoux to flip.

When it comes to the head coaches at Auburn and USC, I know which one needs to go this winter...

Auburn needs to let Hugh Freeze continue to recruit to turn this around

This is going to be a very interesting trip on the coaching carousel. Someone we do not expect will be let go between now and the first of December. Six Group of Five jobs have already opened up, but entering Week 12, no Power Four head-coaching vacancies exist. Ask yourself this: Is Purdue going to be the best Power Four job that becomes available? Of course not, so we have to have patience!

Wins and losses during the season do carry a ton of weight. However, I think from a bird's eye view that wins and losses on the recruiting trail are far more indicative of if a head coach is going to keep his job or not. The big-pocketed boosters who hold up some of these major programs understand fully the importance of recruitment. It is the lifeblood of any college football program worth a damn.

For that reason, I would be reluctant to move on from Freeze after this season. Should he enter next season on the hot seat? Yes, but he should get a fourth year on the job if he gets the Tigers to a bowl game next season. The Auburn program was in far worse shape than we even realized. We are asking him to win games in the extended wake of whatever the hell happened to the program under Harsin.

Auburn must be less reactionary and a bit more proactive if the Tigers ever want to be good again.