Hugh Freeze may have just saved his job with huge recruiting flip to Auburn

The Hugh Freeze era in Auburn isn’t exactly going as planned for Tigers fans and boosters. Freeze was hired after four stellar years at Liberty, but the team wanted to replicate the impact he created in the five years at Ole Miss from 2012 to 2016.

Through the first year and a half of Freeze’s leadership, the Tigers have struggled significantly with an overall record of 8-10 and a 2-3 start this season. The offense looks horrible under quarterback Peyton Thorne and the collapse at home this past Saturday to No. 21 Oklahoma doesn’t help.

The program is in a dark place, but a surprising recruiting move might give the Tigers hope and save Freeze’s job. On Wednesday, four-star quarterback Deuce Knight from Lucedale, Mississippi de-committed from Notre Dame to commit to Auburn. Knight had 25 offers including Alabama, Georgia, Louisville, Miami, Ole Miss, Oregon, Tennessee and Washington.

Deuce Knight could save Hugh Freeze at Auburn

This move by Knight is surprising considering that he is flipping his commitment from a stable program like Notre Dame to a program like Auburn, whose fanbase and athletic leaders are known to be impatient with coaches. The Tigers can go from quickly supporting their head coaching to searching for new candidates at the drop of a hat.

There is no doubt that Knight can make an impact with the Fighting Irish, who was the only quarterback committed. He said he flipped his commitment because Freeze believes he can create a dynamic and explosive offense. Knight certainly felt the same as he made five visits to Auburn since July 31.

Freeze clearly said the right things and made Knight excited for the future despite the poor performances from the Tigers this season. Knight is the third-highest-rated prospect from the 2025 recruiting class committed to the Tigers. If the program’s short patience causes Freeze to leave after an underwhelming performance this season, they risk losing commitments like Knight.

Is Hugh Freeze going to be forced to play Knight early?

Freeze certainly believes in Knight and his potential to lead a high-power offense. The program is no stranger to taking their chances early on a young quarterback and having them start early in their career. Fans may beg for Freeze to develop Knight, if he remains committed and signs, and turn him into the starting quarterback.

This season, fans are pleading for redshirt freshman Hank Brown to be the full-time starter over Thorne. There isn’t a concern for the age of these quarterbacks, they want to see how mentally focused they are. It wasn’t long ago that the Tigers took a chance on a true freshman named Bo Nix in 2019.

If Knight remains committed to Auburn, he will be competing against an experienced Brown and dual-threat quarterback Walker White, who enrolled at Auburn early. The program doesn’t know what they have in White and how Brown and Thorne will finish the season will determine the fan’s patience with the offense. They might want the shiny new weapon in Knight to play immediately next season. This will be a gamble for Freeze, but he might need it to save his job.