Auburn HC Hugh Freeze gets real on not "spending $1,000,000" for a QB via transfer portal: "I couldn't bring myself to do that"
The pressure is on coach Hugh Freeze as he enters year two as head of the Auburn football program. One of the areas of his 2024 team that has been most scrutinized is the quarterbacks room, headlined by Payton Thorne.
In an appearance on "McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning," Freeze defended his move not to acquire another quarterback for an obscene amount of money.
“The options that you’re presented with: develop Payton, develop Holden, develop Hank, develop Walker or go spend a million dollars on this guy, I just couldn’t bring myself to doing that, because I wanted to put all the pieces together,” Freeze said.
During the Hoover Mayor's Prayer Breakfast on Tuesday morning, Hugh Freeze reiterated his faith in Payton Thorne.
“I’m a believer in Payton,” Freeze said. “Obviously, I know that, you know, quarterbacks, they’re either going to take praise or criticism, there’s nowhere in between. He certainly has had his good and bad moments, but I do believe, with better pieces around him, that he has the ability to be a great leader, and a really solid quarterback in this league."
Hugh Freeze faced with QB dilemma
Payton Thorne transferred from the Michigan State Spartans and did not set Auburn alight last season. He attempted 265 passes and threw for 1,755 yards on a 61.1% completion rate, resulting in 16 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
Thorne's 6.6 yards per attempt ranked him No. 83 and his 129.14 rating No. 73 in the country. He also rushed for 515 yards, resulting in three touchdowns—numbers that new offensive coordinator Derrick Nix will attempt to increase.
Hugh Freeze has various options apart from Payton Thorne, including freshman Walker White, Hank Brown, who is a redshirt freshman, or sophomore Holden Geriner, who is the most experienced campaigner among the trio.
The Auburn coach seems content with Thorne as his QB1 and harkened back to his Michigan State tape as proof of his talent. However, he also added a caveat to his statement at the end of the Hoover Mayor's Prayer Breakfast, not ruling out signing a signal-caller.
“I’ve watched his Michigan State stuff 1,000 times, he had two NFL receivers and he was pretty danged good,” Freeze said. “There’s a lot of things that should be 50-50 balls and you’ve got to have a guy that can do that. I think Dre Lambert, he’s a 50-50 pass-catcher. And obviously we’re excited about the ones we signed.”
On the flip side, Hugh Freeze recruited the No. 10 recruiting class in the country, according to 247Sports, but the pressure is on him to find the quarterback who will tie the whole roster of talent together.