“We must take care of the ball” — Auburn HC Hugh Freeze gives valuable football advice to 1-year-old granddaughter

Hugh Freeze was caught in an adorable moment with his granddaughter Hudson Blair Reynolds. The video was uploaded by the Auburn coach's daughter, Ragan Freeze, who's married to Ryan Reynolds (not the "Deadpool" actor).

In the IG story, Freeze interacted with the one-year-old who approached her granddad with a football in her hand. The infant handed the ball to Freeze, who shared a piece of football advice, which surely would be handy for the Auburn Tigers in the 2024 college football season.

The Tigers HC donning the Under Armour Auburn sweatshirt said,

"You must take care of the ball to win games."

Ragan Freeze captioned her story:

"learning to take care of the football from Coach 🥺"

Auburn had an abysmal 6-7 record in the 2023 season, which Freeze would surely look to improve upon. The Tigers start their 2024 campaign against the Alabama A&M Bulldogs on September 1.

ESPN analysts put Hugh Freeze's Auburn in underachieving category

Auburn fell into the "who's next" category in ESPN analysts Bill Connelly and Adam Rittenberg’s latest article on college football's biggest disappointments. The duo labeled Freeze's team as an underachieving program.

Since 2019, Auburn has struggled to finish more than two games above .500 while changing three head coaches, resulting in instability and underperformance.

Despite Auburn's rich football history, the Tigers have not met expectations in the past few years. They had a national title win in 2010 and a championship game again in 2013.

“The next step is finding consistency after a turbulent last decade that featured only one 10-win season, one top 10 finish and one season of fewer than three SEC losses -- all in 2017,” said Rittenburg.

Auburn's proximity to Atlanta, a top recruiting hub, and its passionate fan base provide a solid foundation for success. The Tigers haven’t been able to tap into that potential. However, Freeze has begun leveraging Auburn's advanced NIL setup, putting the Tigers in a strong position for future recruitment.

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