Heading into the 2025 season, Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze is feeling the heat. Now in his third year at the helm, he has yet to deliver a team with a winning record.
This season marks a new chapter, as it will be the first without Payton Thorne at quarterback. With the addition of a top-10 recruiting class and a strong crop of transfer portal additions, there’s optimism that this could finally be the breakthrough year for Freeze and the Tigers.
Freeze and his staff had to completely overhaul the quarterback room, replacing every player from last season. They brought in former Oklahoma signal-caller Jackson Arnold, ex-Stanford QB Ashton Daniels, and true freshman Deuce Knight. Arnold has already been named the starter, but Freeze praised both Arnold and Knight for their performances in spring practice and expects healthy competition to continue.
He also offered high praise for his revamped quarterback group.
“I’d match our quarterback room with anyone in the SEC,” Freeze told reporters ahead of Jimmy Rane’s charity scholarship banquet in Montgomery, according to Auburn Undercover. “Between Jackson, Deuce, and Ashton, I think we’ve got three really solid guys. Deuce hasn’t played yet, but the other two were major additions from the portal.”
With only Arnold, Daniels, and Knight on scholarship, it’s a lighter group than Freeze typically prefers, as he’s historically leaned toward having four quarterbacks.
“Until we prove it on the field, what I say doesn’t mean much,” Freeze admitted. “But I feel good about those three.”