“Are we disappointed yet? As for Auburn Tigers HC Hugh Freeze, ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum certainly is”

Even Paul Finebaum’s weekly ritual targeting embattled Auburn Tigers head coach Hugh Freeze suddenly feels like it’s running on empty.

Another lame loss to Vanderbilt over the weekend might normally have had ESPN’s designated agitator licking his chops. Not this time. Instead, Finebaum seems rather apathetic about the way things are going on the Plains.

“I am completely disappointed in Hugh Freeze as Auburn head football coach,” Finebaum said during his weekly appearance on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning. “What does that mean? It doesn’t really mean much for this year. I think this year is basically over, and now it’s about what he can do in the offseason , immediately after the season, to consolidate this program at the top.”

Obediently accepting that Freeze is secure in his position simply because of his prior acumen of working on back-to-back recruiting cycles is pretty much where everyone is parked right now – including Finebaum.

It would seem that all the Auburn program can really do is stay the course with Freeze in hopes that the freshman talent will actually improve the team next season, while still being able to retain talented young players like defensive lineman Keldric Faulk and receiver Cam. Coleman.

All of this chooses to blatantly ignore what a poor job Freeze has done as the team’s coach this season. After all, the roster Tigers are 3-6 for a reason.

If we all breathe, history has a nasty habit of proving that making the wrong choice always has disastrous consequences in the much longer term.

Without much evidence to prove otherwise, it seems pretty crazy to assume that Freeze will miraculously transform into a version of Bill Belichick in time for next season.

God knows Finebaum is simply looking for a positive sign that Freeze can provide some degree of improvement in terms of basic coaching skills, but to suggest that it will magically happen is a serious exaggeration.

“A lot of people are optimistic,” Finebaum insisted. “They tell us and you about his recruiting performance. But ultimately, I would like to see him on the pitch. I’m not about to take anything away from what Vanderbilt has done this year, but it’s really hard-nosed coaching and really tactical decisions in the offseason and I’m really trying to understand what Hugh Freeze did apart from blaming everything. on Bryan Harsin.”

While Finebaum and others suggest everyone moves on from the current campaign, let’s not forget that Alabama and Texas A&M still remain on the Tigers’ roster.

Consider how embarrassing losses in both games could possibly be a final straw that breaks the camel’s back scenario for the power brokers behind the scenes at Auburn?

If things were to play out exactly like this, ending Freeze would be particularly costly, and not just in financial terms.

As for the here and now, apathy, even total disillusionment, reigns on the Plains.