Lane Kiffin and Hugh Freeze are on opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to how they handle poor play. One prefers to take accountability for himself while the other prefers to publicly toss his players under the bus if they do not perform up to his expectations.
Freeze is the latter. Kiffin is the former.
Auburn got smacked by Arkansas at home on Saturday. The Tigers failed to score in the first half and committed five turnovers, including four interceptions. Freeze benched starting quarterback Hank Brown for Payton Thorne after previously benching Thorne for Brown. The Razorbacks won by 10 despite their own struggles in the passing game.
There are some underlying positives on which Auburn can build, but the majority of its issues stem from its quarterbacks. Neither Brown nor Thorne look competent enough under center to win ballgames in the SEC and it’s not a secret.
In fact, Freeze publicly placed all of the blame on the signal-callers during his postgame press conference.
"I know that there's people open and I know that we're running the football. We've got to find a guy that won't throw it to the other team and we've got to find running backs that hold on to it." – Hugh Freeze after Auburn's turnover-filled loss to Arkansas pic.twitter.com/7CQ4ii7ij9
— The Next Round (@NextRoundLive) September 21, 2024
It was not the first time this has happened this season. Hugh Freeze also threw his players in front of a bus after a loss to Cal.
Former Ole Miss quarterback Bo Wallace saw his former head coach’s comments and offered his two cents on what he had to say. The 32-year-old high school offensive coordinator lit him up for his approach to the loss.
We’re approaching the point that he’s thrown so many QBs under the bus , that maybe no one wants to play for him?? His offense helped me tremendously put numbers up when I blew my shoulder out…. But why is it someone else’s fault every time there’s a loss ?? … but when there’s a win I watch the press conferences just to count how many times the word “I” is used… appreciate what he did for me , my son wouldn’t be playing for him tho.
I got a story I’ll keep in my back pocket forever until it’s time.
(Auburn staffers calling my phone incoming)
But that dude has never helped me a day in his life…. It was always only about getting a win for him so he could collect his extra 100 racks a win.
If y’all knew the medications and shots I was taking to get that man his money you wouldn’t believe they would let you walk on a field like that.
And with all that , I still feel the tires from the bus.
(Bo’s drunk) nah he is as sober as could be watching tape , just tired of this dude always blaming players … EVERY.SINGLE TIME.
Do your research on his offenses , excluding his time at liberty , look at the interceptions every qb he’s had play for him throws , at some point when it happens over and over every year…. You look in the mirror , not at the players to save face.
— @bowallace14 on X
Lane Kiffin was not quite as direct with his criticism of Freeze and never directly addressed his SEC West coaching counterpart and rival by name. However, he was as subtle as a tire iron to the knee during his press conference on Monday.
Kiffin spoke about his relationship with his team and promised to always take accountability for the coaching staff’s shortcomings before he ever points a finger at the players. One specific anecdote really drove it home.
No one does subtlety better. pic.twitter.com/Luz4o43ZAE
— Michael Borkey (@MichaelBorkey) September 23, 2024
Matt Corral once threw six interceptions in a single game — ironically enough, against Arkansas.
Instead of benching Corral like Freeze did to Thorne and Brown, Kiffin kept him in the game. Instead of blaming Corral for ruining his perfect game plan like Freze did to Thorne and Brown, Kiffin promised to call better plays and put him in a position to succeed.
Which college football coach would you want to play for?