Fans Joke Auburn Will Be On Permanent Probation With Hugh Freeze AND Bruce Pearl Both On Staff

The Auburn compliance department could have its hands full following their most recent hire. The university named Hugh Freeze as its next head football coach, giving the Tigers a pair of violators when it comes to NCAA recruiting practices.

Freeze’s past with Ole Miss is well documented. Outside of the hiring hookers with a school-issued cell phone fiasco, he’s had former players come out saying they were being paid while playing for the program. In today’s world of college athletics, those payments might not be considered egregious, but back then, it led to 33 vacated wins.

The risk could’ve been worth the reward as Ole Miss was able to crack the top five of the national rankings in back-to-back seasons, while also taking down Nick Saban. That success, particularly against Alabama, was one of the reasons Auburn found him so appealing.

And the Tigers are no stranger to contentious hires. After all, their basketball coach is Bruce Pearl who left Tennessee on probation and was issued a three-year show cause amid recruiting violations. He’s also been suspended at Auburn while seeing his program placed on a four-year probation for failure to monitor his staff.

Following the hiring of Hugh Freeze, folks on social media posted reactions to having him join Pearl on staff.

Dan Wolken posted, “I don’t understand the Auburn fan base backlash on Hugh Freeze. Last I checked, your basketball coach is Bruce Pearl.” That’s quite the combo.

Ed Pugh echoed those same feelings by joking, “Bruce Pearl and Hugh Freeze on the same campus. I hear the NCAA is setting up a compliance office on campus.”

Another person wrote, “Bruce Pearl and Hugh Freeze are now head coaches at the same school. I’m sure everything will go well there.”

It should be fun to follow these two Auburn leaders over the next few seasons.