Name an Auburn Tigers head coach who endured three consecutive losing seasons and got invited back for Year 4? None. NO ONE. That answers all the questions regarding how hot Hugh Freeze’s seat is moving into the 2025 season. He is already running with a burden of two losses on his shoulders. And now, as he must be looking for some motivational juice to sip on, someone is here to help…

That’s none other than their defensive lineman transfer Chris Murray. Freeze lost 23 players this transfer season. But looks like his one gain would make up for all the losses. After all, Murray is already spreading the threat among the rivals.

In an interview with Ty Haffner, Freeze’s defensive lineman has already charted out what he wants from his Plains chapter. He shared, “I love an underdog story. I love Coach DJ Durkin. He’s fired up that everyone doesn’t believe in us. I am just ready to attack and prove everybody wrong. Now we have every piece to do it. I love the family and atmosphere. I want the atmosphere to explode and be crazy. I’m ready for it. I want to live the underdog story and prove everybody wrong.” DJ Durkin was named defensive coordinator at Auburn on Jan. 31, 2024. And Freeze’s coach has indeed been a good addition. 

During his first stint at Auburn, Durkin helped Freeze’s squad post their best rushing defense since 2010 (117.8 ypg), the best total defense since 2017 (330.8 ypg), and the best scoring defense since 2019 (19.5 ppg). Now, how is Murray going to further shoot up the power?

A native of Wichita Falls, Texas, he attended Hirschi High School and then committed to Texas Christian University in April of 2020. He then played as a redshirt with the Horned Frogs and transferred to Sam Houston. Now that he has got a platform, the highest stage of football, he is going to leave no stone unturned. After all, this fire has been burning bright since he started playing football at the age of eight.

He knows that he has something to prove every Saturday. And to push harder, he got his motivation. That’s Freeze himself. “Our fans come ready every year,” Murray shared. “That’s a big feeling because we feel like we have to support them back. It’s only right for us to give them what they give us. Coach Hugh Freeze also motivates us. It’s almost like a ‘fight for Freeze’ vibe. Just making everybody who has poured their hearts into us and Auburn excited.” Coming back to business, how good of a player is Murray?

He brings a heavy sack presence to the Freeze’s defense after posting a team-leading 5.5 sacks this season for Sam Houston. Pro Football Focus ranked him as the second-highest graded defender at 78.1. Freeze is now replacing Jalen McLeod at EDGE, and Murray, with his strong resume, fits well. But amidst all the Murray hype, there looms a major concern for Auburn fans. Their head coach is now standing on quicksand.

CBS rankings and analysts drop the hammer on Hugh Freeze

Already, things looked bad for Freeze. He had caught the side eyes of college football critic Paul Finebaum. The ESPN analyst did not mince his words when he said, “I wonder if Auburn wasn’t sold a bill of goods on [Freeze]. If you take away those wins against Nick Saban, what exactly has Hugh Freeze accomplished as a football coach?” The 2024 season was a big dud for Auburn. Freeze wrapped the season up with a 5-7 record. It wouldn’t have pained so much had they not locked in a top-10 class. 

Then came some more woes for Freeze. On July 22, CBS Sports released their ‘SEC coach rankings 2025′. Freeze was placed at the 12th spot, ranked as No.47. However, he was not the only one sitting on the sinking ship. Oklahoma Sooners’ Brent Venables also scored quite low, a 13th spot with a No.52 ranking. Turns out that taking Venables into account, Freeze is in a slightly better place. 

As Andy Staples shared on The Next Round podcast, “You get [a] competent quarterback player, and like Jackson Arnold, does not have to win the Heisman Trophy. He just has to not throw a crippling pick-six in the fourth quarter in several games. And I don’t think that’s a huge ask. So I think Venables is under more pressure. It’s a long way of saying I think Venables is under more pressure because I think Freeze has a better situation.” But here is a way the Auburn head coach can cool his hot seat. 

Analyst Bill Smith shared the way out of this labyrinth on his podcast. He stated, “Hugh Freeze hasn’t shirked from the expectations, landing ex-Oklahoma QB Jackson Arnold out of the portal to lead Auburn’s offense in 2025. If Freeze can get the Tigers moving in the right direction and deliver Auburn’s first winning season since 2020, expect the hot seat talk to cool off considerably.” Time for a hard pill to swallow, Freeze’s squad hasn’t won more than six games since 2019. Can players like Chris Murray help him break the drought?