Three Men, One Playbook: Auburn’s New Offensive “Strategy”

They say if you have two quarterbacks, you have none. Does the same apply to play-callers? If so, Auburn still might be in good hands because it sounds like they have three.

There has never been a more appropriately used phrase than “only at Auburn.” This situations is so mystifying that I initially thought it was fake. Nope, Hugh Freeze really is letting it fly in his third season on The Plains.

Freeze rose to prominence at Ole Miss because of his ability to recruit top-notch talent (by any means necessary) and call plays. In recent years, he hasn’t always acted as his team’s offensive coordinator. Last year, he described the offensive play-calling as a “collaborative effort.”

What the hell does that mean? Thankfully, the folks at AL.com asked offensive coordinator Derrick Nix how the Auburn offensive braintrust works.

“I try to do a good job on first-and-10, drive-starters. (Quarterbacks coach) Kent Austin does our third downs,” Nix told AL.com. “Head coach has the authority to overrule anything we say or do.”

So Auburn has a first-down play-caller, a third-down play-caller, and a head coach who is “heavily involved” and can veto any decision. That’s the sign of a healthy, streamlined operation. Fortunately, Lane Kiffin was willing to ask the question we all wanted to know.

Hugh Freeze had an opportunity to address the situation following Auburn’s practice on Thursday and he didn’t provide much more clarity.

“Derrick Nix is the offensive coordinator, and he does all of the planning, scripting in charge of the gameplan. There’s no staff that’s not a collaboration on the plan,” said the Auburn head coach. “I offensively or defensively reserve the right to say on the call sheet, ‘I don’t really like that one right here.’ But he does a great job for us. Kent kind of leads the third down plan, but other than that, Nix kinda leads the charge and has the play-calling duties, with me reserving the right to say, ‘Hey.'”

Take all of the humor out of this situation for just a moment. I know that’s hard to do because this is hilarious, but let’s not make jokes for just a second.

At his first SEC Media Days appearance, Freeze acknowledged that Auburn was undergoing a significant rebuild, but after 2-3 high school recruiting classes, they should be able to have it rocking and rolling. That time is now. Over his first two seasons, Auburn is 6-7 at Jordan-Hare Stadium, with losses to Cal, New Mexico State, and Vanderbilt.

Auburn fans were surprisingly willing to give him a little leash in the beginning. That’s no longer the case. He’s built a roster that should be a winner. Keldric Faulk is one of the best EDGE players in all of college football. Cam Coleman and Eric Singleton are arguably the best 1-2 punch at wide receiver in the SEC. The talent is there, but can Freeze successfully create a modern offense on The Plains?

He’s trying to do it with one of the most convoluted play-calling methods in the history of college football. This strategy can take the blame off the head coach’s shoulders, but there’s no way it can operate efficiently. There are too many voices talking into the headset.

This is just another reason why Auburn is the most fascinating team in college football in 2025. If it works, they have enough talent to be in the CFP. If it doesn’t, prepare for a firework show, and not the good kind either, one that looks like this.