Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze saw Oklahoma's mess of an offense last season and said, "Here, hold my Gatorade."
Freeze had fans and media all kinds of confused when he recently tried to explain his offensive plan for this season that featured a different play-caller for every down. Then, to add to the madness, Freeze said on Monday that the Tigers could play three different quarterbacks, including OU transfer Jackson Arnold, in their season opener against Baylor.
Auburn's offensive plan is ludicrous, and it's so out of whack, that there's no way Freeze has things figured out by the Tigers' trip to Oklahoma in Week 4 for Arnold's return to Norman.
Hugh Freeze has insane play-calling system with three QBs, including Jackson Arnold
Despite the possible three-QB system to at least begin the season, Auburn On3's Justin Hokanson still believes "it to be Jackson Arnold’s show." According to Hokanson, Freeze just believes his other two quarterbacks have traits that could benefit the offense. Or just add to the chaos.
I fully believe and expect it to be Jackson Arnold’s show. Freeze thinks Ashton Daniels and Deuce Knight have some elements of their game that could help at times, but it’s Arnold’s show. That’s my take.
— Justin Hokanson (@_JHokanson) August 18, 2025
A video out of Auburn's fall camp last week went viral when Freeze threw his visor in frustration because Arnold kept messing up in a drill. Freeze addressed the situation after practice, but even his response didn't ooze confidence in Arnold, and the short clip alone showed there's still traces of what Arnold did consistently last season at OU.
Asked Hugh Freeze about this moment today.
— Rosie Langello-Hodgens (@RosieLangello) August 14, 2025
“When we have the right thing called, the expectation, and I think it's a reasonable one, is we execute it. Now, if we haven’t coached it well enough when we get in there, maybe that’s the case…I’ll ask the quarterback staff, ‘What… https://t.co/xcMkSJhOwT pic.twitter.com/QIvM3mTSKx
This time last year, Arnold was also heralded as the future at QB for the Sooners as a former five-star recruit. There wasn't even any fall camp drama surrounding Arnold in Norman, but he was still benched by Week 4 during OU's SEC opener against Tennessee. He then eventually transferred to Auburn this offseason.
Auburn's SEC opener in 2025 will also be Week 4 against the Sooners. If Arnold follows the same timeline, he could be watching from the sidelines again like he was when the Sooners played his future team last year. Or even worse, he could lose his starting job right in front of Sooner Nation.
Freeze already created his own mess with multiple play-callers. He'll surely continue to try to force it to work, but at some point, the Tigers will have to restructure their entire offense in the middle of the season. With there already being trouble in paradise and Arnold clearly in another disastrous situation, there could also be a QB controversy Freeze has to deal with midseason.
Week 1 isn't even here yet, but OU, with its lone play-caller in Ben Arbuckle and just one quarterback with John Mateer, already has advantages over Auburn in Week 4.
Read more about OU football