Auburn AD John Cohen, last seen barking at officials after they botched the end of Saturday's 20-10 loss to Georgia, spoke to AL.com on Monday on the status of embattled Tigers head coach Hugh Freeze.
And as far as non-statement statements go, this one is about a 2.2 on a 10-point scale.
“I don’t know if I’m going to walk outside and my car is going to start or not, I think it is,” Cohen said. “I have an expectation it will. But if my car doesn’t start enough, then I will evaluate that and make decisions about my car. But that’s not my expectation at this point about our football program.”
Asked what criteria he uses to evaluate coaches, Cohen said this: “Is the locker room still buying in? Are we still bringing in the right types of student athletes, both out of the portal and from the high school and junior college ranks? And are our kids getting better? And are they giving a great effort? That’s the template for me. Those are the questions I have to answer for myself in any program that we have.”
That explanation is, frankly, hard to believe, because it omits the most important question in this results-oriented business: Is the team winning enough?
Right now, Auburn isn't winning enough, because it isn't scoring enough. Auburn is presently 15th in the SEC in total offense, 15th in yards per play, 13th in scoring, 15th in passing efficiency, 16th in yards per attempt, 14th on third down, and 15th in plays of 20-plus yards. Auburn has endured two legitimately bad breaks in seeing touchdowns either improperly awarded to Oklahoma or controversially taken off the board against Georgia, but both breaks occurred early enough in the game that the Tigers could have overcome them, and they didn't. In losses to No. 14 Oklahoma, No. 4 Texas A&M, and No. 9 Georgia, the Tigers scored 14 points -- total -- in the second half. The bet on Jackson Arnold has not worked out; the SEC's 16th-most efficient passer last year at Oklahoma, Arnold is still in 16th at Auburn, but his overall number is four points lower.
Freeze is 14-17 overall, and 5-14 in SEC play. His current team might be the best 3-3 team in the country, but they're 3-3 nonetheless.
"I'm not a fool," Freeze said himself back in the spring. "I think, I think we've got to go to a bowl game, and I think our administration understands, I inherited a program that didn't have a top-25 recruiting class for four years. You're not going to win in this league ... we've had now two full recruiting classes, both of them top 10, I think one more and then your roster looks complete."
Judging by that standard, assuming a victory over Mercer, Auburn will need to sweep Arkansas and Kentucky (like Auburn, they're both winless in SEC play) or upset one of No. 16 Missouri, No. 17 Vanderbilt, or No. 6 Alabama. Preferably this isn't an "either/or" scenario, but a "both/and," but we're simply going by the minimum standard Freeze set for himself.
Would that be enough for the Auburn masses? Probably not. But would it be enough for Freeze? We'll find out when he gets to his car.