Auburn football's Ben Aigamaua, Wes McGriff talk coach Hugh Freeze's impact on recruiting
AUBURN — Auburn football secondary coach Wes McGriff has a fear: getting a recruit on the phone, but the head coach's schedule making him unavailable to speak with the player.
In his third stint working under coach Hugh Freeze, though, that anxiety has subsided.
"(With Freeze), it’s not, ‘Well, you've got to set an appointment,’ or it’s not where, ‘Hey, I’m going to take phone calls from 12-4,' McGriff said Tuesday. "If coach goes a couple of hours without talking to a recruit on the phone, he’s coming down that hallway (saying), ‘Hey, anybody got anybody on the phone?’"
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McGriff, who worked under Freeze at Ole Miss in 2012 and again in 2016, called the head coach "one of the best" recruiters he's ever been around: "If he’s not in a meeting, you’ll get him on the phone with a prospect.”
And the conversations don't stop at the recruits. Freeze, who coached high school football at Briarcrest Christian in Tennessee, makes it a point to talk to the parents and coaches of potential prospects.
That's what sets him apart, according to tight ends coach Ben Aigamaua.
"It's shocking when you talk to some of these parents and how many of them aren't talking to the coaches from other schools," Aigamaua said. "And I think that's our winning edge ... because I think sometimes they get left out of this recruiting process, even high school coaches.
"With the social media world, you can go straight to the kids on Twitter or Instagram ... (but Freeze) is a former high school coach and he knows how important those guys are."
The Tigers added 33 newcomers in Freeze's first offseason, including 19 recruits out of high school, 12 transfers and two players from junior college. When former coach Bryan Harsin was fired Oct. 31, Auburn's 2023 recruiting class was ranked last in the SEC and No. 55 in the nation, per the 247Sports Composite.
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By the time the Tigers signed their last recruit of the cycle on National Signing Day in February − four-star running back Jeremiah Cobb out of Montgomery Catholic − they had a class ranked No. 8 in the conference and No. 17 in the country.
Auburn has three players committed to the class of 2024: a pair of four-star defensive backs in Amon Lane and Jayden Lewis and four-star quarterback Walker White, who chose the Tigers over other finalists Baylor and Clemson.
Other 2024 recruits have been on campus during the first few spring practices at Auburn, too, checking out how Freeze runs his practices.
"Man, when we get a guy on the phone, it’s like having a party," McGriff said. "It’s good to be around a head coach that’s very accessible in recruiting, doesn’t have a schedule in terms of when he can talk to players; he’ll talk to them any time.
"If you pay attention at practice, he’s going to talk to them during practice. ... When you get (recruits) on the phone and the head coach has a schedule, you’re terrified that I got this young man on the phone, but I can’t get him on the phone with the head coach. But with Coach Freeze, you can approach him any time of the day."
Richard Silva is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at rsilva@gannett.com or on Twitter @rich_silva18.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Auburn football assistants talk Hugh Freeze's impact on recruiting
