The Auburn Tigers football program has boasted a top-10 recruiting class nationally in their last two seasons, and despite that, it isn't where head coach Hugh Freeze wants it to be.
Almost as an attempt to calm the urgency and frustration coming from the Plains, Freeze updated the Tigers' fans about how long it will exactly take to build the roster Auburn needs to make a comeback.
It was also an update on the promise Freeze made when signing on the dotted line as Auburn's new head coach in 2022: requiring three full recruiting classes to get the team's talent level to a point where it rivaled the upper-tier programs in the league.
Per the update, Freeze and Co. are right on track in completing that promise.
"I still believe we need one more [signing] class to get to where we need to be, but I don't sense any panic. But look, we still had chances to win some big games against some really good teams the past two years and didn't get it done. That's the truth of it, and we can't run from that as coaches. I own it regardless of what the talent was or wasn't," Freeze told ESPN.
That said, the current Tigers' roster should be sufficient for at least achieving a winning season, especially when Freeze has such high expectations for QB Jackson Arnold.
"I feel a lot better than I have about our talent, our size, athleticism, and depth.. But look, we still had chances to win some big games against some really good teams the past two years and didn't get it done. That's the truth of it, and we can't run from that as coaches. I own it regardless of what the talent was or wasn't," Freeze said.
"The people here at Auburn have been great. I mean, there's nothing that would ever surprise me in this league, but we've got to go compete and be good enough to win some of those games this year that we haven't in the past two. I'm not naive."
It is almost vital for Auburn to win this season, given that his job might be on the line this time.
The thing that would be expected most of Freeze would be to translate his top recruiting class to a winning team, and possibly getting a Bowl game.
That's the least Freeze has to give Auburn this season after peddling excuses and buying time for two years.
We'll see whether Freeze can deliver on his promise in 2026, or whether the Auburn fans wait for him to do that before they send him packing.