Hugh Freeze Throws Assistants Under The Bus In Embarrassing Fashion After Humiliating Bowl Loss

Hugh Freeze had a very weak reaction to Auburn getting boat raced by Maryland.

The Terrapins ran it up on the Tigers 31-13 with a backup quarterback in the Music City Bowl. Auburn finished the game with a total of 224 passing yards and 76 rushing yards, and failed to stop Maryland from doing whatever they wanted in the first half.

It was an ugly and completely unacceptable game from the Tigers. Did Freeze take responsibility for the disaster? Did he raise his hand and accept blame?

Nope.

Auburn coach Hugh Freeze throws assistants under the bus after humiliating loss to Maryland. (Photo by Chris Putman/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Hugh Freeze makes excuses after Maryland dominates Auburn.

Hugh Freeze decided to let the world know he was busy recruiting and only wasn't overly involved in planning for the Terrapins.

Freeze said the following after the embarrassing beatdown when talking about the game plan, according to 247Sports:

Well, obviously I don't feel like it was an effective one. I didn't get too involved in it for most of the part until this week because of recruiting, and really wanted to kind of evaluate everything about our program. We didn't run the ball. It starts there. We have to go look at the run schemes that we had, and did we not play hard up front? It's really hard for me to tell. But they really dominated the line of scrimmage against us. They did load the box now. They forced us to – they had extra hats in the box for sure, and that's when you've got to be able to throw it some. But we didn't protect the passer real well. It wasn't all the O-line. Sometimes the backs didn't get the protection right. But anytime you struggle like we did, it's not – I don't feel like the plan was great.

It's important to note that while Freeze opened the press conference by stating, "I don’t need anyone to tell me when we don’t measure up. That starts with me," he still later chose to target his assistants. You can't claim it starts with the coach and then quickly pivot.

These comments are a tough look from Freeze.

This is a big yikes moment overall from the Auburn coach. He wasn't "too involved" in the game plan because of recruiting?

Why the hell would Freeze ever publicly admit that? Even if it's true, why in the world would you ever admit it?

The buck always stops with the head coach, and a great leader never throws anyone under the bus publicly. If there's an issue, then it's handled behind closed doors. All the public should ever see is a united front. Does claiming the game plan was ineffective but letting everyone know he didn't have much to do with it sound like leadership to you? It damn sure doesn't to me.

Again, he started off attempting to stand tall before just choosing a different lane for seemingly no reason at all. Very bizarre.

Maryland dominated Auburn in the Music City Bowl. (Photo by Chris Putman/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Auburn finished the season 6-7, and Hugh Freeze exposed himself as a guy apparently not capable of standing in front of the media and accepting total and complete responsibility. Best of luck to Tigers fans. I definitely wouldn't be happy at all if I saw my coach talk this way. Let me know what you think of his comments at David.Hookstead@outkick.com.