As Auburn zeroed in on hiring Hugh Freeze in the days following Thanksgiving, those in the Tigers fan base who disagreed with the decision made their voices heard in the email inboxes of athletic director John Cohen and school president Chris Roberts.
In emails obtained Monday by Sports Illustrated, Auburn has responded to those concerned, building on its public defense of the hire in last week’s press conference introducing Freeze as coach. The school sent out emails attributed to Roberts in rolling responses throughout Monday. They were sent to multiple people in reply to their Thanksgiving-week messages about Freeze’s hiring, reading in part:
“… the selection of Coach Hugh Freeze was the result of an extensive search process, which included interviews with 18 potential candidates and an in-depth evaluation of 11 candidates who continued to the vetting stage. Athletics Director John Cohen and his staff reviewed the personal and professional history of each candidate, which included a detailed evaluation of documents and candid conversations with men and women with direct knowledge of those candidates. Cohen said that as a result of this thorough process, Coach Freeze emerged as the right person to lead our football program.”
