Auburn Tigers Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports

It’s been over a decade since the Auburn Tigers were legitimate national title contenders, but head coach Hugh Freeze seems to think that the program can get back to that level.

During a press conference this week, Hugh Freeze made it clear that he is optimistic and confident about the future of the team.

“We’re incredibly blessed to be at Auburn, incredibly blessed by our administration and fans, and it hurts like heck to let them down and not compete on given days,” Freeze said according to On3. “But my takeaway is that I’m still as confident as ever that this can be an elite football program again.”

The Tigers finished the regular season with six wins this season, which is a far cry from competing for national titles and emerging as an “elite football program,” as Freeze describes. But Freeze seems confident that with the roster and culture that the team is building, they can turn the program around.

“It takes great recruiting, but it also takes player-led teams that put team first and the standard of the team every single day first,” Hugh Freeze said. “We’re still learning that, and we’ve got to demand it as coaches, and we can’t waver from it when we get back in January, and I’m looking forward to the leadership of our team doing that.”

We’ll have to see how Auburn improves next season.

[On3]