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Heather Dinich, ESPN Senior Writer
DALLAS — Auburn coach Hugh Freeze conceded Thursday that relinquishing playcalling duties for the first time in his career last season was “so dang uncomfortable” that he had to make a change.
“I don’t mean this to say I’m some offensive guru or anything,” Freeze told ESPN, “but I felt like I took one of my strengths off the table.”
It was reflected in the Tigers’ offense, which finished 11th in the SEC in scoring (26.2 points per game) under former offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery, who was fired following the 6-7 season.
“For the first time ever, [I] let somebody else design it — and I’m sure they’re really good at it — but it was so dang uncomfortable for me that it affected the confidence of the kids and the chemistry,” Freeze said. “… Just knew I couldn’t go another year and I didn’t think we had the answers [quarterback] Payton [Thorne] needed. That was troublesome to me.”
Freeze hired longtime Ole Miss assistant Derrick Nix as his new offensive coordinator and said that because the two previously worked together for about five years, there’s a familiarity with his offense that will allow either one of them to call the plays.
“I’m not saying I’m calling it all,” Freeze said. “Nix knows it. But I know I can, and that gives me a comfort level, ‘All right, we’re struggling, let me have this for a minute. I know what I want to do,’ and a head coach has that priority to do that.”
Thorne said there were times last year when “that wasn’t [Freeze’s] play,” and the quarterback couldn’t be in constant communication with his head coach.
“I don’t even want to talk about that,” said Thorne, who started 12 of Auburn’s 13 games last year after transferring from Michigan State.
“It wasn’t Coach Freeze’s offense last year. Now that it is his offense, it’s going to be a lot more fun.”
With Freeze calling the plays, his offenses at Arkansas State, Ole Miss and Liberty combined to average 32.8 points and over 450 yards per game. Thorne, a fifth-year senior, struggled last season, throwing 16 touchdown passes and 10 interceptions. His Total QBR rating was just under 58 out of 100, with 50 being average. Freeze’s previous starting quarterbacks combined for a 68 Total QBR with 218 touchdown passes and 112 interceptions.
“We’re going to know what we’re doing and why we’re doing it,” Thorne said. “We’re going to know this is where you’re supposed to be. This is when you’re supposed to be there. This is how you’re supposed to get there. This is where your eyes are supposed to be at quarterback.
“… All that stuff is winning football. That’s how you are good on offense. And those are going to be the things that we’re doing this year, and I’m going to play fast, too. So this is going to be a much more efficient offense, a much more detailed offense. So I’m really excited about that.”
