#PMARSHONAU: Can Freeze replicate Dye's blueprint at Auburn?

In his 12 seasons as Auburn head coach, and even after that, Pat Dye left an indelible stamp on Auburn football. It went far beyond four SEC championships. He created a belief that made Auburn feel people feel differently about themselves.

Dye didn’t always win. He lost some games he should not have lost. The late Kurt Crain, an All-America linebacker, put it to me like this: “We didn’t always win, but we always believed we were going to win."

Auburn people adopted that mindset. In Dye’s years, Alabama was dragged kicking and screaming to Jordan-Hare Stadium. The malaise that set in while Alabama was winning nine straight Iron Bowls went away.Today, Auburn plays on Pat Dye Field at Jordan-Hare Stadium. The young men who played for him are young no longer, but they carry with them lessons they learned about hard work, loyalty and accountability.

Since Dye stepped down after the 1992 season, Auburn has searched for another coach and leader who could replicate what the did – winning championships and winning the hearts of Auburn people.

Tommy Tuberville had eight good years out of 10. He had an SEC championship and a perfect season. Auburn people generally liked Tuberville, but it wasn’t the same as it had been with Dye. Gene Chizik won a national championship, but the program quickly took a downward turn. Gus Malzahn won an SEC championship, played for a national championship and did not have a losing season. But the connection with Auburn people wasn’t there. Bryan Harsin was lost from the start.

And now it’s Hugh Freeze’s turn. To be fair, winning in the SEC is harder than it has ever been. It’s about to get harder with the arrival of Oklahoma and Texas. But winning the hearts of Auburn people, making them feel like you want to be one of them and that they are important, is the same now as it was in Dye’s days.

Freeze recognizes he can’t be Pat Dye. He can only be himself. Whether he can have a similar impact on Auburn football and on Auburn people remains to be seen. But he gets it.

Dye’s first Auburn football team went 5-6 in 1981. It lost three games it should not have lost – to Wake Forest, Tennessee and Mississippi State. But that Auburn team played with relentless effort, the kind of effort that can be seen and felt by those who watch. By the time that season was over, there was confidence that better days were coming and coming in a hurry.

That, more than anything else, is what Freeze needs to replicate in his first season. So far, he has pushed all the right buttons. Auburn people regained hope last November, hope they had almost lost before Cadillac Williams took over as interim head coach.

It’s Freeze’s turn now.