Freeze hires Montgomery, Roberts as Auburn coordinators

Published Dec. 14, 2022 4:57 p.m. ET

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AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — Auburn has hired former Tulsa coach Philip Montgomery as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach and Ron Roberts as defensive coordinator.

New coach Hugh Freeze announced the hires of the two veteran coaches on Wednesday. Montgomery was fired after going 5-7 in his eighth season at Tulsa. He went 43-53 and led the team to a 10-3 record in 2016 after stints as an assistant at Houston and Baylor.

Roberts was fired after three seasons as defensive coordinator under Dave Aranda at Baylor, which had a dropoff after ranking 10th nationally in scoring defense in 2021. Baylor currently ranks 65th.

Montgomery led Tulsa to four bowl games. He coached 2011 Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III and 2013 Big 12 player of the year Bryce Petty, among other standout quarterbacks.

“Philip is one of the brightest offensive minds in college football and has had experience developing and coaching some great quarterbacks in the last 20 years, including a Heisman Trophy winner in Robert Griffin III,” Freeze said. “He does a tremendous job schematically and has had success being multifaceted in both the running and passing games.

"I’ve known Philip for a long time and am excited to finally work with him.”

Montgomery said he wants “to bring an exciting, uptempo offense back to Auburn.”

Roberts spent 11 seasons as head coach at Delta State and Southeastern Louisiana. The Bears' 2021 team led the Big 12 in a number of defensive categories, including run, scoring and pass deficiency defense.

Only two other defenses held every opponent to 30 points or fewer last season.

“Ron has been a very successful defensive coach spanning three decades and multiple stops,” Freeze said. “His defenses have always been aggressive and put a lot of pressure on opposing offenses. Ron is a great fit for what we are wanting to do on both sides of the ball, and we are excited to have his experience and expertise leading our defensive unit.”

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