ALEXANDER CITY — Auburn football coach Hugh Freeze can't blame the high expectations on anyone else but himself.

After what turned out to be the No. 10 recruiting haul in the country for the Class of 2024, Freeze laid out his big-picture plan: "That was our goal, is in Year 1 to have a top-10 class," Freeze said during the early signing period in December. "And in Year 2 to have a top-five class.

"That is the way, I think, you start building a program that is able to stack itself upon each other and create a competitiveness among the roster that drives you to chase a standard every day that’s needed to win in this conference."

Landing a top-five class at Auburn is nearly unheard of; Gene Chizik is the only coach to pull it off in the modern era. He did it in 2011 with a unit that was headlined by six top-100 prospects: offensive linemen Christian Westerman and Reese Dismukes, quarterback Kiehl Frazier, receiver Quan Bray, defensive back Erique Florence and defensive lineman Gabe Wright.

Offensive tackle Greg Robinson, tight end CJ Ozumah, running back Tre Mason and receiver Sammie Coates were also members of that class, which finished No. 5 nationally behind Alabama, Florida State, USC and Texas.

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The only problem? Auburn did that immediately after winning a national championship. That's quite different than the current state of the Tigers, who haven't had a winning record since 2020. It's the first time Auburn has had three straight losing seasons since the 1970s.

Freeze doesn't seem discouraged by that, though. In fact, he seems confident.

"I don't know where we are (currently in the rankings)," Freeze said Tuesday at an AMBUSH event when asked if he still felt good about that top-five goal. "But yes, I'm confident that we're going to recruit very, very well. You guys know the rankings better than I, but it ebbs and flows with the commitments and decommitments.

"I think all of that is still fluctuating, never final until you get them there. But it's my goal − I've spoken it and told y'all that. And I do believe we're going to be really close to a top-five class when it's all said and done."

Recruiting is like a pendulum, and Auburn has experienced both ends of it over the last month.

When four-star running back Alvin Henderson flipped to the Tigers from Penn State on June 21, Auburn vaulted to No. 4 in the 247Sports team rankings. But a couple dry weeks and a pair of decommitments later − four-star offensive lineman Carde Smith and four-star linebacker Tyler Lockhart recently backed off their pledges − and Auburn finds itself at No. 13.

The current group of 15 commitments − eight on defense and seven on offense, including three-star tight end Hollis Davidson, who pledged Thursday − is good for No. 7 in the SEC. Alabama, Georgia, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, LSU and Tennessee are ahead.

But, as Freeze noted, there's a long way to go until December's early signing period. Of the 12 programs currently ranked better than Auburn, nine have more than 15 pledges, six have at least 18 and five are at 20 or above.

The Tigers will naturally rise in the rankings when their number of commitments rises, and some Auburn targets would come with big-time changes. For example, if five-star quarterback Julian Lewis were to flip from USC and all else remained the same, the Tigers would move to No. 8 nationally.

Still, a top-five class at this moment would be the biggest recruiting win Auburn has had in the modern era. Even a top-seven class would be impressive, as the Tigers have only done that four times before (2010, 2011, 2014 and 2020).

Freeze needs the results on the field to come around, no doubt, but reaching his lofty recruiting goals would certainly buy him some time.

Richard Silva is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at rsilva@gannett.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @rich_silva18.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Auburn football recruiting: Hitting Hugh Freeze's top-5 goal would be rare