Auburn is heading back to the coaching carousel after Hugh Freeze was fired during his third year with the program. The Tigers went 15-19 under Freeze, including a paltry 6-15 in SEC play. Now, they’re set to hire their fourth coach in five years.
Freeze was an unexpected hire when he returned to the SEC more than six years after he was fired from Ole Miss in the midst of both personal and professional scandals. At Auburn, he was unable to recapture the magic of his Rebels run, never beating Alabama and not even posting a winning record in three years. In fact, his success almost exactly mirrored Bryan Harsin, who was run out in Year 2.
The next coach at Auburn faces an intriguing moment. They will have to rebuild the identity of the program in a highly competitive SEC. Like Freeze and Harsin before, they will have to do it in the shadow of national title contenders at Alabama and Georgia.
As college football coaching carousel spins, discussion of representation takes a new twist
Richard Johnson
Auburn won a national championship in 2010 and returned to the title game in 2013. There is championship upside in the program, but a new coach will have to rebuild it from the ground up. Below is a compilation of coaches from CBS Sports Insiders who could quickly find themselves on Auburn’s radar.
Former Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher
Fisher’s tenure at Texas A&M ended in disastrous fashion after he was paid the biggest buyout in college football history to go away. In his final two seasons after signing the No. 1 recruiting class in history, Fisher went 11-15, including 6-9 in SEC play. But while his recent work has been underwhelming, Fisher remains one of the most successful coaches of the 21st century.
At Florida State, Fisher went 83-23 and won the 2013 national championship. He also led the Aggies to a No. 4 finish and Orange Bowl victory in 2020, ranking among their best Aggies seasons of the past 30 years. His 2013 team is one of the most talented rosters ever.
If Fisher went to Auburn, he’d quickly be one of the top recruiters in the SEC again. Coming back to college football wouldn’t be about money for Fisher — it would be about reclaiming his name. Auburn could use a coach with a big chip on his shoulder.
Former Penn State coach James Franklin
When Penn State unceremoniously fired Franklin, he said his new goal was simply to go win a national championship somewhere else. Auburn is a program with championship upside, and Franklin checks many of the most important boxes for the program — namely building a robust football organization.
Franklin is one of the highest-floor coaches in college football, posting six 10-win seasons and five AP top 10 finishes at Penn State. He also previously led Vanderbilt to 18 wins in two years and reached the national semifinals in 2025. Auburn would more than take Franklin leading the Tigers back to 10-win contention consistently after arguably the most embarrassing stretch in program history.
Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz
A Gus Malzahn disciple, Drinkwitz has created some of the most dynamic teams in the SEC since arriving at Missouri in 2020. The Tigers are 27-6 over the past three seasons, including a Cotton Bowl victory and AP Top 10 finish in 2023. The program is also on the edge of College Football Playoff contention during another hot start to 2025.
At Auburn, he would be able to expand his recruiting chops and compete for the best players in the country. Furthermore, Drinkwitz has a trash-talking personality that would immediately become beloved at Auburn, especially in contrast to the cool Kalen DeBoer at Alabama. Auburn is at its best when the program is swinging for the fences.
Tulane coach Jon Sumrall
Sumrall is one of the fastest-rising coaches in college football after sensational coaching jobs at Troy and Tulane. He is high on the team’s early hot board, according to CBS Sports’ Brandon Marcello. The Huntsville, Alabama, native took over a Troy program coming off three straight losing seasons and quickly flipped them into a winner, posting a 23-4 record with two Sun Belt titles in two seasons. The next year, he went to Tulane and led the program to the American title game with a 8-5 record, including 7-1 in American play.
The former Kentucky linebacker has deep experience in the SEC, working as defensive coordinator under Mark Stoops and linebackers coach at Ole Miss. He has built physical defensive teams that control games but has consistently found great offensive coordinators and players as a head coach, including quarterback Darian Mensah, running back Makhi Hughes and running back Kimani Vidal.
Also, Sumrall’s wife went to Auburn. Understanding The Plains never hurts.
The former Auburn offensive coordinator has quickly become one of the fastest-rising coaches in college football. Dillingham led his alma mater to a Big 12 championship and College Football Playoff appearance in Year 2, culminating with a double-overtime loss to Texas in the quarterfinals. Injuries have derailed Arizona State’s 2025, but the Sun Devils still managed to outlast Iowa State with a backup quarterback.
Dillingham would be the exact kind of young, exciting offensive mind that attracts elite quarterbacks to The Plains. However, his greatest strengths are as an administrator and communicator, which would allow him to build an elite SEC staff. He has coached under Mike Norvell, Dan Lanning and Gus Malzahn.
The Yellow Jackets’ CFP hopes took a major shot after a loss to NC State in Week 10, but Key has still done a sensational job in Atlanta. Georgia Tech reached No. 7 in the AP Top 25 for the first time since 2009 and have built a big, physical identity behind the former offensive line coach.
Key has plenty of experience recruiting the Deep South, including the all-important Atlanta metro. He also served as offensive line coach at Alabama — it never hurts to have some Nick Saban bonafides in that state. More than anything, Key would quickly develop a strong identity in the program.
Golesh has sped back up coaching boards after leading one of the best Group of Six teams in the country. The Bulls went from 7-6 in each of the past two seasons to a 6-2 start, including major upset victory against Florida in nonconference play. South Florida was coming off a 4-29 record in three seasons before Golesh; he has posted a 20-14 record.
The former Tennessee offensive coordinator boasts one of the most interesting backgrounds in the sport. Golesh was born in Russia and grew up in Ohio. He primarily coached in the Midwest before joining Josh Heupel at UCF in 2020. Now, he brings a diversified offense that embraces aspects of Tennessee’s veer-and-shoot, but plenty of physical running from the Toledo tree. Golesh has also established himself as a dynamite recruiter in The American.
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