On Sunday, Nov. 2, Auburn University fired head football coach Hugh Freeze. This came after a 10-3 loss at home against Kentucky, which saw the team fall to 4-5 overall and 1-5 in conference play.
In three seasons as the head football coach, Freeze had a 15-19 record and only made one bowl game. This past offseason, the school put a lot of NIL money into the football program as a last-ditch effort to see if Freeze could turn things around. Even though the team brought in standout wide receivers Eric Singleton Jr. and Horatio Fields alongside former five-star Oklahoma quarterback Jackson Arnold, it wasn’t enough.
Auburn will now look for a new head coach to restore the football team’s former glory. This marks two hires in a row from a group of five schools that haven’t gone in Auburn’s favor, which raises many questions about what direction the school will go when choosing its next coach.
If Auburn wants to turn the program around, they’ll have to compete with many other big schools also searching for a new head coach. Not only will they have to compete with SEC rivals LSU, Florida, and Arkansas, but other schools like Penn State, Virginia Tech, and UCLA will be attractive job openings for potential candidates too.
With many coaches moving in the job carousel this offseason, picking a candidate will be difficult for Auburn. However, given the school’s rich football history, commitment to providing the football team resources, and potential returning players, this could be an interesting job to watch.
I don’t think Auburn has the kind of pull to poach a coach from another big name program, so it’s likely they’ll have to go to a group of five school again to get their next coach. Nothing is official, but some preliminary candidates I expect to hear linked to this job include Tulane’s Jon Sumrall, USF’s Alex Golesh, and former Penn State head coach James Franklin.
