Hugh Freeze Fired at Auburn To Send the Coaching Carousel Into Maximum Overdrive

LSU, Florida, Penn State, Arkansas, Virginia Tech, UCLA … Auburn. It turns out losing to Kentucky was something even the seemingly indestructible Hugh Freeze could not overcome, as he was fired Sunday morning following the Tigers’ 10-3 loss on Saturday night.

This isn’t the year I would be itching to have a coaching search if I were a second- or third-tier program in the SEC, but Freeze really left Auburn with no choice. Jackson Arnold has struggled, but that team has been in every game and has more than enough talent to be much better than 4-5.

I’m fascinated to see how this job is thought of in coaching circles. Obviously, it’s a good bit behind LSU and Florida, even with the leadership issues currently at each of those places. But is Auburn a program that can poach a sitting power conference head coach — like I’m certain its fans will be demanding — or is it one that needs to pray it can win the services of Jon Sumrall?

I know Auburn fans would balk at the idea, but I’m pretty certain this would be a great landing spot for James Franklin if he is interested. Maybe there’s a legitimate argument to be made Sumrall is a better option if he wants the job, but other than that, I’m not confident Auburn is capable of getting a better coach than Franklin in this cycle. The guy is 37-11 since 2022.

Whoever Auburn ends up hiring, what an offseason it’s going to be for every decent college football coach in the country and their agents. Congrats, guys. You earned it.