[Sunday noon update> Sources tell FootballScoop Auburn has now fired Hugh Freeze. DJ Durkin will serve as interim head coach.]
On the heels of his team's limp, uninspired 10-3 home loss Saturday night to a Kentucky team previously winless in the Southeastern Conference, Hugh Freeze' days as the head coach at Auburn appear numbered. It no longer is if; but now the question becomes when.
The opening at Auburn is set to become the fourth this fall in the SEC, which saw Arkansas fire Sam Pittman in September followed up by both Florida and LSU making moves against Billy Napier and Brian Kelly, respectively, in late October.
Hired to revive Auburn in the wake of the Bryan Harsin era that went horribly awry, Freeze arrived on the plains before the 2023 season with visions of his former Ole Miss juggernaut offenses expected to be on replay for the Tigers.
Instead, Auburn's offense has simply been unable to get into gear in SEC play.
The Tigers' three points against a Kentucky team that last week yielded 56 was their lowest output of Freeze's 34 games at the helm. It is the program's fewest points at home since being shut out by rival Georgia, 38-0, in 2012.
Auburn entered this weekend as the nation's No. 88 scoring offense with less than 25 points per game and ranked 106th in total offense.
Freeze entered this season at Auburn inside the top-40 highest-paid coaches in college football at roughly $6.7 million annually and hitting the midpoint of the six-year pact he signed when he accepted the Auburn job after Freeze guided then-independent Liberty to 34 wins in four seasons.
He was Auburn's choice in that cycle after the Tigers could not pry Lane Kiffin away from Ole Miss.
Since the start of the 2023 season, Kiffin has guided the Rebels to an 29-6 mark, top-10 national ranking and among the best odds of any SEC team to earn a spot in the upcoming 12-team College Football Playoff.
The Tigers, meanwhile, have five losses just this season and a 7-11 mark since a September loss last season at Arkansas. Their schedule still features contests against Vanderbilt this week on the road, a home date against FCS top-25 program Mercer and then home against rival and top-five ranked Alabama in the 'Iron Bowl' to close the regular season.
In addition to their SEC brethren seeking a new coach, the Auburn Tigers will soon join Power Conference programs Oklahoma State, Penn State, Stanford, UCLA and Virginia Tech in need of their next leader.
In considering when to make the change, Auburn's focus should be on providing the current team the best chance to win their final three games (and hopefully a bowl game). Making it to a bowl game would allow the team additional practice time which would be invaluable looking ahead to the 2026 season already.
If Auburn were to make a change, it would seem unlikely they would pull from the offensive staff for their new interim head coach as that side of the ball would already be down Hugh's input and play calling. On the defensive side, while DJ Durkin is an experienced head coach, one would think Auburn would keep him in that role the rest of the way to give the team their best shot to win games. Special teams coordinator Chad Lunsford could step into the interim role as could outside linebackers coach Roc Bellantoni.
The other consideration in making the decision sooner rather than later is who the likely candidates are. The reality is that Auburn is likely seeking to pull from the same candidate pool as Florida and LSU are to some degree. From speaking with agents over the past few weeks, there is one viable candidate at LSU that Auburn would love to have if they pull the trigger. Same thing; but with a different candidate at Florida.
All eyes on John Cohen today.