By: Kenneth Harrison

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze was fired after losing to Kentucky at home recently.

Freeze was 15-19 in his two-plus seasons at Auburn. He will be owed $15.8 million in buyout money, with no mitigation, after he signed a six-year, $49 million deal to replace Bryan Harsin in 2022.

“I have informed Coach Freeze of my decision to make a change in leadership with the Auburn football program,” athletic director John Cohen said in a statement. “Coach Freeze is a man of integrity, and we are appreciative of his investment in Auburn and his relentless work over the last three years in bolstering our roster. Our expectations for Auburn football are to annually compete for championships, and the search for the next leader of Auburn football begins immediately.”

Defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin was named interim coach of the Tigers.

“It’s my fervent belief that great days are ahead for the Auburn football program,” Freeze wrote in a statement. “Thank you for allowing me to be a part of this chapter. I love this place, and I’ll carry the friendships with me always.”

Freeze is the eighth Power Four coach to be fired this season. That now makes four open positions in the SEC, which include Florida, Arkansas and LSU. If we are ranking these positions, obviously Arkansas is the worst job. Auburn has to be the second worst behind Florida and LSU. What direction will Auburn move in for their next head coach?

Lane Kiffin is being talked about for every major job opening. He has guided #7 Ole Miss to an 8-1 record so far. Kiffin has been mentioned for the Florida and LSU positions already.

Curt Cignetti (Indiana) is the best coach that we expect to leave for a bigger program. The Hoosiers are having a great season. He has won over 20 games at Indiana and he’s in his second season there. He should be a top candidate but he might consider other Big Ten programs like Penn State or UCLA as his top destination.

Eli Drinkwitz (Mizzou) is another good candidate. He’s a Gus Malzahn disciple and he became the head coach at Missouri in 2020. The Tigers have been very succesful over the past three seasons, including a Cotton Bowl victory and AP Top 10 finish in 2023. They have been in the upper tier of the SEC for most of the season.

Former Penn State coach James Franklin was fired earlier in the season but he still wants to coach. His record at Penn State was 104-45. He cannot win big games but he typically wins against lesser opponents. He also coached at Vanderbilt from 2011-13 with a 24-15 record. He led the Commodores to a bowl game each season.

Auburn used to be a program that would have one great season every few years. Some examples of this are the 1993 team that was 11-0 and finished #4. They were on NCAA probation so they were banned from postseason play.

In 2004, they went 13-0 and finished the season #2. In 2010, they won the national championship and went 14-0. In 2013, they made it to the national championship game but lost to Florida State 34-31. They were 12-2 and finished the season #2.

Their last season with at least ten wins was in 2017 when they finished 10-4. It will be interesting to see who they hire.