After a 10-3 defeat at the hands of Kentucky on Saturday night at Jordan-Hare Stadium, Hugh Freeze was relieved of his duties as Auburn’s head coach.
Freeze posted a 15-19 overall record during his tenure at Auburn. The program fell to unprecedented lows, with Freeze leading Auburn to just six wins in conference play. He became the third coach in program history to record a losing season in Jordan-Hare Stadium, posting a 2-10 record against Power Four opponents at home and a 9-11 record overall.
Auburn will now search for its next head coach, marking the third straight coaching search since 2020.
Here are a few names Auburn could target as its next head coach:
DJ Durkin, Auburn defensive coordinator/interim head coach
Auburn will now be led, for the remainder of its 2025 campaign, by defensive coordinator DJ Durkin, who is assumed to take over as interim head coach.
Durkin was made the second-highest paid assistant coach in college football this offseason, reeling in $2.5 million this season with a $200,000 increase over the next two years.
Durkin has led Auburn’s defense to statistical highs this season and has garnered a lot of attention from Auburn fans and decision-makers alike.
He has posted an 11-15 record as head coach at Maryland and in a one-game interim role at Florida in 2014. He has had stops at Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Michigan and Florida as a defensive coordinator.
Jon Sumrall, Tulane head coach
Auburn may begin its search with one of the hottest names on the coaching circuit right now in Jon Sumrall.
Sumrall, a Huntsville native, posted a 23-4 record in two seasons at Troy before taking his current job at Tulane in 2023. He led the Trojans to two Sun Belt Conference championships and was named Sun Belt Conference Coach of Year.
Now, with the Green Wave, Sumrall posted a 9-3 record during his first regular season and took them to the American Conference championship game. He currently has Tulane sitting at 6-2.
James Franklin, unemployed
It would certainly be ironic to replace a coach you just fired with one who was fired this season.
James Franklin was fired by Penn State after three losses this season to Oregon, UCLA and Northwestern. He had a rather lackluster record against top-10 teams (4-21), but recorded six 10-plus win seasons and was hardly a year removed from his latest appearance in the College Football Playoff.
Franklin has posted a 128-60 overall record as a head coach. He was 104-45 at Penn State and 24-15 at Vanderbilt. He had stops and Maryland and Kansas State as offensive coordinator.
Rhett Lashlee, SMU head coach
Rhett Lashlee would be no stranger to Auburn, spending the 2009-10 season as a graduate assistant before coming back from 2013-16 as an offensive coordinator.
Now, he mans the sidelines at SMU.
Lashlee just recently signed a two-year contract extension with the Mustangs, which was reported to make him one of the top-10 highest-paid head coaches in college football.
In his fourth year at SMU, Lashlee has posted a 35-15 record as head coach. He was also the offensive coordinator at SMU, Miami and UConn in addition to Auburn.
Eli Drinkwitz, Missouri
Taking over at Missouri in 2020, Eli Drinkwitz has had Missouri on an upward trajectory for the last three seasons.
Posting a losing record in each of his first three years, Drinkwitz has lost just seven games since the start of the 2023 season.
He is another name that would be plenty familiar with Auburn, as he served as an analyst from 2010-11. Before taking the job at Missouri, he was the head coach at Appalachian State. He has also had stops at Boise State and North Carolina State as offensive coordinator.
He has posted a 52-27 record as a head coach.
Kenny Dillingham, Arizona State head coach
Another young up-and-comer, and one more name that is familiar with Auburn, is Kenny Dillingham.
Currently, the head coach at Arizona State, Dillingham served as the offensive coordinator at Auburn during the 2019 season. He has posted a 20-15 record as at Arizona State, his only head coaching stop.
Dillingham took the Sun Devils to the College Football Playoff last year and won the Big 12 Championship game. He was the runner-up for the AP Coach of the Year award.
Prior to taking the job with the Sun Devils, he served as offensive coordinator at Oregon, Florida State and Memphis in addition to Auburn.
Now, obviously, there is no reason, if you’re Auburn, not to take a shot at guys like Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin, Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman or even shoot for the stars and go for Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti.
Those names are certainly a long shot, but you could see names such as Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key, USF head coach Alex Golesh and Memphis head coach Ryan Silverfield.
It remains to be seen, but for now, Auburn will be on the hunt for its fourth head coach in the last five years.
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