Hugh Freeze fired after less than 3 seasons in Auburn
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The great debate on The Plains finally has a resolution.
Auburn has fired coach Hugh Freeze after nearly three seasons in charge of the Tigers. Freeze did not lead Auburn to a winning season or a bowl victory in his first two seasons finishing with a:
- 15-19 overall record
- 6-15 SEC record
- 0-5 record against rivals Alabama + Georgia
- 9-11 record at home
Defensive coordinator DJ Durkin will be the interim coach through the end of the season.
“I have informed Coach Freeze of my decision to make a change in leadership with the Auburn Football program. 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.”
John Cohen, Auburn AD
Saturday’s loss to Kentucky felt like the final straw with fans inside Jordan-Hare Stadium chanting for his firing as he walked off the field for the final time.
“It certainly hasn’t been the year any of us expected. Tonight, again, our kids laid it on the line for us — especially defensively, with their effort. Got a couple of turnovers, but we struggled a little on third down. That was about the only thing, and we let them keep the ball the entire third quarter. But offensively, there are zero excuses for how poorly we’re playing at times. We really struggled to protect tonight. They did a really nice job, and you have to give them some credit. But we’ve struggled offensively, and that is unacceptable the way we played.”
Hugh Freeze after loss to Kentucky
Auburn head coaching changes
This marks the third time Auburn has parted ways with its head football coach since 2020 with Freeze following Gus Malzahn and Bryan Harsin.
Since the Tigers joined the SEC in 1933, Harsin and Freeze are the only head coaches to leave the Plains before three full seasons in charge.
Auburn has four consecutive losing seasons for the first time since 1950—the year before the Tigers hired Ralph “Shug” Jordan.
SEC Coaching Carousel
Auburn may have to fight other teams during the offseason hiring process. The Tigers are the fourth SEC football team to fire their head coach this season, following:
- Arkansas (Sam Pittman)
- Florida (Billy Napier)
- LSU (Brian Kelly)
Penn State also fired James Franklin earlier this season.
Some names to keep an eye on for all of those openings include:
- Tulane’s Jon Sumrall
- Ole Miss’ Lane Kiffin
- Missouri’s Eli Drinkwitz
- Louisville’s Jeff Brohm
- SMU’s Rhett Lashlee
- Georgia Tech’s Brent Key
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