Auburn is coming off a 10-3 loss to Kentucky. Auburn has now fired head coach Hugh Freeze. Now, the Tigers will look for their next head coach, and these are the best options to lead the Tigers back to SEC prominence.
Jon Sumrall- Tulane Head Coach
Auburn is going to go for a big-time coach. The team expects to contend for SEC titles and National titles. Auburn has tried the route of high powered group of five coaches the last two times. After firing Gus Malzahn, the team hired Brian Harsin away from Boise State. After he failed, they went to Hugh Freeze, who was reviving his career at Liberty.
Regardless, Auburn has not been relevant since 2017, when Auburn lost the SEC title game and then lost the Peach Bowl under Malzahn. Auburn has no interest in being irrelevant. Jon Sumrall is an interesting candidate. Sumrall grew up in the coaching ranks in SEC territory. The Tulane coach was a linebacker at Kentucky before joining the coaching staff as a graduate assistant.
He would then spend time as an assistant coach at San Diego, Tulane, Troy, Ole Miss, and Kentucky again. In 2022, he would get his first chance to be a head coach at Troy. He was great at Troy, going 23-4, before moving to Tulane. He is now 15-7 at Tulane and regarded as one of the top up-and-coming coaches, but the question is, will Auburn take a risk on another group of five coach?
Dan Mullen- UNLV Head Coach
Dan Mullen could move back to the SEC, where he has had prior success. Mullen started his coaching career with Wagner as a wide receivers coach before spending time at Columbia, Syracuse, and Notre Dame. He then joined up with Urban Meyer at Bowling Green in 2001. Mullen would be the quarterback coach for Meyer at Bowling Green and Utah, before following him to Florida, where he was also the offensive coordinator.
He was then hired as the head coach of Mississippi State. From 2009 through 2017, he missed just one bowl game, going 5-7 in his first year. He was also 69-46 in his time with the Bulldogs. That led him back to Florida in 2018. He went 34-15 in his time with the Gators before being fired during the 2021 season. Mullen returned to coaching this year and has UNLV at 6-2 on the season. Mullen has positive SEC experience, but has yet to win an SEC title. He would be a solid hire, but may not be much better than Freeze.
James Franklin- Former Penn State head coach
Franklin is a solid head coach, but if Auburn is looking to win big games, he may not be the answer. Franklin came up through the ranks, starting as a Division II assistant at Kutztown. He would then spend time as a Division II assistant and an FCS assistant until reaching Washington State in 1998. Franklin spent one year there before a year at Idaho and then Maryland. He spent time in the NFL before time as the Kansas State and Maryland offensive coordinator.
He got his first chance to be a head coach in the SEC, turning the Vanderbilt program around. The coach went 24-15 at Vandy, making three bowl games, and finishing two seasons ranked, which, at the time, was a major accomplishment for the program. He then moved to Penn State, going 104-45, winning the Big Ten once, and making it to the CFP semi-final before being fired this year.
While Franklin had a ton of success, he may not be the best fit. If Auburn is fine with just competing for a playoff berth, Franklin can do that, and he will bring in players from the DMV area. If they want to win over Alabama or win an SEC title, he will not be the right guy. Franklin was just 4-21 against top 10 teams at Penn State.
Jimbo Fisher- former Texas A&M head coach
Jimbo Fisher has been previously mentioned for jobs, but has yet to return to coaching since being let go by Texas A&M. Fisher has been a successful head coach at the college ranks, and is looking to get back into coaching. He spent eight years as the Florida State head coach, winning the ACC twice and a National Title in 2013. He was 83-23 in his time as FSU.
Then, Fisher moved to Texas A&M, but did not have the same success. He was 45-25 before being fired, while making it to a bowl game in the first four seasons. He had difficult endings at both FSU and Texas A&M, and while he has won a national title, there is the notion that the college game has now passed him by. If he can prove he is ready to run in this new college football landscape, Fisher could be a solid choice at Auburn.
Jon Gruden- Former NFL head coach
If Auburn wants to make a splash, there is no bigger splash than hiring Jon Gruden. Gruden has been clear: he wants to return to coaching. The former NFL coach has not coached at the college ranks since 1991. That year, he coached wide receivers at Pitt. He would leave Pitt ot be an assistant in Green Bay, and got his first NFL head coaching job in 1998. He spent time as the Oakland Raiders, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and then the Las Vegas Raiders head coach. He is 117-112 as an NFL coach and has won a Super Bowl.
While he does not have college football experience, he has some draw. This would be similar to a Bill Billichek experiment at North Carolina, but Gruden is younger and does not have a Jordan Hudson to be a distraction. Regardless, this is a msssive name, which could be good for NIL and the players. Still, Gruden has not shown he is a college coach. It would be a massive risk to hire Gruden, but almost anyone Auburn gets could be a risk.
Auburn returns to the field this week on the road agaisnt Vanderbilt under an interim coach. The season may be lost, but they will look to return to SEC relevancy next season wth a new coach.
