Auburn coaching candidates: Jimbo Fisher, James Franklin among options: Hugh Freeze
Published by RawNews1st
Auburn is heading back to the coaching carousel after Hugh Freeze was fired during his third year with the program. The Tigers went 15-19 under Freeze, including a paltry 6-15 in SEC play.
The next coach at Auburn faces an intriguing moment. They will have to rebuild the identity of the program in a highly competitive SEC. Like Freeze and Harsin before, they will have to do it in the shadow of national title contenders at Alabama and Georgia.
Freeze was an unexpected hire when he returned to the SEC more than six years after he was fired from Ole Miss in the midst of both personal and professional scandals. At Auburn, he was unable to recapture the magic of his Rebels run, never beating Alabama and not even posting a winning record in three years. In fact, his success almost exactly mirrored Bryan Harsin, who was run out in Year 2.
Auburn won a national championship in 2010 and returned to the title game in 2013. There is championship upside in the program, but a new coach will have to rebuild it from the ground up. Below is a compilation of coaches from CBS Sports Insiders who could quickly find themselves on Auburn’s radar.
Fisher’s tenure at Texas A&M ended in disastrous fashion after he was paid the biggest buyout in college football history to go away. In his final two seasons after signing the No. 1 recruiting class in history, Fisher went 11-15, including 6-9 in SEC play. But while his recent work has been underwhelming, Fisher remains one of the most successful coaches of the 21st century.
At Florida State, Fisher went 83-23 and won the 2013 national championship. He also led the Aggies to a No. 4 finish and Orange Bowl victory in 2020, ranking among their best Aggies seasons of the past 30 years. His 2013 team is one of the most talented rosters ever.
