Auburn football is now 3-5, and with the likely hiring of Mississippi State’s AD John Cohen to assume the same role at AU, it’s very possible that the Bryan Harsin era on the Plains could finally be at its end.
As the eventual Arkansas beatdown of the Tigers was tight in the first half, news broke from ESPN’s Pate Thamel that the university was in discussions with Cohen for the role. By the end of the game, a deal was being finalized, per AL.com.
With the most important piece now in place for AU to begin the process of removing Harsin as head football coach, talk of who could replace him began in earnest — with nobody on the staff being deemed capable of taking over.
Maroon and White Nation squashed any idea of Mike Leach, the current Mississippi State football head coach, following Cohen to East Central Alabama and becoming the Tigers’ lead play-caller this season or in the offseason in an answer to a reader’s question about whether he could:
No I don’t see this being a thought for Auburn. To me, Freeze is a shoe in for that job, but I don’t think Cohen will hire him
— Maroon & White Nation (@MandWNation) October 29, 2022
Hugh Freeze is likely sticking with Liberty instead of becoming Auburn football head coach
As Maroon and White Nation said in the second half of their post addressing Mike Leach becoming the next Auburn football head coach, Hugh Freeze would be a shoe-in for the job if offered given his success with Liberty the past 3 seasons.
With that said, Freeze did just sign an extension through the 2030 season where he’d make $5 million per season — up from $4 million plus in an extension he signed just a year ago. He has denied interest in a Power Five jump given how swimmingly things are going in Lynchburg.
Auburn football may have trouble reeling in a top coaching candidate given the very public drama Gus Malzahn and Bryan Harsin endured, so John Cohen has a whopper of a challenge ahead of him whenever the Tigers head coaching search begins.