Auburn football: Hugh Freeze pushback, Brian Johnson trending up

The 2022 regular season is officially over for Auburn football, but the search to find the next head coach of the Tigers is still going. Earlier this week it seemed certain that Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin was going to jump ship and sign on as the Tigers’ head coach, but he revealed prior to the Iron Bowl that he intends to stay put in Oxford.

Attention immediately shifted to current Liberty head coach Hugh Freeze, who practically openly admitted to reporters that he is interested in the Auburn football job following Liberty’s game on Saturday. Soon, there was pushback from people in the Auburn community, especially women, who were quite outspoken about their dislike of Freeze and sent emails to the university president and athletics director.

Freeze has never been named as an official candidate by anyone involved in the search, and it’s unclear whether or not the emails and pushback from the public will have an effect, but it is certainly something to consider.

According to Phillip Marshall of Auburn Undercover, a name that has been trending up in recent days is current Philadelphia Eagles quarterbacks coach Brian Johnson:

"A new name has gotten some legs in recent days. Brian Johnson, the 35-year-old Philadelphia Eagles quarterbacks coach and a former Florida offensive coordinator, could be somewhere in the mix. He is considered a rising star."

However, Marshall goes on to explain that even if Johnson was willing to leave the NFL immediately for Auburn football, the only way that would be possible is if the Eagles were to allow him to leave, and with a 9-1 record they could potentially not allow it.

Time is ticking for AD John Cohen and the others involved because the Tigers still have plenty of work to do when it comes to recruiting the class of 2023. The sooner a new head coach is named, the better for the program.