Hugh Freeze no longer has the support of the Auburn Tigers fanbase following a 16-10 loss to the Texas A&M Aggies on Saturday that featured 177 total yards of offense for AU and 10 penalties, seven of them on the offensive line.
It's not that the Tigers lost yet another SEC game, meaning Freeze has fewer SEC wins in two and a half seasons than Gus Malzahn had during the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season alone. It's that Auburn is wasting the offensive weapons -- of whom many feel will hit the Transfer Portal this offseason -- that Freeze went all in on with the team's NIL spend because he didn't recruit at the quarterback and offensive tackle positions.
Freeze is supposed to be the offensive guru. But it's DJ Durkin's defense that's keeping the team afloat and giving them a chance to beat top-ranked teams in conference play.
It's just not working with the Oxford, Mississippi, native, who may be running out of chances to make a career in the SEC after how his Ole Miss Rebels tenure ended and given how poorly his three campaigns have gone on the Plains.
It'll be a tough pill to swallow if/when the trigger is pulled on Freeze's firing. It's been a slow rebuild in the wake of the Bryan Harsin era, but you wonder if it would've been seen as such if a few in-game decisions had gone the other way.
Either way, Tiger fans are out of patience, regardless of gaslighting from national sources who want you to continue to accept mediocrity. Freeze's replacement, if it's not an internal promotion of Durkin, who probably earned a head coaching job at at least the Group of 5 level, should be able to turn things around sooner rather than later. Or at least have a history of doing it for the fanbase's hope's sake.
For those hoping to lure away one of the top coaches in the SEC or Big Ten, like a Dan Lanning, Lane Kiffin, or Lincoln Riley, you may have to temper expectations. Kiffin already admitted the only school he would leave the Ole Miss Rebels for is the Alabama Crimson Tide. Lanning and Riley have plenty of money to spend at their current schools. Nabbing either of them would take money AU might not have with a potential Freeze buyout to pay.
With all that in mind, here are three potential replacements for Freeze who may expedite the Tigers' rebuild:
Sonny Dykes
The TCU Horned Frogs are the poster child of turning things around in the NIL and standing up to the powers that be in the Big Ten and SEC, minus the Georgia Bulldogs, of course. Sonny Dykes' first foray into the Transfer Portal turned TCU into a national championship contender after a five-win finish in 2021 during Gary Patterson's swan song season.
The Big Spring, Texas, native has well established roots in the Lone Star State. Dykes also has several stops in Louisiana and California, but his mastery of the Dallas-Fort Worth metro could yield high-end recruits from one of the most talent-rich areas in the country.
Dykes' Horned Frogs standing up to the Michigan Wolverines in the College Football Playoff semifinals was the last true great upset in the sport's postseason, with the 2024/2025 12-team debut of the format being a display of dominance from the likes of the Ohio State Buckeyes, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, and Penn State Nittany Lions.
If Dykes can do that at Texas Christian University, imagine what he can do with Auburn University's resources.
Fran Brown
Fran Brown revolutionized what the Syracuse Orange could achieve in the NIL era with his arrival ahead of the 2024 season. The former UGA DB coach dragged the Orange to nine wins, the most the program had since 2018.
In 2025, without starting quarterback Steve Angeli, who's out for the season with an Achilles tear, Brown may soon find out that SU's interest in football is that of a Fairweather variety. Syracuse has long been a basketball school, and while the Orange spent single-digits on hoops last year, the new rev-share model likely means an increased spend there.
Syracuse isn't about to match the Virginia Tech Hokies' bold financial enthusiasm, or many other ACC schools, in football. Brown likely knows this and will look for a bigger job, and a better opportunity to win, soon.
USA Today's Matt Hayes projects Brown to receive interest from SEC schools. AU should be one of them if Brown looks for a bigger pond to be a big fish in.
Deion Sanders
If Tiger fans could put up with everything Freeze brings to a program from a problematic standpoint, they should have no problem with "Prime Time."
Deion Sanders was linked to Auburn's job opening in 2022 before he chose the Colorado Buffaloes over the USF Bulls. The Tigers chose Freeze over Coach Prime, and Auburn has been worse than Colorado.
In hindsight, most Tiger fans would probably take Shedeur Sanders' rapping and podcasting over Payton Thorne. Certainly, they would've welcomed 2024 Heisman winner Travis Hunter to the fold.
Auburn can't turn the clock back and retroactively hire Coach Prime. If AU boosters are willing to accommodate Sanders' recovery from bladder cancer and his unwillingness to recruit at prospect's high schools or homes, the Tigers could do worse than having Coach Prime hand over the DC reins to Durkin or someone of a similar caliber, the offensive reins to someone like Cadillac Williams, and play the CEO role.
Let's be real. They're doing worse right now.