Auburn finally made the move to cut ties with head coach Hugh Freeze, granting fans their wish, a wish they have been making since last season. After a 4-5 and staring down a potential fifth losing season in a row, the Tigers felt the move was needed in order to make things better for the future.
Of course, with Freeze now out, every question on the mind of Tigers fans is who will become Auburn's fourth head coach in the last five years. That is right, Gus Malzahn was fired in 2020, Brian Harsin was fired in 2022, and now Freeze is gone in 2025. If a new coach is brought in before the year is up, Auburn will have hired its fourth head coach in five years.
There are many names that come up immediately, some that have been in headlines for other big jobs like Penn State, Florida, and LSU. Now, Auburn will have to compete for the top candidates with those four programs.
1.Lane Kiffin
Lane Kiffin has been the top name of this coaching cycle, especially for fellow SEC programs Florida and LSU. Kiffin is in the middle of another great season with Ole Miss that could result in a College Football Playoff selection. If that is the case, it could be some time before Kiffin looks at other positions, but if he is picking between Auburn, LSU, and Florida, the Tigers might be out of luck.
2. James Franklin
The reason James Franklin was fired from Penn State was that he couldn't win the big games, which could be a problem at Auburn with the Tigers in the SEC and every game being a big game. However, Franklin is one heck of a recruiter and could bring a lot of talent to Auburn with the resources he could have. Sometimes, a fresh start is all a coach needs to succeed.
3. Alex Golesh
Alex Golesh is the choice to make if Auburn wants to bring someone from a Group of Five team up to the big leagues. Golesh took over a USF program that was pretty down in the dumps and has been able to make them a force to be reckoned with this season. With the money and resources that Golesh would have at Auburn, he could build a team even stronger than what he has with the Bulls.
4. Collin Klein
Collin Klein is a name that hasn't come up too much, but if a program wants to go with a coordinator rather than a head coach with experience, Klein may be the way to go. The former Kansas State quarterback is in his second season as Texas A&M's offensive coordinator and has helped the Aggies to an 8-0 start to the season with one of the most efficient offenses. Klein's knowledge of the offense would be a perfect fix to Auburn's offensive woes as of late.
5. Eli Drinkwitz
Another SEC coach finds his name on this list, as Eli Drinkwitz seems to be a dark horse name on the coaching lists. Drinkwitz is a proven head coach at Missouri, who has shown he can take over a broken program and really help fix it. The Tigers have become a contending team in the past couple of years, and his rebuild experience could be exactly what Auburn needs.