Auburn's ugly 38-17 loss to LSU is the line in the sand for Auburn fans this season. DJ Durkin's defense giving up 552 yards of offense to a hobbled Sam Leavitt and the LSU attack is the final straw for many of the orange and blue faithful.
Many want him gone.
Leavitt, who'd been slowed by a hamstring issue heading into this one, was hardly pressured and found wide-open gaps, enough to go for 54 rushing yards. That was on top of his 387 passing yards.
Sean McDonough and Greg McElroy openly joked about whether Leavitt actually had any hamstring issue at all. It was that bad.
Jackson Harris was particularly dominant in the passing game, hauling in 178 receiving yards and two touchdown catches on nine receptions. Dilin Jones had 92 rushing yards and a touchdown run.
Given Auburn's particularly ugly rushing performance, with Byrum Brown being the only shining light, the disparity between the running backs was especially notable.
Big-time running backs have been able to take advantage of Auburn all season. DeSean Bishop did the same for Tennessee during a Volunteers win on Rocky Top three weekends ago. Jadan Baugh did the same for Florida in Week 3 at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
With a third loss of the season, and the second in which the defense helped give up at least 38 points, the attention has turned to fixing this ASAP.
Many Tiger fans agree on a solution: fire Durkin.
DJ Durkin isn't a good ROI at Auburn any longer
Durkin's defense was the shining light during the 2025 season. Auburn ranked in the top 30 across every major category besides passing defense, and the rushing defense was a top-10 finish overall. The fall from grace has been astounding.
Durkin collects $2.7 million for his services this season. That is not justifiable in any way. Golesh's offense hasn't been perfect and was particularly helpless against LSU, but the defense not carrying its weight makes Auburn a major underdog against any top-tier SEC squad.
Auburn could've done more this season. The win over Georgia should've been a wake-up call to what this team can accomplish when firing on all cylinders.
Durkin's defense didn't show up at all against LSU, though. Bayou Bengals play-caller Charlie Weis Jr. outdueled Durkin across the board.
After allowing Xavier Atkins to become such a distraction for teammates that they needed to ask the coaching staff for discipline, with Golesh finding Atkins' behavior so costly to the team that he removed the linebacker this past week, Durkin clearly didn't do his job in keeping his defensive players in line. Durkin brought Atkins in last year and didn't keep the star accountable.
All the more proof fans need to ask for his removal.
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