The Auburn Tigers made the popular decision to fire Hugh Freeze on Sunday, ending a nearly three-year tenure that was big on promises and recruiting wins, but empty on sustainable on-field results. In the process, AU enters a college football coaching carousel already loaded with openings.
Yahoo Sports' Dan Wolken believes a good number of those openings, including the LSU Tigers, Florida Gators, Penn State Nittany Lions, Virginia Tech Hokies, and UCLA Bruins, are better jobs than Auburn because of the chances to make the College Football Playoff.
"As we sit here in the first week of November, Auburn is the third-best job available in the SEC alone, pretty clearly behind LSU and Florida despite their various administrative issues. When you widen the lens, prime candidates will also have to measure where it stacks up against Penn State, Virginia Tech and even UCLA," Wolken wrote.
"If the question is who has the friendliest path to the playoff — which is going to matter for some coaches — you could argue Auburn is at the bottom of that list."
You could also argue that the Big Ten being increasingly competitive and the SEC falling behind because of lesser spending means Penn State and UCLA could have tougher paths if the scheduling gods hit them with several high-spending powers like the Ohio State Buckeyes, Michigan Wolverines, Oregon Ducks, and USC Trojans in a given season. We know the Bruins will have at least one of those every year with their cross-city rival Trojans.
Wolken later shared faux concern about the Tigers' coaching search going sideways under AD John Cohen's watch.
"Maybe Auburn athletic director John Cohen already knows who he wants. But with so few proven candidates available and so many good jobs open, there are a lot of ways the Auburn search could go sideways. Most likely, Cohen will have to settle for an unproven up-and-comer, or someone in the Jimbo Fisher mold who, much like Freeze, is desperate for a second chance," Wolken wrote.
Who mentioned Jimbo Fisher in any serious context on Sunday? And is "settling" for someone like Georgia Bulldogs defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann or Tulane Green Wave head coach Jon Sumrall a bad thing? Kirby Smart and Dan Lanning are first-time head coaches in Athens and Eugene. It's a winning model in the modern game. Sumrall would be a Curt Cignetti-esque hire, coming off successful runs in Group of Five conferences.
AU, at its full powers, could be on par with UF. If the donor base gets serious, perhaps they can mount an all-in effort like Virginia Tech is about to. And it's without question a superior job to UCLA.
Wolken doesn't like Auburn. Hence this ranking. Nothing more to see here.