If Auburn athletic director John Cohen is looking to nail his next head football coaching hire, he has only one person to keep in mind, according to ESPN's "SportsCenter" host Matt Barrie: Jon Sumrall.
“I think Sumrall’s a home run at Auburn,” Barrie said. “He’s from Alabama. He grew up in the state. He’s going to have to bring an offense with him. A defensive-minded head coach. A former linebacker at Kentucky. So, that’s just his side of the ball. They’re going to have to be something to keep the fans engaged.”
Sumrall, currently the head coach at Tulane, is one of the popular names that have popped up since Auburn fired Hugh Freeze last week. The 43-year-old coach has the Green Wave at 7-2 on the season after leading them to a 9-5 record in his first year in charge of the program.
Prior to Tulane, Sumrall went 23-4 in two seasons at Troy in his first opportunity as a head coach. The Trojans won two Sun Belt championships under his watch. As a head coach, he's currently 39-11.
On Tuesday, On3's Pete Nakos reported that Sumrall was definitely a candidate for the head position at Auburn, as Cohen and his group have already held phone calls with potential coaches.
"Cohen confirmed that conversations with candidates had started during an interview with 247Sports, too," Nakos wrote. "The ideal timeline is to make a hire the last weekend of November, before National Signing Day on Dec. 3, and well before the transfer portal opens. Among the names coming up in conversations, Tulane head coach Jon Sumrall is a serious contender and a name to know for the Auburn opening."
The Tigers have a bye this week before ending the season with home games against Mercer and Alabama. The hire will be critical for Cohen, who struck out on the Freeze hire with his first decision in charge after taking over as Auburn athletic director in November 2022.