The Auburn Tigers are one of several programs across the Power 4 that are seen as in a holding pattern until further notice. That further notice, as USA Today's Matt Hayes relays, is firing Hugh Freeze.
For the LSU Tigers, it means pulling the plug on expensive stationary progress in Baton Rouge under Brian Kelly. In Los Angeles, it means the USC Trojans letting Lincoln Riley bring his high-scoring, defense-last stance elsewhere. For the Florida State Seminoles in Tallahassee, it's realizing that the Mike Norvell era will never recover from missing the College Football Playoff after a 13-0 ACC Championship run in 2023.
Hayes predicted Auburn, LSU, USC, and Florida State to all join the coaching carousel as soon as possible while discussing the market within the larger framework of a piece about Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day's brilliance.
"(Day's) profession has never been more unsettled, filled with more uncertainty in the ever-changing world of college football. Two blueblood jobs (Penn State, Florida) are officially available, and more are likely on the way," Hayes wrote.
"LSU, USC, Florida State, Auburn, and on and on and on. Who knows where it all ends."
Hugh Freeze deserves firing more than Brian Kelly, Lincoln Riley, Mike Norvell
AU is unique in their grouping of teams with coaches on the hot seat in that they have achieved absolutely nothing under Freeze besides abject failure.
To Kelly's credit, he got his team to the SEC Championship during his first year in charge, and his former offensive coordinator, Mike Denbrock, coached up Jayden Daniels to a Heisman level in 2023. Riley also had a Heisman, with Caleb Williams winning the award in 2022. USC also made its conference championship the year it had a Heisman. Norvell, as previously mentioned, had an undefeated season two years ago.
Freeze's program has achieved nothing notable in that ballpark compared to those three schools. The Bayou Bengals, Trojans, and Seminoles have a difficult decision on their hands as they contemplate starting over with a potentially less accomplished head coach.
AU's is easy. They should've already decided to move on from Freeze.
Those other programs can learn from the few things that worked for them over these last few years. Perhaps there are similar traits to their current headmen that they can seek in their next hires. It wasn't all bad for them.
Auburn should be looking for someone with a different on-field, and off-field, profile than Freeze. It was practically all bad, besides recruiting commitment announcements that ended up becoming bittersweet because those players never reached their full potential under Freeze.