Auburn is once again looking for a savior.
For the third time in five years, the Tigers embark on the most chaotic coaching carousel in memory after firing Hugh Freeze, the man they hired three years ago to fix everything, and instead put the program on pace for its first fifth straight losing season since the 1940s.
Before their next leap of faith, Auburn leaders need to stop and ask themselves how they got here.
Take the case of someone who lived and breathed the Plains for seven years, who needed time to observe the community before understanding – and reporting – what made Auburn so magnetic and infuriating. This is a program capable of winning championships despite numerous obstacles in a conference dominated by stronger, wealthier programs.
To fix Auburn football, you must first understand Auburn.
It’s difficult to pinpoint when the cracks formed, but the downfall began in 2017 when the school replaced longtime president Jay Gogue with Iowa State’s Steven Leath. They hired a controversial figure, who sought disruption rather than direction, and his leadership poisoned the well.
That’s when Auburn stopped being Auburn.
University leaders began searching for monuments when all they had to do was look around.
Drive across the Auburn campus and you’ll see it everywhere. It’s engraved on plaques, framed in corridors, whispered like gospel. The Auburn Creed, a 180-word statement of values, is the moral north star of the program.
To outsiders, the very name draws rolling eyes and muttered cynicism. It’s a punchline. For opportunists, it is an accessory they wear like a cloak to hide their true intentions.
How can a credo rooted in hard work, honesty and belief in a practical world endure in an age ruled by money and hypocrisy?
Well, it is possible – and it is – although it requires creative interpretation. The problem for Auburn is that at some point its leaders stopped believing in their own people and started trusting outsiders. These were the people who convinced the Auburn family that they were their program rather than adopting it.
As for Freeze, he violated the first line of their creed from the start.
Freeze may have preached hard work and humility, but his golf habits and his reluctance to chase big quarterbacks in the transfer portal — as well as a troubling personal foul and NCAA violations from his past — weren’t worthy of an SEC job, much less a top 15. He’s out after a disastrous 16-19 record in two-plus seasons, despite building a roster this season that had enough NFL talent, including a crop of underutilized receivers, to win eight or nine games.
The man before him, Bryan Harsin, was more of a fraud than a celebrity.
Harsin seemed to embody the uncompromising motive of an “Auburn Man,” but self-righteousness trumped loyalty and understanding of the team, and that arrogance tainted every decision he made.
Several players have expressed concerns about his coaching style. The university has opened an investigation. Recruiting was at an all-time high, primarily due to Harsin’s reluctance to develop relationships within the state of Alabama. Everything he touched disintegrated, as did his tenure: 9-12 in less than two seasons.
Auburn can’t afford another mistake, and John Cohen knows it. To understand what it takes to win at Auburn, you have to understand, well, Auburn. Auburn’s athletic director is a grinder, a former blue-collar athlete who rose from Birmingham-Southern College to a contributor on Mississippi State’s World Series team in 1990. He then coached the Bulldogs on the diamond, finishing second nationally in 2013.
Always curious, Cohen’s path diverged from that of a high-level coach to that of an athletic director. Now it’s up to him to repair Auburn’s identity.
“I grew up in the state of Alabama. I know how special this fan base is, and again, I wake up every morning saying, ‘We have to make this happen,'” Cohen said Monday. “We have to do it for the people who are at the top of the upper tier, the people who are in our streets, the people who are on the field. We have to achieve it. And again, I know the fans hear that we are close, right? I’m not going to say we are close. Proximity doesn’t matter. Making it matters.”
The booster culture that looms over Auburn remains a threat. Interference is part of the DNA Before Harsin’s hiring in late 2020, some boosters attempted to install defensive coordinator Kevin Steele as head coach. It failed.
When AD Allen Greene was kicked to the curb, Cohen was hired at Mississippi State. He insists that he will conduct the research alone. “I’m the committee,” he said. “While I will listen and do the best job I can in gathering information, I will be the committee.”
If that’s the case, Cohen’s search to identify the best candidates shouldn’t take long, especially if “The Auburn Creed” is the backbone. Industry sources believe Tulane’s Jon Sumrall should and will become the Tigers’ top target.
The Huntsville, Alabama native took over a five-win Troy program in 2021 and quickly set the Sun Belt on fire, going 23-4 with two conference titles in two years. He advanced to the Conference USA championship game his freshman year at Tulane and is currently 6-2 heading into the final three games of the season.
He’s a grinder, a relationship builder and – to a fault – brutally honest. Dozens of Alabama high school coaches, including ardent Tide fans, consider him a friend.
Most importantly, those who know Sumrall believe he embodies everything Auburn stands for, and his fiery personality will enhance what has long been lost on the Plains. (It doesn’t hurt that his wife, Ginny, is also an Auburn alumna.)
Others to consider include ousted Penn State coach James Franklin, who has been contacted by several schools, including Arkansas and Virginia Tech, according to sources at CBS Sports, but he is letting the coaching carousel spin before considering other options.
Missouri’s Eli Drinkwitz is a possibility, although he could choose to stay in Columbia even if Florida gets involved in his candidacy, sources say.
Arizona State’s Kenny Dillingham, who coordinated Auburn’s offense in 2019, is an intriguing candidate; however, it is believed that a substantial financial package and increased NIL support will be necessary to generate any interest in leaving one’s alma mater.
The answer for Auburn seems simple: find a man who embodies what you were and can be, not someone who sells you a commodity he doesn’t want to understand.
In a cynical world, old-fashioned cliches and corny beliefs still work at Auburn. This warm blanket provides insulation from the outside world, and it’s why Auburn was once so magically infuriating.
For all its chaos, Auburn’s identity has always been its secret weapon. When Nick Saban was running college football in the 2010s, the Tigers scratched the GOAT’s face three times. They won or appeared in three SEC championship games and also won a national title, advancing to the national championship game twice.
Auburn lost his way when he stopped believing in himself and turned to strangers for answers. All the Tigers have to do is trust themselves and look around. The answers are all around them.
