Auburn Predicted to Replace Hugh Freeze With Trending College Football Coach

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Hugh Green | Last updated Nov 2, 2025 6:00 AM ET

Head coach Hugh Freeze and the Auburn Tigers have had a disappointing 2025 season through nine games. Auburn has a 4-5 record, is 1-5 in the SEC and has lost five of its past six games. This includes Saturday's poor showing, as the Tigers lost 10-3 at home against the Kentucky Wildcats.

Freeze is in his third year as the coach of Auburn and is looking for his first season with a winning record in his tenure. Overall, the Tigers have gone 15-19 under Freeze with just one bowl game appearance.

Before he took the job at Auburn, Freeze had three other head coaching stops in college, having spent one season at Arkansas State, five years at Ole Miss and four years at Liberty.

In a season where several college football head coaches have been fired, including James Franklin at Penn State, Billy Napier at Florida and Brian Kelly at LSU, Freeze's name has been the latest to be brought up in firing rumors.

Auburn Tigers head coach Hugh Freeze talks with players.Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

Freeze has been brought up in hot-seat rumors throughout this season due to Auburn's struggles. This past week, on "The Paul Finebaum Show," SEC analyst Michael Bratton said that Auburn already has a replacement target if Freeze were to be fired.

"I’ll tell you, they’re about to open up here in a week or two if they wise up," Bratton said. "I think Jon Sumrall is the perfect next Auburn coach. Jon Sumrall from Tulane will be the next Auburn coach, and Auburn will make the College Football Playoff in 2026 if they wise up and get a coach down there that’s actually qualified to coach in this conference."

Sumrall is in his second season as the head coach of the Tulane Green Wave after two years at Troy. In his Tulane tenure, Sumrall has led the Green Wave to a 15-7 record, including going 6-2 through eight games this year.

His name has come up in rumors about other head coaching vacancies around the country recently. With the Arkansas Razorbacks firing head coach Sam Pittman, Sports Illustrated reporter Alex Weber named Sumrall as one of the favorites to land at the SEC program.

Another SEC school where Sumrall has been linked to is LSU. Since Kelly was fired, Sumrall's name has been mentioned as a potential replacement, according to Newsweek's Jordan Sigler.

If Freeze is fired, it appears Auburn will be in a race for Sumrall, who has emerged as one of the top group of five coaching candidates in the country.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: