Nine potential candidates as Auburn seeks replacement for Hugh Freeze

AI-assisted summary
• Auburn fired football coach Hugh Freeze after a 15-19 record over parts of three seasons.
• Auburn is expected to seek an offensive-minded coach to replace Freeze.
• Potential candidates include South Florida’s Alex Golesh, Georgia Tech’s Brent Key, and SMU’s Rhett Lashlee.

Auburn fired football coach Hugh Freeze on Sunday one day after a 10-3 loss to Kentucky dropped the Tigers to 4-5 this season and 15-19 since Freeze returned to the SEC in 2023.

The partnership between the Tigers and the former Mississippi and Liberty coach seemed almost foolproof thanks in no small part to his SEC experience. Having won in Oxford, the thinking went, Freeze would do the same with Auburn, only on an even bigger scale. Not quite.

At no point in his tenure did the Tigers resemble the best team in the state, let alone the SEC. Despite his track record on offense, Auburn failed to score more than 17 points in five of six SEC games this season and scored more than 31 points in regulation in conference play just twice over his three seasons.

Look for Auburn’s next coach to have a background on offense to keep pace with Kalen DeBoer, Lane Kiffin, Josh Heupel and the top programs in the SEC. Here are the early names to watch:

Alex Golesh, South Florida

Golesh spent two seasons as the offensive coordinator at Tennessee before getting hired at South Florida, where he posted back-to-back seven-win seasons before putting the Bulls on the national map with a win this September against Florida. That he has only three years of experience as a head coach, all in the Group of Five, is a drawback the Auburn decision-makers would have to weigh to bring in one of the fastest-rising names in the profession.

Brent Key, Georgia Tech

Key is in an enviable situation at Georgia Tech, with immense job security, deep ties to the program and on-field success the program hasn’t matched in nearly 50 years. In other words, the former Tech offensive lineman may not be going anywhere. But Key did spend three years at Alabama on Nick Saban’s staff, so he knows the state, and would bring a high degree of professionalism at a crucial moment for the program.

Rhett Lashlee, SMU

While Lashlee is a stronger contender for the opening at Arkansas, his long connection with former Auburn coach Gus Malzahn might be an asset given how Malzahn is looked at more fondly after Bryan Harsin and Freeze flopped in his wake. Lashlee is a young, offense-minded coach, like Golesh, but with Power Four experience and a College Football Playoff berth on his resumé. He signed an extension with the Mustangs last week, but that might not dissuade the Tigers if they decide he is the guy.

Manny Diaz, Duke

His defensive background makes Diaz a wild card in this search and a strong second-tier option if Auburn misses on a few of the trendier names in the mix. Diaz has spent five seasons as a Power Four head coach in addition to his lengthy run of success as a defensive coordinator across the Bowl Subdivision. The work he’s done so far at Duke should make Diaz a legitimate candidate, though he’s more likely to land somewhere outside of the SEC if he does leave the Blue Devils.

Kenny Dillingham, Arizona State

Dillingham could be pulled away from Tempe for the right opportunity. That spot might be Auburn, where he’s still remembered for his one year as offensive coordinator in 2019 — the Tigers averaged 33.2 points per game and haven’t sniffed that number in the years since. Like Lashlee, he has a direct link to Malzahn and a secondary connection through Malzahn disciple Mike Norvell, who hired Dillingham to his first full-time position as an assistant at Memphis in 2017. Dillingham later served as offensive coordinator at Florida State and Oregon before landing his current job at his alma mater.

Dan Mullen, UNLV

Mullen might not find a better reentry point to the SEC unless he waits for the Mississippi State job to reopen, though that wouldn’t be until after next season at the earliest. He’s off to a good start in his first season at UNLV, and Auburn would have to overlook how Mullen was unable to achieve liftoff during his tenure at Florida. But he’s deeply experienced, knows exactly how the SEC operates and might be the highest-floor candidate on the Tigers’ early list.

Jon Sumrall, Tulane

Sumrall is going to be a head coach in the SEC, and probably as soon as the 2026 season. While Kentucky is seen as the likeliest destination should Mark Stoops retire, Sumrall would take a hard look at the Tigers’ deeper pool of resources and quicker path toward College Football Playoff contention. While he played for Kentucky and coached there from 2019-21, Sumrall is smart enough to realize Auburn is a much better position overall.

James Franklin

Disgruntled Auburn fans might point to Franklin’s poor record against ranked teams, the fact he never truly developed an elite quarterback or offense and the way the Nittany Lions disintegrated in his final season. These are valid points. Then again, Franklin won 24 games over three years at Vanderbilt. If he can deliver a coherent plan for how to maximize Auburn’s NIL offerings, Franklin would be a smash-hit hire for a program that needs a steady hand.

Urban Meyer

If you can hire Meyer — if you can sell it, stomach it, grin and bear it — then you should. The drawbacks are obvious; so are the results. Meyer has shown no legitimate interest in getting back into coaching and left the profession several years before NIL and the House settlement transformed the sport. But it can’t hurt Auburn to make a phone call.

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