Paul Finebaum reveals top name to watch to become Auburn's next head coach

The Auburn Tigers are soon expected to be conducting a search for the program’s next head football coach. Current coach Bryan Harsin is not likely to remain in place beyond this season, and the Tigers are reportedly closing in on hiring John Cohen as the school’s new athletic director.

Even though Harsin hasn’t officially been dismissed, it seems inevitable that he eventually will be. With that in mind, names have already surfaced as possibilities to replace him. ESPN’s Paul Finebaum and Matt Barrie recapped Week 9 of college football on Sunday, where they revealed the top name to watch in Auburn’s soon-to-be coaching search. Lane Kiffin gets a mention, but the name at the top of their lists? Hugh Freeze.

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“So Harsin is gone, whenever that is,” said Finebaum. “He’s just done a miserable job, let’s move on from that. But you’re right. Hugh Freeze is I think gonna be the coach to watch. Lane [Kiffin]’s name comes up, but I do think there’s a lot of interest for Hugh Freeze there.”

Freeze is no stranger to the SEC, as he coached from 2012-2016 at Ole Miss. He had success there, coaching to a 39-25 overall record and a 3-1 mark in bowl games. Freeze’s tenure might have ended with a plethora of recruiting violations, which could play a role in his candidacy for another job in the SEC. But in Finebaum’s eyes, Freeze would bring an added bonus if hired by Auburn — he’s beaten Nick Saban and Alabama twice.

“One thing that Auburn boosters like about Hugh Freeze — and this is going to sound irrelevant to people around the country — but he has something in his back pocket that resonate in Alabama. He’s beaten Nick Saban twice,” added Finebaum. “It sounds cliché, but not many people have beaten Nick Saban twice.”

Freeze has done a remarkable job at Liberty since 2019, leading the Flames to three bowl games in three seasons. Liberty is currently 7-1 this season and ranked in the AP Top 25, and the Flames are 33-12 overall under the leadership of Freeze.

Hiring an athletic director could kick off Auburn’s decisions at head coach

Over the weekend, Auburn was reportedly working on finalizing a deal with Mississippi State athletic director John Cohen for the same position. The deal hasn’t yet been officially completed, but things at least appear to be close. Once that happens, Auburn’s head coaching search could officially get underway, or at the very least the ball could get rolling.

“He seems — and I couch my words about Harsin because every time I look at my phone there’s another, ‘Harsin could go any minute.’ The reason we say that is because they are on the verge or have already hired John Cohen as the athletic director. He’s coming over from Mississippi State. Why is that important? Well, they need an athletic director to technically hire the next coach,” Finebaum said. “You can fill in the blanks here, we’re talking about Auburn. And Cohen is a very competent and able athletic director. But that doesn’t mean anything other than he’ll be sitting at the head of the table.”