Hugh Freeze is entering his most important season yet at Auburn.
This will be just Year 3 for Freeze, but after last season’s 5-7 finish and a missed bowl appearance, the Tigers are expected to take a significant step forward. Simply posting a winning record may not be enough for a coach who is 11-14 overall on the Plains.
It’s unclear what the exact benchmark will be, but Freeze is widely viewed as one of the top hot seat candidates in 2025. In fact, Saturday Down South’s David Wasson predicts Auburn will fire him and turn to a high-profile replacement — former Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden.
Gruden, speaking recently to the Georgia Bulldogs, made it clear he wants back in the game — and specifically in the SEC.
“The only reason I really came here is I want to coach again,” Gruden said speaking to the Bulldogs. “I’m being honest with you, I do not bulls***, either. I want to coach again. I’d die to coach in the SEC. I would love it. I would f---ing love it.”
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Wasson believes those SEC coaching ambitions only add fuel to the idea that Auburn could make a move.
“If for no other reason than he currently coaches for the same university that ran Tommy Tuberville, Gene Chizik, Gus Malzahn and Bryan Harsin out of town… Freeze is dead man walking at Auburn,” Wasson wrote. “The Little Brother-ism at Auburn simply cannot stand that Big Brother in Tuscaloosa engineered perhaps the greatest run in college football history, and therefore has been looking for the Family’s version of Nick Saban for the better part of 20 years.
“Gruden brings NFL bona fides and just the right brand of craziness to fit right in at Toomer’s Corner. If Gruden comes in and takes down the Crimson Tide, you better damn well believe he will be there armed with cases of toilet paper!”
Auburn hasn’t had more than six wins in a season since 2019 under then-coach Gus Malzahn and is 0-3 in bowl games during that stretch.
If Gruden’s SEC coaching aspirations are serious and Freeze gets his pink slip, it could set the stage for one of the biggest hires in program history.