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.”
MORE: ESPN analyst says former Raiders HC Jon Gruden to non-SEC team ‘just seems right’
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…
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Publish date : 2025-08-12 02:38:00
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