James Franklin, Jimbo Fisher named ‘wild card’ options to replace Hugh Freeze at Auburn

Auburn football is now looking for a new head coach. Hugh Freeze was fired by the school on Sunday, following a disappointing 2025 season. Auburn is just 4-5, and lost on Saturday to Kentucky.

Two names are now being mentioned as possible candidates to replace Freeze. They are James Franklin and Jimbo Fisher, per The Athletic. Franklin was recently fired at Penn State, while Fisher was axed at Texas A&M in 2023.

Fisher has a history with Auburn.

“The 60-year-old played college football in-state at Samford, where he also started his coaching career, and he spent six seasons at Auburn as quarterbacks coach. If Fisher really wants back into coaching and Auburn is game, this might be very tempting for him,” Bruce Feldman wrote for the outlet.

Franklin is in the mix for at least one other power 4 coaching vacancy this offseason.

“Former Penn State coach James Franklin is a top target for the Virginia Tech vacancy, but Franklin might be more intrigued by this job. Before his 12 years in Happy Valley, he worked wonders in three seasons in the SEC at Vanderbilt,” Feldman added.

There are several other power 4 programs looking for coaches, including Florida, LSU and Oklahoma State.

Auburn football will be a rebuild for the next head coach

The Tigers have struggled the last few seasons under Freeze. Freeze was fired before finishing his third season. He had never been able to post a winning campaign at Auburn.

Auburn though has a rich football history. The Tigers have won several national championships, with the last one coming in 2010. Times have been difficult for the program in recent years, even before Freeze arrived. Auburn hasn’t had a season with more than six victories since 2019.

Tulane head coach Jon Sumrall has also been mentioned as a candidate for Auburn. The Tigers next play Vanderbilt on Saturday.