Auburn Football suffered a 10-3 loss to the Kentucky Wildcats on Saturday, which dropped the Tigers to 4-5 on the season and 1-5 in SEC play. Less than 24 hours after the final whistle, Auburn athletic director John Cohen announced that Auburn would be moving on from Freeze, with defensive coordinator DJ Durkin taking over as interim head coach.
“I have informed Coach Freeze of my decision to make a change in leadership with the Auburn Football program,” Cohen said in a statement. “Coach Freeze is a man of integrity, and we are appreciative of his investment in Auburn and his relentless work over the last three years in bolstering our roster. Our expectations for Auburn Football are to annually compete for championships and the search for the next leader of Auburn Football begins immediately.”
Near the end of his third season as head coach on The Plains, Freeze had a record of 15-19 at Auburn and 6-16 in SEC play. Despite being brought in to help the Auburn offense and quarterback development, those two things proved to be achilles heels for the Tigers during Freeze’s tenure.
Through five games in SEC play in 2025, Auburn is averaging just 15 points per game. Even including non-conference games, the Tigers are averaging 22.3 points per game. The mark is a lowly No. 102 in the nation and third-worst in the SEC, ahead of just Florida and South Carolina.
Despite the struggles, Freeze continued to claim each week that his team was close, even doing so after the deflating loss to Kentucky and walking off the field amidst “Fire Freeze” chants from the Auburn students.
“I still believe we’re really close and I know that team plays hard for this university, and it’s sickening that we haven’t delivered,” Freeze said. “No one wants to do that more than I, and our family loves it, our staff loves it, but at the end of the day, I’m frustrated too.”
Over the last three weeks, Freeze seemed at a loss in press conferences, continuing to ask for patience from the Auburn fans and athletic director John Cohen. Unfortunately for Freeze, after nearly three years of an offense that looked dysfunctional while the defense was playing at a near-championship level, there was no patience left.
Defensive coordinator DJ Durkin will take over as interim head coach following the firing of Freeze. Durkin has head coaching experience, both as a true hire and as an interim. Durkin served as the head coach for the Maryland Terrapins from 2016-18 and as the interim head coach for Florida in 2014.
Durkin’s defense has been outstanding so far in 2025, allowing just 17.7 points per game. The mark is good enough for No. 18 in the country, and considering how much time the group has spent on the field, that is an incredibly impressive effort.
The search for the next head coach of Auburn Football should be underway already, and early favorites for the role include Tulane head coach Jon Sumrall, SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee, Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea, Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham, and Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key.
