In the midst of his third year on the Plains, Auburn has parted ways with head coach Hugh Freeze, the university announced on Sunday.
Defensive coordinator DJ Durkin will take over as interim head coach for the remainder of the season.
Freeze arrived in Auburn in December of 2022 on a six-year contract worth $39 million. He was collecting $6.7 million this year as the 14th-highest paid head coach in the SEC. His buyout is $15.4 million.
During his time as head coach at Auburn, Freeze posted a 15-19 overall record, including a 5-16 mark in SEC play. At Jordan-Hare Stadium, he went 9-11 overall and won just two of five conference games. He became only the third coach in program history to finish with a losing record at home. In 12 games against ranked opponents, Freeze managed just one win. He was the first Auburn coach ever to start 0-5 against the Tigers’ biggest rivals: Alabama and Georgia.
Under Freeze, Auburn’s recruiting classes ranked 19th in 2023 — though that wasn’t his first full cycle — followed by eighth in 2024 and sixth in 2025, according to 247Sports. Before his departure, the Tigers’ 2026 class was ranked 32nd nationally.
Auburn currently sits at 4-5 on the season, and will look to avoid a second consecutive loss to Vanderbilt on Saturday.
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