Auburn AD Reveals No. 1 Priority He Wants in New Coach

Auburn fired Hugh Freeze midway through his third season.

Auburn athletic director John Cohen will be the main decision-maker in the coaching search. / Jake Crandall/ Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Sunday, Auburn Tigers announced that they’d fired the team’s third-year head coach, Hugh Freeze. DJ Durkin has since stepped into the interim role and will be in consideration for the permanent role, but Auburn athletic director John Cohen was clear Monday that the team is still searching for a long-term solution, aiming to have a replacement set soon after the Iron Bowl later this month.

Specifically, Cohen stated a few distinct characteristics he’s looking for in Freeze’s successor.

“Somebody with an edge,” Cohen said. “Somebody who’s highly competitive… priority No. 1 is defining the part. Then, intelligence, strategic, forward-thinking. All those things matter. At this level of college football, you’re obviously going to have somebody who has a track record in all these areas, and you can look into that track record with the utmost seriousness. You look at somebody who can lead a building, lead a staff, lead 18 to 22, 23, 24-year-olds to compete in the best league in the country." 

The university’s search goes beyond just simple characteristics, Cohen said, as he’ll want background checks and input from experts across the country in hopes of avoiding a third straight failed Auburn head coach.

“I will tell you this,” Cohen said. “There is no question that I will take information from industry experts, and I will take information from people who really understand college football at a high level. We will go to people who have incredible data, and we will go to people who really understand all four corners of the country in this great sport. But I am the committee. Even though I will listen and I will do as good of a job as I possibly can of taking in information, I will be the committee.”

Evidently, it will be Cohen’s decision alone that determines Auburn’s next head coach. Additionally, Cohen indirectly stated that the university doesn’t plan to rush the hiring process, meaning DJ Durkin will have at least three games to prove himself to the university in hopes of retaining the head coaching position.

“We are going to work as quickly as we possibly can to try to get [hiring] done as quickly after the Iron Bowl as possible,” Cohen said.

Many outlets and analysts have already put in place predictions as to who Auburn’s next head coach will be, from Rhett Lashlee to Jon Sumrall and beyond, but it’ll ultimately be up to Auburn athletic director John Cohen to decide in the coming weeks.

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