Where Does ESPN Rank the Auburn Job Among Open Coaching Positions?

In what's already one of the most chaotic coaching cycles of all time, ESPN's Adam Rittenberg gave his take on where the Auburn Tigers' job ranks among others.

Auburn athletic director John Cohen is in charge of finding the Tigers' next head coach after firing Hugh Freeze. | Jake Crandall/ Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg recently compiled a ranking system of the best head coaching vacancies in the Power Four conferences, and the Auburn Tigers came in as the fourth-best available opening. 

The job openings ranked above Auburn are those of the LSU Tigers, Penn State Nittany Lions, and the Florida Gators, in that order. 

Rittenberg created this ranking system based on five key factors: Recent/historical performance on the field, access to CFP, roster-building/access to talent, university leadership, and financial support. 

Rittenberg starts with Auburn’s on-field performance.

“After winning a national title in 2010 and playing for another in 2013, Auburn has only one AP top-10 finish and just four in the Top 25," Rittenberg wrote. "The team hasn't totally bottomed out since coach Gene Chizik's final year in 2012 and won six SEC games in 2020, when it played a conference-only schedule. But Auburn fans rightfully want more, especially for a program that has had dominant stretches in its history, especially from 1983 to 1994, when it had seven AP top-10 finishes.”

Adding on this, Auburn’s schedule will only be tougher for whoever the next head coach will be, with the SEC moving from eight conference games a year to nine starting in 2026.

Rittenberg then notes that Auburn has yet to make a CFP appearance, although it played in a national title game in the final year of the BCS era in 2013. Since then, Auburn has only had one potential season where it could have made the CFP in 2017, when the Tigers played in the SEC Championship Game. 

Rittenberg also went into detail about Auburn’s roster-building capabilities, highlighting that Auburn is the second closest SEC campus to the Atlanta metropolitan area, where there is a hotbed of recruits. Under former head coach Hugh Freeze, Auburn was able to sign two top-10 recruiting classes, one of which included five-star wide receiver Cam Coleman.

“Despite the complexities around Auburn, coaches understand it's a special place with a devoted fan base and the ingredients to become a national contender again," Rittenberg wrote. "Auburn desperately wants to rally around the right coach and has the financial clout and favorable location to attract accomplished candidates.

Whomever the next coach may be, Rittenberg believes that Auburn has the resources and talent needed to compete with the best in the country.

The primary name circling the Auburn job is current Tulane head coach Jon Sumrall, who has the Green Wave currently contending for a spot in the CFP and who recently pulled his name out of the pool of candidates for the Florida job.

Another name is defensive coordinator and current interim D.J. Durkin, whom athletic director John Cohen named as a candidate right after Freeze's firing.

Auburn is hoping to have its next head coach hired shortly after the Iron Bowl on Nov. 29.