Will Auburn Consider DJ Durkin for Permanent Head Coach?

DJ Durkin, who has prior experience as both an interim and permanent head coach, takes over as Auburn's interim after Hugh Freeze's firing.

Auburn Tigers defensive coordinator DJ Durkin is in his second season with the program. | Jake Crandall/ Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK

AUBURN, Ala.-- The Auburn Tigers on Sunday officially became the fourth team in the SEC to make a coaching change, firing Hugh Freeze midway through his third season after a 10-3 loss to Kentucky.

As defensive coordinator DJ Durkin steps into the role as the interim head coach, athletic director John Cohen will lead the search for the next head coach. He may not have to look far as Durkin, who has prior head coaching experience, will be considered for the role on a permanent basis.

"He is somebody who has strategic vision. And will we give him consideration? Absolutely, he will get consideration," Cohen said on Monday. "But I want to go further than that. I mean, I think that DJ is somebody who has earned that opportunity, and he will be a part of a pool that we will consider.”

Auburn Tigers interim head coach DJ Durkin will coach the team through the final three weeks of the season. | Jake Crandall/ Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Durkin, in his second season with the program, has prior experience both as an interim head coach (Florida, 2014) and as a head coach (Maryland, 2016-18). However, his leadership running Auburn's defense has made him a candidate in Cohen's eyes.

Auburn defense is one of three FBS teams - alongside No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 Indiana - to not have an opponent score more than 24 points this season, while also holding every opponent under their scoring averages. 

The Tigers rank 18th in the FBS in scoring defense (17.67 points per game) and 22nd in total defense (309.8 yards per game), both of which rank fourth in the SEC.

“I think DJ has done an incredible job with our defense," Cohen said. "When you’re at practice, when you watch him coach in-game, it’s pretty evident that he does have an edge. He’s someone with incredible energy and he’s somebody that the players, the student-athletes relate to."

As Durkin steps into his new role, while also remaining the Tigers' defensive play-caller, he is turning back to his experience as both an interim head coach and permanent head coach to help him.

DJ Durkin coached the Florida Gators to a 28-20 win over East Carolina in one game as the team's interim head coach. | Mike DiNovo-Imagn Images

As Florida's interim for one game after Will Muschamp's firing in 2014, he coached the Gators to a 28-20 win over East Carolina in the Birmingham Bowl. As Maryland's head coach from 2016-18, results were not as strong with a 6-7 record in 2016 and 4-8 record in 2017 before his dismissal ahead of the 2018 season.

"It’s like anything else in life, when you do something for the first time, you either reflect back and then go, ‘Well, I would have done that differently and learned a lot from it’. Certainly, those experiences have helped, and we are all products of our experiences," Durkin said. "I’ve been fortunate enough to have those. I’ve been fortunate enough to really be around some tremendous head football coaches throughout my career at a lot of different stops and learn from them."

As far as being considered for Auburn's permanent head coach? Durkin's focus remains on the rest of the season, not his future.

"Our focus is 100 percent on Vanderbilt. We are trying to go 1-0 this week, and that will take all of our focus, for sure," he said. "Obviously, that’s a hard enough task on a normal basis, then you add in everything going on in distractions and all else, it will take all of us collectively to have our minds fully of that, and that’s certainly where mine is. I do not take the responsibility lightly. These players are counting on myself and our coaching staff to give them a plan that they can have success with come Saturday."