Former SEC head coach mourns the death of 'Auburn legend'

At its best, sports transcends not only wins and losses, but even hirings and firings. That's the message on Saturday as fired former Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze reached out on social media to mourn the passing of a legendary fixture of the Auburn football community.

Sportswriter Phillip Marshall, who Freeze termed "an Auburn legend," had covered the Tiger program for a variety of platforms over more than half a century. He was the son of another sportswriting legend, editor Benny Marshall, and thus a familial touch in covering Auburn sports has extended nearly as far as Auburn sports itself.

Freeze's nod of respect

Freeze, fired in the middle of the 2025 season by Auburn, shared his memories of Marshall online.

Marshall's career covering Auburn sports was so expansive that it covered different eras of college sports coverage. He spent decades with a variety of Alabama newspapers, but after 17 years at the Huntsville Times, Marshall then moved on to start Auburn Undercover, a successful website that is now part of 247sports's collegiate coverage.

While Freeze was notable in reaching out to discuss Marshall, he was far from the only former Tiger coach to mourn the passing of the venerable Marshall. Former Auburn basketball coach Bruce Pearl shared his own tribute on social media, as did former Auburn football head coach Gus Malzahn, who is now the offensive coordinator at Florida State.

Marshall's Auburn Glory Days

Phillip Marshall began covering Auburn sports in late 1969. He then covered the final seasons of legendary Auburn coach Ralph "Shug" Jordan, before seeing the Tigers slide into a period of malaise after Jordan's glory years.

Marshall saw Auburn bring in legendary coach Pat Dye, who helped the Tigers rebound with an impressive run in the mid and late 1980s, including the 11-1 season in 1983 which allowed some selectors to designate the Tigers as national champions. Dye finished the 1980s with four straight top 10 seasons.

After some up and down campaigns, Marshall had taken up the Internet beat by the time Cam Newton led the 2010 Tigers to their undisputed championship season with a 14-0 record. Marshall covered Auburn football under nine different head coaches, with the newly hired Alex Golesh representing the tenth.

Freeze's Current Situation

As for Freeze, following his firing, Auburn was on the hook for a $15.8 million buyout. That buyout apparently did not include any mitigation langauge, so Auburn doesn't get any relief if Freeze works another job. As of December, Freeze wasn't slated for any 2026 employment, but hadn't ruled the possibility out either.