🚨 Auburn Fires Hugh Freeze | Top Coaching Candidates for Auburn | Cover 3 College Football

Summary

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Episode Overview

Podcast: Cover 3 College Football
Episode: 🚨 Auburn Fires Hugh Freeze | Top Coaching Candidates for Auburn
Date: November 2, 2025
Hosts: Chip Patterson & Tom Fornelli

In this emergency episode, Chip Patterson and Tom Fornelli react to the breaking news that Auburn has fired head football coach Hugh Freeze. The hosts dissect why Freeze’s tenure failed, what Auburn’s program needs moving forward, and launch into a spirited — sometimes tongue-in-cheek — discussion of potential head coaching candidates. The episode is packed with insight for college football fans interested in coaching searches, the Auburn program’s unique pressures, and the shifting landscape of elite jobs in the sport.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Hugh Freeze Fired: What Went Wrong?

[02:42–08:44]

• Auburn dismissed Hugh Freeze after less than three seasons, absorbing a sizable buyout (at least $15.4 million).
• Primary failure: Inability to develop quarterback play or field an effective offense, despite Freeze’s offensive reputation from previous jobs.
  • “He swung and missed on both quarterbacks... Neither one was able to play at the level required in the SEC.”—Tom Fornelli (04:00)
• Auburn’s defense was solid, but the offense couldn’t score—case in point, a 10–3 loss to Kentucky in the final game.
• Organizational and staff shakeups, lack of clarity around offensive roles, and general mismanagement possibly contributed to the unraveling.
  • “There were some fundamental failures in the organization and the execution of the Hugh Freeze tenure at Auburn.” —Chip Patterson (06:14)
• Auburn’s high level of resources (top 10 recruiting classes, strong NIL budgets) wasn’t enough to overcome poor evaluation and coaching.

2. Auburn’s Cycle of Chaos and Coaching Hires

[08:44–14:49]

• Auburn’s perennial instability traced back to the firing of Gus Malzahn and botched transitions to Brian Harsin and then Freeze—each governed by powerful booster factions.
• “You can’t just be a football coach and succeed at Auburn. I feel like you have to be able to juggle a lot of cats.”—Tom Fornelli (11:33)
• Comparison to other “chaotic” blueblood jobs (LSU, Florida, Texas), but Auburn lacks the recent winning pedigree of places like LSU.
• Even with resources, the boosters’ influence and impatience generate tumult and high turnover.

3. Assessing Auburn as a Job

[17:45–18:24]

• The hosts debate whether Auburn is a “top 5” job in the current cycle—agreeing it’s at the top tier, but maybe not at the very top given expectations vs. reality.
  • “I just don’t think the expectations on the Plains align with the reality.”—Tom Fornelli (18:10)
• The job’s enduring appeal: SEC dollars, immense fan passion, deep NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) potential.

4. Coaching Candidate Roundtable: Who’s Next?

[18:54–36:46]

Big Swings

• James Franklin (Penn State):
  • Admired for unifying stakeholders and handling politics.
  • “I think James Franklin was able to do that at Penn State and kind of pull everybody into his boat.” —Tom Fornelli (18:54)
• Jimbo Fisher: Not recommended; would signal an “unserious” program, repeating mistakes with outdated offensive philosophy.
  • “Maybe they don’t have more [money] to spend because they’ve had to pay all these buyouts...”—Tom Fornelli (20:50)
• Eli Drinkwitz (Missouri), Brent Key (Georgia Tech): Unlikely to move; current jobs seen as more stable fits.

Sitting Power Conference Coaches

• Brent Key (Georgia Tech): Alabama native, Saban protégé. Could make sense, but loyalty to alma mater a question.
• Kenny Dillingham (Arizona State): Young coach with upside, but tied to alma mater as well.

Top Group of 5 (G5/G6) Coaches

• John Sumrall (Tulane): Hosts’ consensus top target—success at Troy, knows the region, proven builder.
  • “If I’m Auburn...he’s number one on my list.”—Tom Fornelli (25:56)
  • “He is going to be a candidate for any of these jobs and I think he’s going to be a very, very good head coaching candidate for an SEC job.”—Chip Patterson (26:03)
• Glenn Schumann (Georgia DC): Young, highly-touted defensive coordinator at a powerhouse, attractive for ability to recruit and build.
• Fran Brown (Georgia staff): Elite recruiter; energetic, rising star.

“Wildcard” or Unlikely Candidates

• DJ Durkin (Auburn interim): Would only get the job if he beats Alabama, seen as unlikely but not impossible by Auburn standards.
• Dabo Swinney (Clemson): Not a good fit; resistance to NIL and the transfer portal runs counter to Auburn’s needs.
• Deion Sanders: Unspecified, but alludes to the possibility as a high-upside, high-publicity hire.

Retreads & Red Flags

• Recommendation: Avoid “retread” hires (coaches fired elsewhere), prioritize new energy and upside.
  • “Don’t do the retread thing...the ceiling is higher when you hire a coach who has not been canned somewhere else.”—Tom Fornelli (30:00)

Other Names Tossed Out:

• Jeff Brohm (Louisville): Proven winner, but unlikely to leave alma mater.
• Alex Gilles (unidentified): Mentioned as a potential solid hire.
• Chesney: Possibly Bob Chesney (Holy Cross) — mentioned as a strong candidate by chat.

5. Broader Trends in Coaching Hires

[23:47–27:39]

• Fewer “sure-thing” candidates in this cycle; NIL and the transfer portal have leveled the playing field between historically “big” jobs and rising programs.

6. Memorable Moments & Running Jokes

• “Tee time scouting”: Monitoring Auburn golf course reservations for signs of Freeze’s firing.
  • “[We] were monitoring tee times at the Auburn University Golf Club...” —Chip Patterson (08:05)
  • “For all we know, Hugh has been golfing every Sunday at 1:30 all season.”—Tom Fornelli (09:17)
• The “Auburn wheel”: Spin it again, another coaching search.
• The idea that “winning the Alabama game” (Iron Bowl) can get an interim hired (or at least fantasized about).
• Clear sympathy for Freeze’s health struggles and the personal cost of high-level head coaching.
  • “I do hope Hugh gets healthy and plays golf and just takes some time to get things right because that man looked miserable.”—Chip Patterson (31:21)

7. Hosts’ Final Top 3 Candidates

[35:06–36:46]

• Tom Fornelli’s Top 3:

  1. John Sumrall (Tulane head coach)
  2. Glenn Schumann (Georgia DC)
  3. Fran Brown (Georgia staff—recruiter)

• Chip Patterson’s Additions:

  • Brent Key mentioned, also likes Sumrall, Schumann, Brown.

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Key Quotes, Timestamps, and Attribution

• “He swung and missed on both quarterbacks… Neither one was able to play at the level required in the SEC.”—Tom Fornelli [04:00]
• “There were some fundamental failures in the organization and the execution of the Hugh Freeze tenure at Auburn.”—Chip Patterson [06:14]
• “You can't just be a football coach and succeed at Auburn. I feel like you have to be able to juggle a lot of cats.”—Tom Fornelli [11:33]
• “I just don't think the expectations on the Plains align with the reality.”—Tom Fornelli [18:10]
• “If I'm Auburn...he's number one on my list.”—Tom Fornelli (on John Sumrall) [25:56]
• “He is going to be a candidate for any of these jobs and I think he's going to be a very, very good head coaching candidate for an SEC job.”—Chip Patterson (on John Sumrall) [26:03]
• “Don’t do the retread thing… the ceiling is higher when you hire a coach who has not been canned somewhere else.”—Tom Fornelli [30:00]
• “I do hope Hugh gets healthy and plays golf and just takes some time to get things right because that man looked miserable.”—Chip Patterson [31:21]

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Segment Timestamps

• [02:01] – Show opens, news confirmed: Auburn fires Hugh Freeze.
• [02:42–08:44] – Dissecting Freeze’s failure, quarterback issues, organizational struggles.
• [08:44–14:49] – Auburn’s hiring chaos, booster drama, parallels to other bluebloods.
• [17:45–18:24] – Where does Auburn rank as a job? Top 5? 6?
• [18:54–36:46] – Deep-dive into candidate options, coaching carousel dynamics, top picks.
• [36:46–37:12] – Wrap up, hosts’ final ranking of candidates.

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Summary Table: Top Coaching Candidates Mentioned

| Name | Current Role | Reason for Consideration | |-------------------|----------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------| | John Sumrall | Tulane HC | Regional ties, proven builder, G5 success | | Glenn Schumann | Georgia DC | Elite recruiter, young energy, proven SEC background | | Fran Brown | Georgia staff/recruiter | Charisma, recruiting chops, regional and national ties | | Brent Key | Georgia Tech HC | Alabama roots, Saban disciple, power conference success | | Jeff Brohm | Louisville HC | Proven winner, unlikely to leave alma mater | | Dabo Swinney | Clemson HC | Cultural fit issues, outdated philosophy | | Jimbo Fisher | Unemployed | Retread, similar concerns as with Freeze | | DJ Durkin | Auburn interim | Only if Iron Bowl miracle – mostly jokingly |

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Conclusion

Auburn enters yet another high-profile, high-pressure coaching search. The hosts agree that a program with Auburn’s resources can and should pursue high-upside candidates with fresh energy, regional ties, and experience navigating college football’s chaotic modern landscape. The drama, booster influence, and expectations will challenge even the most capable coach. The era of quick fixes from the transfer portal may be over, and the next Auburn leader must build with vision—and win fast.

The consensus favorite: John Sumrall, a rising star already proven in the region, with defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann and elite recruiter Fran Brown also on the shortlist. Retreads, including Jimbo Fisher and even Dabo Swinney, are not advised.

“Don’t do the retread thing… the ceiling is higher when you hire a coach who has not been canned somewhere else.” —Tom Fornelli [30:00]

Auburn’s cycle of chaos continues, but its fans—and these hosts—know there is always hope that the next spin of the wheel lands on a winner.

Transcript

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[Chip Patterson]

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[COVID 3 Podcast Intro Announcer]

Welcome Back to the COVID 3 podcast with your hosts Chip Patterson, Tom Fernelli, Danny Cannell and Bud Elliott. It's your call for the best college football coverage from national signing day to the national champions, everything in between. CBS Sports presents the COVID 3 podcast.

[Chip Patterson]

And welcome back to the COVID 3 podcast here on CBS Sports. That's Tom Fornelli. I'm Chip Patterson coming to you [e-mail] cover3 and everywhere you get your podcast on demand. Thanks for hanging out. Smash that, subscribe smash that like and come and join us in the chat. Where you see those sirens in your feed, you know exactly what that means. A big thank you to Auburn Athletic Director John Cohen for following on our late Saturday night request. We knew he was a listener, we just didn't know if he was going to have enough time to listen. We just asked him to delay till after church and they did. So thanks John. I appreciate that.

[Tom Fornelli]

I'M I'm still in church, Chip.

[Chip Patterson]

There we go. The church of kid. That's right. Auburn has fired Hugh Freeze. According to our friends, Matt Zenitz, Brandon Marcelo, Richard Johnson, the. The rest of the team of the insiders, no negotiated buyout number. That means $15.4 million plus the remaining salary. We are expecting DJ Durkin, right, to be our interim coach.

[Tom Fornelli]

The interim coach, yes.

[Chip Patterson]

Yeah. DJ Durkin takes over as the interim coach. And now Auburn joins dehydrated kids. Now Auburn joins the list of high profile jobs that will be open here in this 25, 26 coaching cycle. Now step one, when you have these kinds of conversations, often is are you surprised? And Tom, since we did nine minutes about how we weren't going to be surprised about doing an instant reaction emergency pod here today, the answer is very clearly no.

[Tom Fornelli]

I'm shocked.

[Chip Patterson]

The, the question that has lingered in my mind as the most interesting part of this conversation is why did it go so wrong for Hugh Freeze that Auburn, where does the fault lie and what does it mean for both Auburn and Hugh Freeze moving forward?

[Tom Fornelli]

It went wrong because Hugh Freeze thought he could turn any old quarterback into something that was useful and he couldn't. Like he swung and he missed on both quarterbacks. Peyton, Thorne, Jackson, Arnold. Neither one was able to play at the level required in the SEC for them to win games. I mean, you look at it, Hugh Freeset, his history going back to Ole Miss, like it was an offensive coach. He was a guy who put a lot of points on the board. His team scored a ton. They scored a ton at Liberty. They come to Auburn and their defense is great. Their offense can't score like what they. How many points did they allow to Kentucky yesterday? 10.

[Chip Patterson]

10. It was a 103 loss. Yeah.

[Tom Fornelli]

And they had no prayer winning like it's. So I, I think that that is the ultimate problem for Hugh Freeze. Now, if you want to go back further, you could maybe argue hiring Hugh Freeze in the first place was the mistake because as far as I could tell, the most attractive thing about Hugh Freeze at the time was, hey, he beat Alabama when he was at Ole Miss. And if you're Auburn, maybe you shouldn't be conducting coaching hires just based on coaches who have beaten Alabama before. So, yeah, it'll be. I don't think any, I don't think a whole lot went right with this one. Like, I, I think that Auburn has made a lot of mistakes since getting rid of Gus Malzahn and it's just been one mistake after another that has led them to this place where. Hey, guess what, Chip? It's been a couple years since we had an Auburn coaching search. Time to do it again. Spin the wheel one more time.

[Chip Patterson]

I think Hugh Freeze might have not. I think Hugh Freeze is still a pretty good football coach. And especially in the old world of recruiting and roster building, Hugh Freeze is somebody who brings a lot of plus value, but man, you've got to be, I think, a little bit more able to organize a big, big time program. And I just wonder if that was the failure here. For example, I'm starting to have a hunch if you Freeze were to go, like if you Freeze were to go to a, a G6 school, I bet he could go compete for conference championships.

[Tom Fornelli]

He did at Liberty. Right?

[Chip Patterson]

I just.

[Tom Fornelli]

Were they in the conference at the time? I don't remember.

[Chip Patterson]

But I'm thinking about, I'm thinking about player evaluation. I'm thinking about roster building in the modern era. I'm thinking about, you know, offensively you don't exactly have a schematic edge anymore. I mean, it's just not the way that the game is played. Then we had this whole thing with all the shake ups on the offensive staff and who's going to have play calling on what downs. It just, it felt like there were some organizational failures for somebody who, I mean, going back, his, his origin story involves blindside. I mean like this guy has been around college football for a long time. I just, I just wonder if that Auburn job, the way that they kept pouring in resources, he stacked these good recruiting classes, they kept saying 2025 was going to be the breakthrough. Tom. This was going to be the year that it all comes together. Tom. And instead it was the winner with the bottom fell out. So I just, I think that there's something fundamentally. There was, there were some fundamental failures in the organization and the execution of the Hugh Freeze tenure at Auburn. And I'm, and that's, that's something that helps me start connecting these dots on why we got to where we are. Where. I mean, the man went 6 and 16 in against SEC opponents like that gets your ass fired. It's a very simple equation on the results production side of this.

[Tom Fornelli]

Yeah, it's, I mean, you just didn't win enough football games. It's not like, like you said, this was no surprise. We've all seen this coming for weeks. Like the question has been, when are they going to finally fire Hugh Freeze? Because we knew he wasn't going to survive the season. There was absolutely no indication from this football team that like he was going to lead to anything. And it's like every single week Hugh Freeze would say, I feel like we're close. And it's like you have to look back. Did he mean like the football team was close to winning or he's close to being freed from having to coach the football team?

[Chip Patterson]

I don't know. I. College Football, a YouTube.com cover three. I'm doing the. The college football meme that Tom did first. Been in these twitter streets since 09. I can tell you Tom did it first. But yeah, the fact that we were monitoring tee times at the Auburn University Golf Club and whether standing 1:30 tee times were getting taken on or off the T sheet is the most. Is. Is. Is one of the highlights. Not the most amazing, but one of the highlights of this saga, certainly as it's played out.

[Tom Fornelli]

Also, if you Google Hugh Freeze and I tweeted the screenshot, if you Google him right now, the very first image that shows up is Hugh golfing. Which, by the way, you know, there was the, the handicap scouting of Hugh in the summer when there was like the big hullabaloo about him playing golf so much in June. He has not posted a score to his handicap since then. And it is funny that, like the one, the one tweeter who was tweeting the tee times at the Auburn Golf Course where he was a member, like the, the tea time was reserved under his wife's name.

[Chip Patterson]

Right.

[Tom Fornelli]

So for all we know, Hugh has been golfing every Sunday at 1:30 all season.

[Chip Patterson]

Hey, hey, listen, Matt Zenitz told us it was an off day. That's smart. Like, college basketball starts tomorrow. New NC State coach Will Wade is a huge Clemson football fan. And I'm almost positive, I know Will's a big fan. Correct me if I'm wrong, I'll see it. Elementary school pickup. I, I think he would not have McNeese basketball practice around Clemson football games, you know, and Auburn was not going to have any staff meetings during a standing 1:30pm tea time at the Auburn University Golf Club. So. Good. Do you remember? And this is kind of a slight pivot out of this, but just to keep pulling on a thread and something that you mentioned about the wheel. Do you remember the way, do you remember the way the Auburn coaching search went before they landed on Hugh Freeze?

[Tom Fornelli]

I mean, it was a coup. Or was it that brought in Brian Harson and then a smaller coup that brought in Hugh Freeze?

[Chip Patterson]

Yeah, the. The coup brought in Brian Harson. Brian Harson. That just kind of.

[Tom Fornelli]

Because that was Kevin Steele. Who there was a certain faction of Auburn boosters who wanted it to be Kevin Steven Steele. Yeah.

[Chip Patterson]

Kevin Steele would have replaced Gus, but Kevin Steele did not successfully pull off the coup came in and then Brian Harson that just both neither side wanted to be there anymore.

[Tom Fornelli]

Yeah, that was doomed from the start because there was still a very powerful faction that didn't get their way and get the guy that they wanted. And then there was another booster who decided that Hugh Freeze was the answer. And this could lead to a larger point about this job. Like the candidates that will be there to fill it. Who do you think they can go? I think the one thing that you need to consider when it comes to this gig is all the chaos that surrounds this program because it is a chaotic situation. It's not all that different to what we saw at Texas all those years following like the at the end of the Mac Brown run. Like you, I feel like you can't just be a football coach and succeed at Auburn. I feel like you have to be able to like juggle a lot of cats.

[Chip Patterson]

I haha go go go go Tigers. I'm a pushback a little bit, but not not toad. I don't disagree with you. I just think that what are you going to say? Is LSU stable? Is Florida in a place where everything just of these top jobs. I think that I'm still ranking them in the order that I'm ranking them and acknowledging that there's a little bit of insanity like that at all of these places that is kind of driving what's going on.

[Tom Fornelli]

I agree. But the difference is LSU has proven that it can win Auburn had Auburn won the national title with Cam Newton in what the more the further you look you get away from it. The more you look back at it was just like a lightning strike kind of situation.

[Chip Patterson]

I agree.

[Tom Fornelli]

Because Cam Newton was just a level above pretty much every other player in the country that year.

[Chip Patterson]

Well the season was also insane. The way that those games played out.

[Tom Fornelli]

Were unbelievable and he willed that team to a national title. And what's it been since like Auburn has not been a huge contender in the sec. Like their biggest moments since then have been upsetting Alabama when nobody thought they had a chance to beat Alabama in any given year.

[Chip Patterson]

But I think that also I would rather have the insanity and hope to wrangle the cats then be short in this era where like not having resources because that's the thing I need to do better digging on this for for more perspective. But I got the sense that it Wasn't like Hugh had to fight with warring factions. They had kind of gotten together to give him what he was asking for. He just didn't get results with it, you know, was it two straight top 10 recruiting classes? Some pretty good portal classes. They did a good job of load. Everyone always talked about, oh, Auburn's nil war chest. Watch out for Auburn's nil war chest. I mean, it's just a poor player evaluation, roster decisions. He made bad investments or didn't work out. We couldn't coach him up. I mean, it's just. It is all the. The modern coaching stuff where I think none of this seemed to work out for Hugh Freeze.

[Tom Fornelli]

It was. Yeah, it was bad choices at qb and it was also some bad luck in that, like in Budwood had been on this the entire time they were loading up that nil canon for a transfer portal run for this year.

[Chip Patterson]

And then the portal wasn't good.

[Tom Fornelli]

Then the portal just. Yeah, the portal wasn't nearly as good anymore because teams had figured out, hey, let's use our money to keep our good players instead of going to get new ones. So, like, when they went there and they had all the money and they showed up at the portal, it was like a whole lot of, you know, generic brands available. Nothing. Nothing big.

[Chip Patterson]

Yeah. So the way that I remember it, before Hugh Freeze had emerged, Auburn's first go was at Lane Kiffin. Lane Kiffin, you know, just, he's. I'm gonna keep it parked here at Ole Miss. He did a lot of trolley stuff throughout that time and continued to troll Hugh Freeze from the literal second that Hugh Freeze was hired. Could. Do they go back?

[Tom Fornelli]

They. They could try, but he's already told him no. 1. So now there are two better jobs available. If he really wants to leave Ole Miss, why is he going to go to Auburn?

[Chip Patterson]

That's a. That's a Mendoza. If you're ranking. If you're ranking the very top jobs in this hiring cycle. Has Lane Kiffin told you no yet? Is that kind of a dividing line?

[Tom Fornelli]

So, I mean, it's pretty clear Lane does not feel like Auburn is a step up over Ole Miss. If he thought it was, he'd be there already.

[Chip Patterson]

Yeah, actually, let's go ahead and hit a break and then we'll come back and we'll dig into candidates and what's next for Auburn? Any last thoughts on just sort of what. How about this? What's next for Hugh?

[Tom Fornelli]

I think that if he wants a head coach. A lot of golf. Yeah, it's still warm enough to play so he's got a chance to get some more rounds in before the course is closed for the winter. But I think as far as coaching is concerned, I don't think he's going to get a P4 gig. I don't think that's going to come. So I think if he wants to get the head coaching job, he's probably going to have to go the G5, G6 route and maybe he has success there. It's just, you know, you mentioned he started in Nashville in high school. Maybe Middle Tennessee comes open and he returns to Nashville. Lot of good golf there. You know, that's what you gotta do. Look at the G5 jobs that are capable of coming open and see which ones have the best golf courses around them. And you have to think you as a legit candidate for that gig.

[Chip Patterson]

Again, 15 and 19 his his record over about two and a half, two and three quarter season, a six and 16 record against SEC opponents, far from the standard for Auburn football. And that is is why Hugh Freeze is out on the planes. Coming up on the other side, let's run through the list. We'll throw out a lot of names and before we get out of here, Tom and I will give you our top three each and more next.

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[Chip Patterson]

Back here on the COVID 3 podcast. So we both agree that in the current landscape, Auburn say top five job. Job's currently open.

[Tom Fornelli]

Yeah, I mean, I, I think it's closer to six than most people probably want to admit, but yeah, I think it's top five job right now. I don't know if it'll be a top five job by the end of the season.

[Chip Patterson]

Like closer to UCLA than it is to Florida.

[Tom Fornelli]

I think so, yeah. I mean, it's an. Listen, it's an SEC gig. You're going to get paid a ton of money, so that makes it very attractive. I just don't think the expectations on the planes align with the reality.

[Chip Patterson]

I will say closer to Florida than ucla and I will say give me the chaos if they care that if get everything together, you at least are able to activate. Activate resources, activate passion. But yeah, these are just different ways that we rank it. What about the coaches that are going to be contacted here? Where. Let's start with where would you. And then we can go to who we think.

[Tom Fornelli]

I, I think you take a swing at the big names because again, you are an SEC job. You do have money to spend. You will be attracted to somebody just based on that alone. So I, I think you go after James Franklin. Like I mentioned earlier, you know, you need somebody who can kind of be the unifying force in a room full of people who all have power and want their opinions to be. Feel like they matter. And I think James Franklin was able to do that at Penn State and kind of pull everybody into his boat and have him go in the same way. So he's shown an ability to do that. Whether James Franklin looks at the Auburn job, that's one that's attractive to him, I don't know. I mean, think of all the names we've mentioned for Florida. Think of all the names we mentioned for lsu. They all make plenty of sense for Auburn. It's just. I don't know who the realistic options are. Like, do they go after Jimbo? Like, is that if. Would it. If you went after Jimbo, doesn't that kind of feel like the same thing as hiring Hugh Freeze? Again, somebody whose offense is a little outdated.

[Chip Patterson]

There's a. There's a term that gets used a lot and I worry that it's overused. It's when someone says you're an unserious football program or like this is a sign of whether or not you're going to be a serious football program. We usually talk about it during coaching hires. I don't I'm gonna reserve my judgment, but hiring Jimbo Fisher would bring about the allegations. This is not serious. I went back to look at it. They didn't exactly back up the Brinks truck for Hugh. No 6.7 mil a year in the SEC. Like that was paying Mark fair market value for an open box special.

[Tom Fornelli]

But let's be blunt. Maybe they don't have more to spend because they've had to pay all these buyouts because they keep firing coaches. Might not have. And so that's the other thing too. Like I think the Auburn's going to have plenty of money on on offer for a coach. I don't know that for a fact. I don't know what, like how deep the pool they're swimming in at this point. Truly.

[Chip Patterson]

Would Eli Drinkwitz take Auburn over his current position?

[Tom Fornelli]

I don't think Auburn's more attractive to.

[Chip Patterson]

Him than the zoo, especially not uprooting what you've got going.

[Tom Fornelli]

Yeah, I would agree. I feel like you are having more success at Missouri than Auburn has had in the last most of the last 10 years.

[Chip Patterson]

He doesn't need to restart the clock.

[Tom Fornelli]

No.

[Chip Patterson]

What about sitting power conference coaches? What would you think about Brent Key?

[Tom Fornelli]

I. I mean it's not that far away from where he's working now, so maybe it's not as huge. If you're Brent Key and it really depends. Like, I don't know Brent Key, I can't tell you what makes him tick. If his ideal job is to be at the place he went to school and do as win as many games as possible for his alma mater. No, he's not leaving at Auburn. Leaving for Auburn. If his goal is to climb the ladder and get to a place where he feels like he can compete for playoff spots, compete for SEC jobs and compete for possible national titles, then Auburn's a better option for him than Georgia Tech. But if you're Brent Key, is Auburn the best school coming after you?

[Chip Patterson]

I'm just saying. And, and I, I a lot of, I think there's going to be a lot of response that points to leaving his alma mater. That's crazy. But I'm just thinking that the man who grew up in a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama, and who spent some time on Nick Saban's staff might look at that Auburn job and be, hey, yeah, I can go do this. Like you mentioned, you know, not far from from where he's at right now. He certainly knows all those high schools. Different type of recruit that you're going getting to Auburn. Different. Different Kids, you know, you. Maybe you go and see him on a. Not on the 4pm kickoff that night. Maybe it's the 7pm kickoff when you're going for Auburn. But Brent Key is a sitting power conference coach that I think if I am Auburn, I would pick up the phone and I would call and I check in on. You mentioned James Franklin. That'll be an interesting one to see if, if he ends up landing at Auburn. That would be of, of all these spots, I'm feeling less and less like LSU is going to hire James Franklin. Would you agree with that?

[Tom Fornelli]

Yeah.

[Chip Patterson]

Okay. I think we've got a little bit of a different idea of where, where his landing spot might be in terms of the, the open jobs along the way. What about at the G5 level? Oh, would Dillingham go to Auburn?

[Tom Fornelli]

He might. I mean, it's the same situation as Key. It depends what his goal is. He's had his alma mater. Does he want to leave? But I, I do think, I mean, I think Kenny would be a great hire if Auburn ended up getting him because I think that Kenny has shown like going back to yesterday, like they didn't have Levitt. They're on the road against Iowa State and they've got Jeff Sims, who, you know, long time player, no disrespect to him. We kind of know who he is. He's not anything incredible. He's able to win Iowa State and he's been able to like overcome these injuries to keep Arizona State looking pretty good. So I feel like that would probably be a good hire for Auburn. I just, I don't know if he's going to do it. I think, you know, I know there are a lot of big jobs available and people are saying, you know, there's no, not enough great candidates to fill those jobs. And we've talked about it. There are plenty of great candidates to fill these jobs. It's just I don't think we are going to see these giant dominoes falling that everybody is like pitching. Like, we've already seen a lot of the big names already signed contract extensions. In this era of the nil and the Portal, the difference between these jobs is not nearly as drastic as it used to be. Like Auburn and Missouri are pretty much the same now. Go back 15 years and say that and get the look at the kind of looks you would get. So I think that Auburn in all realistic and I think LSU and I think Florida are in very much the same boat. I think Penn State's in very much the same boat where you're probably. If you want a sitting head coach with head coaching experience, you're probably going to have to go to the G5 route. I don't know how many p. Sitting coaches are going to look at you as obvious moves. So I think the name that if I'm Auburn that I'm going after is one of the same names I said that LSU should give very strong consideration for, and that's John Sumrall at Tulane. Sumrall coached at Troy. He knows the state he's been winning every single place he's gone. I think that he will be interested if SEC jobs come available and start interviewing him and asking him if he wants it. I think he'd very, very, very much consider saying yes. So if I'm Auburn, I know that you can't say he's at the top of your list, but I think if I'm putting together a real list of coaches, I think I have a real shot of getting he's number one on my list.

[Chip Patterson]

He will be in demand to be a candidate for these SEC jobs.

[Tom Fornelli]

Yes.

[Chip Patterson]

If you want John Summerall, you need to. You're not going to be the only one. Don't. Hey, guess what? I know we're doing this on a Sunday, so maybe, maybe you, like me, do have some part of your brain that's dedicated to fantasy football. Don't think you, you're going to get him on the turn, all right. You know, just, oh, don't worry. He's going to come back. He's going to fall to me in the six round. No, if you want John Summerall, then this, this is going to be the time to make a move because he is going to be a candidate for any of these jobs and I think he's going to be a very, very head coach, very, very good head coaching candidate for an SEC job. Given what he's done so far and given what. Given what I think is like, you're hinting at this, I'll go ahead and walk through that door. The qualified candidates that we think are qualified candidates often are not many, much more often something that we gave it a C plus and shrugged our shoulders at ends up being fantastic. Who said that Kurt Signetti was going to change college football when he was hired by Indiana? Everybody said, oh yeah, the JMU coach, good hire, good hire there, you know, and then look what's happened. I'm not saying everyone is going to be Kurt Signetti. Kurt Signetti truly is a one of one. Like that guy is a force of personality, unlike Many. But I do think the idea that the sensible hire, and given this, his success at Tulane, given his success at Troy, John Summerall is a sensible hire for the Auburn Tigers right here. That's a. That's. I would pick up the phone and call. Absolutely.

[Tom Fornelli]

I've also seen it mentioned in the chat.

[Chip Patterson]

Chesney.

[Tom Fornelli]

No. Glenn Schumann, Georgia defensive coordinator, makes plenty of sense for this gig as well. Now, again, if you're an Auburn fan, does that make you super excited? I don't know, but I think Schumann makes sense. I think Alex Gilles makes sense. Again, it's all the names we've gone over a million times. Chesney does make sense. I just, It's. There's a lot of good coaching candidates out there. They're just not the superstar names that everybody's thinking because of the star level of the programs that are open.

[Chip Patterson]

Is there any chance DJ Durkin gets this job?

[Tom Fornelli]

Yeah.

[Chip Patterson]

Yeah.

[Tom Fornelli]

If he beats Alabama in the end.

[Chip Patterson]

This guy's gonna win the 10 year deal.

[Tom Fornelli]

Yeah, I mean, that's. And that. Listen, there's a part of me that absolutely adores it, that it is that important to Auburn because one of the things that makes this sport great has always been the rivalries. And just like the, the. The way it, you know, the way it affects people's lives, how important it is to the fans to win these games. But I do feel like if I'm a fan, that's really important. If I'm the person in charge of getting this program to a good spot so those same fans don't turn on me and want me fired. I don't know if I put as much weight on one game against Alabama or the fact that coach has beaten Alabama before. I think that you have to kind of go outside the box a little bit to find a coach who you think is capable of beating Alabama and everybody else on your schedule.

[Chip Patterson]

But those Alabama wins are sweet, Tom.

[Tom Fornelli]

They are. I know.

[Chip Patterson]

They are those magical days in Jordan hair.

[Tom Fornelli]

Because they give you the entire year to talk all the crap you need. And believe me, I understand the importance of that. Like when the Bears beat the packers, the Bears could be 3 and 13. But if they beat the packers in Week 18, the final week of the season, and the packers don't win the Super Bowl, I get to talk crap to the Packers. Packers all off season. Like. Yeah, but you haven't been the Bears in months.

[Chip Patterson]

What about who else? On. On the. Because I think separating what I think, what I would Recommend auburn do vs outcomes that I think are potentials dj durkins from slid over to the would not be on my recommendation list but I very much realized we could be there. Who else is it? Who else is in that category?

[Tom Fornelli]

Jimbo, I already mentioned that. Who's somebody. I think that, I mean just don't, don't do the retread thing. That's really my only if a coach has failed before, I mean that's no guarantee that they're going to fail again. A lot of coaches get better in their second steps, but I feel like the ceiling is higher when you hire a coach who has not been canned somewhere else.

[Chip Patterson]

Would Dabo be a retread?

[Tom Fornelli]

I think Dabo could change the culture at Auburn. I don't know if Dabo would win at Auburn because I just, I don't. I mean Dabo's approach is proving to be very, very detrimental to Clemson right now. So if he's bringing that same approach to Auburn, a program that literally just was firing an nil candidate, the transfer portal. And Dabo's going to come in there and be like well we're just going to recruit our rokgs, our good boys and we're going to develop them up and we're just going to build a family here. Like he's gone in two years because they're. He's not going to win enough games in the first few seasons before everybody turns on him. Then the fact he's from Alabama by the way is going to put him in a hole to begin with. So he's going to have to overcome the whole tightness to him. So yeah, no, I do not think Dabble makes any sense at Auburn. Okay, what about Dion certainly feels.

[Chip Patterson]

I know I should have maybe probably should have said this earlier. It would have been more sensitive. But 29 minutes in is not exactly me delivering on it. But I do hope Hugh gets healthy and plays golf and like just take some time to get things right because that man looked miserable. Yes. And like we know that earlier in the year he was diagnosed with prostate cancer but they said that it was, you know, early detection. They felt like he was gonna be able to make a full recover like those. But still man just I, I hope he gets healthy. I hope he enjoys himself because that is looks like an. A very, very miserable experience again one that came with a 6.7 million dollar salary and now 15.4 million dollars in buyout money but still not look fun sort of being what you walk it walk a mile in a man's shoes. Those are not. That's Not a fun walk.

[Tom Fornelli]

If you stop walking a mile, you need to start riding in a golf cart for three to four miles.

[Chip Patterson]

Yeah.

[Tom Fornelli]

Maybe walk a couple hundred yards on car path only days, but other than that, nah man, just golf. Feel better, relieve some stress and then figure it out. Yeah.

[Chip Patterson]

Jeff Brahm.

[Tom Fornelli]

Yeah, good choice. If they can get him to leave.

[Chip Patterson]

Louisville is, I don't know where that is on the Venn diagram. It's on the chip would recommend. My apologies to my Louisville friends out there, but I just think Jeff Rom's a really good coach. And you know what? I don't think Jeff Braum would leave. I don't think. But that stock price is pretty high right now. If he gets to the ACC title game, just consider that that means that in three of the last four years as a head coach he would have led his team to a conference championship game.

[Tom Fornelli]

I do wonder because again, like Braum is having success at Louisville where you just mentioned they could be in the ACC championship game. He's got that program in a place where every single year you look at it as a team that could win the acc, as a team that could get to the College Football playoff. Does he feel like he has a better chance to get there at his alma mater than he would at Auburn? He might.

[Chip Patterson]

I mean, but that's the, the accident is run by SMU in Louisville right now. You want some sign of the times in college football? They've got Florida State and Clemson on the ACC network. Tom, they sued to get television ratings built into the media rights payout. And I, I, I'm not talking about another network or their business. I'm just giving you facts as I understand them. I don't know if they report Nielsen ratings. I don't know if the ACCN games help you with the bonuses.

[Tom Fornelli]

Jim, Jim Phillips is out here playing chess.

[Chip Patterson]

Fsu, Clemson kicked over. Oh my goodness, time slot champs. But yeah, SMU and Louisville are running the ACC now. It's like old school cusa. What?

[Tom Fornelli]

I, I just hadn't really thought about the fact that their games are getting put on ACC network and the Nielsen ratings aspect of it where like Jim Phillips is like, well, what do you want me to do? This, what do you want me to do?

[Chip Patterson]

I'm sorry, I can't pay you anymore.

[Tom Fornelli]

You're not going to get as much as Duke. I'm sorry, they had better ratings.

[Chip Patterson]

Georgia Tech, come on down. Hey, NC State got a big payout. Yeah, NC State cashing in with the top 10 upset and the. Good, good, nice Little number. Okay, let's. All right, now let's do our top three.

[Tom Fornelli]

Our top three candidates.

[Chip Patterson]

Top three candidates.

[Tom Fornelli]

John Sumrall's one.

[Chip Patterson]

Yep.

[Tom Fornelli]

Glenn Schumann's two, and then my third. I'm doing this based off who I think they can get by the way.

[Chip Patterson]

Right.

[Tom Fornelli]

You know what? We didn't even mention Fran Brown. You want a recruiter, want somebody who has SEC experience recruiting. Want somebody who's been in those trenches, knows what it takes.

[Chip Patterson]

Fran Brown, John Summerall, Glenn Schumann, Brent Key, two of the coaches that I would have loved at the University of North Carolina before the last hire. You know, that's how it goes. Any. Any. Anything else we would want to put together?

[Tom Fornelli]

No.

[Chip Patterson]

Frame Brown at Auburn. I hadn't thought about that one.

[Tom Fornelli]

Yeah. It just kind of hit me like I was trying to think of a name as I think that could work.

[Chip Patterson]

He's. He is riding and I've mentioned this before on the podcast, but he is riding the like I'm from New Jersey, you know, and being able to connect a lot of northeast dots, it helped his coaching staff has a. A tap down into the. The Phil, like Philly and like that part of Pennsylvania. So he's. He's activating some of his superpowers, I guess you could say. But he also is at Georgia, so it's not like he is unfamiliar with recruiting the area. No.

[Tom Fornelli]

Yeah. Charismatic people are charismatic people no matter where in the country they are.

[Chip Patterson]

That's true. All right, we will be back Monday, 11am Eastern Time for a pun further review. So come and hang [e-mail] cover3. You can follow him on Twitter at Tom Fradel. You can follow me at chip underscore Patterson. Tom, thank you very much.

[Tom Fornelli]

Thank you. Now streaming. Everyone who comes into this clinic is a mystery. We don't know what we're looking for. Their bodies are the scene of the crime. No symptoms and history or clues.

[Chip Patterson]

You saved her life.

[Tom Fornelli]

We're doctors and we're detectives. I kind of love it, if I'm being honest. Solve the puzzle, save the patient. Watson.

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