Auburn AD John Cohen on potentially firing Hugh Freeze: 'Not my expectation at this point'

The seats of college football coaches across the country continue to heat up. Auburn‘s Hugh Freeze is thought to be somebody in that position in the midst of his third season in charge. Three straight losses bring questions about where his future stands.

Auburn athletic director John Cohen was recently asked about the status of Freeze’s job after dropping Saturday’s game to Georgia at home. He claims “never say never” about a potential change. However, his overall “expectation” is for Freeze to finish out the 2025 season and return in 2026.

“I don’t know if I’m going to walk outside and my car is going to start or not, I think it is,” Cohen said Monday via AL.com. “I have an expectation it will. But if my car doesn’t start enough, then I will evaluate that and make decisions about my car. But that’s not my expectation at this point about our football program.”

Cohen then laid out his thought process when it comes to making a decision on keeping Freeze or potentially moving on. There are a few questions for him to ask when looking at his own program.

“Is the locker room still buying in? Are we still bringing in the right types of student athletes, both out of the portal and from the high school and junior college ranks? And are our kids getting better? And are they giving a great effort?” Cohen said. “That’s the template for me. Those are the questions I have to answer for myself in any program that we have.”

Auburn enters an important game against Missouri with a 3-3 record on Saturday. All three losses are in SEC play after starting the year out 3-0. Plenty of on-field frustrations are bubbling for the Tigers, mainly with some of the officiating going against them in massive spots.

The schedule does not get any easier, though. If you include Mizzou, there are three ranked opponents remaining — Vanderbilt and a massive home Iron Bowl against Alabama. A tough road game vs. Arkansas looms too, while also hosting Kentucky and Mercer.

Overall, Freeze is 14-17 and 5-14 vs. the SEC since taking over on the Plains. He initially asked for patience in order to build up the roster through recruiting and, at times, the NCAA transfer portal. Recruiting has not been a problem for Freeze, finishing with back-to-back top-10 classes per the Rivals Industry Team Rankings.