Hugh Freeze 'pissed off' after Auburn firing, eager to coach again: 'My resume speaks for itself'

Two days after Auburn formally announced the hiring of South Florida‘s Alex Golesh as the Tigers’ 33rd head football coach on Sunday, his predecessor on the Plains spoke publicly for the first time since his Nov. 2 firing.

During an exclusive appearance on Tuesday’s See Ball Get Ball with David Pollack podcast, former Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze opened up about midseason ouster, and expressed a strong desire to return to the sideline at some point in the near future.

“This sounds kind of ugly, but I’m kind of pissed off too,” Freeze told Pollack with a laugh. “(I feel like I have) a little something to prove. So if somebody’s looking for that, I think my resume speaks for itself. I am a little pissed off, and whenever that times is that God has the right place for us, I think we’ll be back out there.”

Freeze’s midseason firing followed an embarrassing 10-3 home loss to Kentucky on Nov. 1, which dropped the Tigers’ record to 4-5 overall and 1-5 in SEC play. Freeze’s Auburn tenure ended nine games into his third season on the Plains, where he finished 15-19 overall and 6-16 against SEC competition.

“The crazy thing is I’ve won everywhere I’ve been except for Auburn,” Freeze added. “And you’ve got to deal with that, and it’s a dose of humility. … But I’m thankful for Auburn, thankful for President (Chris) Roberts and (Tigers athletic director) John Cohen for giving me the chance, and hate like heck that we didn’t get it across the finish line.”

Despite the struggles at Auburn, Freeze still holds a 91-66 career record in 15 seasons as a collegiate head coach, not counting the 27 vacated wins across four of his five seasons at Ole Miss (2012-16) that were the result of a NCAA investigation into ineligible players.

Auburn would finish the 2025 season 5-7 overall and 1-7 in the SEC, including 1-2 over its final three games under interim head coach DJ Durkin, who will remain on as the Tigers’ defensive coordinator under Golesh the team announced Tuesday.

Alex Golesh releases statement on decision to retain DJ Durkin as defensive coordinator

Durkin served two years as Auburn’s defensive coordinator under Freeze before taking over as the interim head coach to close out the 2025 season. He was also squarely in the mix for the full-time job, On3 previously reported, before Auburn hired Golesh one day after Saturday’s Iron Bowl loss to Alabama.

“Choosing to keep DJ on our staff was an easy call,” Golesh said in a statement. “Our relationship goes back more than 20 years to our roots in Ohio, we have worked with some of the same men, and we’e competed against each other in this great league. We are fortunate to retain one of the top defensive minds in college football here on The Plains.

“He’s an elite leader, incredible father and husband and will be [a] phenomenal leader on the defensive side of the ball. We have great respect for each other. Time to go to work.”