Who could and should be Auburn's next head coach?

"Who will be Auburn's next head football coach?" That is the question that is circulating around the country and specifically in the minds of the many fans and supporters of the university. I have decided to go through each of the top names surrounding the coaching search and give them a rating on the likelihood that Auburn would want to and be able to hire them, along with how good I think the hire would be by giving them a rating on their quality. I will be doing these rankings on a scale of one to five with one being the worst and five being the best, to determine where I have each of the hires.

Jimbo Fisher

Likelihood: 1/5

Quality: 1/5

For many obvious reasons, Jimbo Fisher is a surprising name that has come up among the discussions of the next hire. Fisher was most recently on the college football scene at Texas A&M, where he struggled to find success and was eventually fired. Despite his struggles at his last stop in College Station throughout Fisher's career, he has been an extremely successful head coach in the realm of college football, earning a 128-48 overall record while leading Florida State to a National Title over Auburn during the 2013 season. Fisher even has some ties to the university and the state, as he coached at Samford in Birmingham for a five-year span in the late 80s and early 90s while also making a stop at Auburn itself as their quarterback coach from 1993 to 1998. Although Fisher has had success as a coach at this level, I do not believe Auburn is very excited about the idea of hiring him, and I think that his struggle in the NIL era would hurt his possibilities of being a serious look for SEC schools as their head coach.

Lane Kiffin

Likelihood: 1/5

Quality: 5/5

Lane Kiffin is a name that is surrounding every major program, especially the ones across the SEC. Kiffin is currently the head coach at Ole Miss, where he has brought the program consistent national relevance since being hired there. Kiffin is an Offensive specialist with stops throughout his career at Southern California, Tennessee, Alabama, and even briefly with the Raiders in the NFL. Kiffin has shown immense success in the SEC recently as an Offensive Coordinator at Alabama, where he was a part of a National Title, and at Ole Miss, where he has achieved a 52-19 record. The issue with Kiffin is not the quality of hire, as I believe most programs would love to have him, but the reality of actually landing him. Many people have said that Kiffin really likes where he is at, and it would take a lot for him to leave, and if he did leave, it would likely be to a school like Florida or LSU, who are willing to pay him the money he would want.

Fran Brown

Likelihood: 2/5

Quality: 2.5/5

Fran Brown is one of the only coaches who has been named as circulating the Auburn head coaching options that have no major ties to the south or the SEC. Brown is the current head coach at Syracuse, where he has been for the last two years, where he has a 13-9 record, but has also been the assistant head coach at Temple and Baylor. His only ties to the SEC are a two-year stop as the defensive backs coach at Georgia in 2022 and 2023. Brown is likely soon to be on the move, but I doubt that he will end up as an SEC head coach, as his immediate next stop is with his few ties to the area. He is a solid coach who has found success despite what he has been given at every stop. I still think Brown is not going to make the jump to an Auburn-caliber job with what they are looking for.

DJ Durkin

Likelihood: 3/5

Quality: 3/5

DJ Durkin is obviously a choice that is very close to home, with him being the current Auburn interim head coach and having been their defensive coordinator for the last two years. Durkin has had great success in his stint at Auburn, where he has built one of the best defenses in the entire country despite struggles on the team's offensive side of the ball. The upside is that Durkin has proved his ability to have success at what he does at Auburn already, but the downside is his head coaching history at Maryland, where he went 10-15 in his only time being a head coach. The possibility of Durkin being hired right now is extremely low, and it is likely that Auburn will seek to just retain him, but if he shows promise in Auburn's remaining games against Vanderbilt and Alabama, a discussion could be had about that likelihood being higher. Durkin is a player favorite, and I believe Auburn's goal should be to keep in on the staff to the best of their ability so that he can help retain players from transferring, especially on the defensive side of things..

Brent Key

Likelihood: 2/5

Quality: 5/5

Brent Key is one of the more interesting names in the market for head coaching jobs because many do not know if Key is looking to leave at all. Key brings a balanced coaching style to Georgia Tech and has found a way to have success with it, as shown by his 26-17 head coaching record so far in his third year in Atlanta. Key took a program that went 5-7 just two years ago and now has them sitting in playoff and conference title contention with an 8-1 record so far in 2025. He even has many ties to the state, having grown up just north of Auburn in Trussville and having coached at Alabama as an offensive lineman coach from 2016 to 2018, where he won a National Title and helped develop many future NFL offensive linemen. The issue with Key is not his fit or coaching ability, but the logistics of getting him to Auburn because of his history at Georgia Tech, with him having played football there, getting his coaching start there, and having been a coach there in some capacity for seven straight seasons now.

Kenny Dillingham

Likelihood: 4/5

Quality: 5/5

Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham is someone who has been on the minds of many Auburn fans for the last year, following his appearance in the college football playoffs in 2024 and his conference title in the BIG 12 last year as well. Dillingham is only 35 years old but has brought the Sun Devils back to relevance, achieving a 20-15 record coming into a program that was 3-9 the year he came in, to an 11-win season last year and a 6-3 season so far this year. The head coach is an Arizona State graduate, which would make it difficult for Auburn to pull him away from his current school, but he does have ties to Auburn as well. Dillingham coached under the Malzahn staff in 2019 as an offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, along with other stops at Memphis, Florida State, and Oregon. I think that Auburn would love to have him on The Plains, but getting him to leave his home state and alma mater would be tough. However, I do not think it would be impossible for Auburn and its resources.

Eli Drinkwitz

Likelihood: 3/3

Quality: 5/5

Eli Drinkwitz has burst onto the scene as a college football head coach, making a name for himself in the SEC as the coach at Missouri who has brought them to major contention in the conference and the playoff race. Drinkwitz started as a head coach at Appalachian State, where in his first and only year, he went 12-1 and then moved to take over a Missouri program in 2020 that was fresh off a 6-6 season. Since then, the 42-year-old coach has brought the Tigers to an 11-2 season in 2023, a 10-3 season in 2024, and yet another solid start in the 2025 season. Drinkwitz has the offensive prowess that Auburn is looking for to make the next step in their program and the success to back it up. He even coached at Auburn in 2010 and 2011, where he was the quarterbacks coach of the National Title team. The question will be how much Auburn wants to pursue him, and would he want to leave something he built so well at Missouri. I would have to say that it is a good possibility his name remains in the race until an official hiring, but in the end, I do not see him landing in Auburn.

James Franklin

Likelihood: 3/5

Quality: 4/5

James Franklin, as a head coach, is a strange subject that has been floated around the college football world following Franklin's firing at Penn State. Franklin brought the Nittany Lions back to relevance but was never able to get over the hump in the BIG 10 as he won only one conference title and never appeared in a National Title, which gave him the unfortunate reputation of not being able to win the big games. Although Franklin had his mishaps, he was certainly a good coach with his head coaching record at Vanderbilt and Penn State combined being a strong 128-60. Franklin is also an offensive-minded coach, being a former offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach at different stops, which would be a great fit for Auburn's needs if they were able to retain their defensive staff. Overall, I think Franklin would be a good hire, but I do not think the Auburn fan base would want him as a first option because of the stigma that, however unfair, exists around his inability to win against strong opponents.

Rhett Lashlee

Likelihood: 2/5

Quality: 4/5

Rhett Lashlee is the current head coach at SMU and is coming freshly off a college football playoff appearance in 2024. The head coach is relatively young at just 42 years old and has had over 10 years of offensive coordinator experience along with his current four-year stint at SMU. Lashlee even spent time as Auburn's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach from 2013 to 2016, with another tie to the state being his year spent at Samford in 2011. Lashlee is on the radar for many head coaching searches and would definitely be a high-quality candidate for Auburn, given his offensive strength and their offensive need. He has even amassed a 35-15 overall head coaching record in his short time on the job. The main thing keeping Auburn from hiring him would be the two-year contract extension he just signed, which extended him through 2032 and will make him one of the 10 highest-paid coaches in college football.

Jon Sumrall

Likelihood: 5/5

Quality: 4/5

Jon Sumrall is the current betting odds favorite for the Auburn head coaching job and for good reason. Sumrall is a fiery and energetic coach who was a former SEC linebacker at Kentucky. He has been successful everywhere he goes, as reflected by his 23-4 record at Troy and 15-7 record at his current job at Tulane. His coaching ability is not just shown by his records but by how he turned the program back in the right direction. For example, he came to Troy following a 5-7 record and immediately went 12-2 the following year. Sumrall has ties to the state through his having grown up in Huntsville, coaching at Troy, and even through his wife, who is an Auburn graduate. His SEC ties are also strong with his alma mater being the previosly mentioned Kentucky and working as a co-defensive coordinator at Kentucky and a linebackers coach at Ole Miss. The Alabama native embodies the Auburn spirit better than any of the other options on the list, in my opinion, and has the excitement to get players to stay and new players to come in and rebuild the program back to its former glory. Sumrall would be my personal pick for Auburn because of the personality match with the Auburn fanbase and promise to deliver on the expectations he has brought to every program he's been a part of.