Copyright CBS Sports
Auburn is once again in search of a savior. For the third time in five years, the Tigers are wading into the most chaotic coaching carousel in memory after firing Hugh Freeze, the man they hired three years ago to fix everything and instead has the program on pace for its first fifth straight losing season since the 1940s. Before their next leap of faith, Auburn's leadership needs to stop and ask how they got here. Take it from someone who lived and breathed on The Plains for seven years, who needed time to observe the community before understanding -- and reporting -- what made Auburn so magnetic and maddening. It's a program capable of winning championships despite facing numerous obstacles in a conference dominated by more powerful and affluent programs. To fix Auburn football, you first have to understand Auburn. It's hard to pinpoint when the cracks formed, but the slide began in 2017 when the school replaced longtime president Jay Gogue with Iowa State's Steven Leath. They hired a controversial figure, who sought disruption rather than direction, and his leadership poisoned the well. That's when Auburn stopped being Auburn. The university's leaders began searching for monuments when all they really needed to do was look around them. Walk across Auburn's campus and you'll see it everywhere. It's etched on plaques, framed in hallways, whispered like gospel. The Auburn Creed, a 180-word declaration of values, is the program's moral north star. To outsiders, the very name draws eye rolls and muttered cynicism. It's a punchline. To opportunists, it's a prop they wear like a cloak to conceal their true intentions. How can a creed rooted in hard work, honesty and a belief in a practical world endure in an age ruled by money and hypocrisy? Well, it can -- and it has -- even if it requires creative interpretation. The problem for Auburn is that somewhere along the way, its leaders stopped believing in their own people and started trusting outsiders. It's those people who convinced the Auburn family that they embodied their program rather than embracing it. As for Freeze, he violated the first line of their creed from the very beginning. Freeze may have preached hard work and humility, but his golfing habits and reluctance to chase big-time quarterbacks in the transfer portal -- along with troubling personal misconduct and NCAA violations from his past -- were not worthy of an SEC job, let alone a top-15 gig. He's out after a disastrous 16-19 record in two-plus seasons despite building a roster this season that had enough NFL talent, including an under-utilized crop of receivers, to win eight or nine games. The man before him, Bryan Harsin, was more fraud than fam. Harsin seemed to embody the hard-nosed motif of an "Auburn Man," but self-righteousness trumped team loyalty and understanding, and that arrogance tainted every decision he made. Multiple players voiced concerns about his coaching style. The university launched an investigation. Recruiting hit an all-time low, primarily because of Harsin's reluctance to develop relationships within the state of Alabama. Everything he touched disintegrated, and so did his tenure: 9-12 in less than two seasons. Auburn can't afford another mistake, and John Cohen knows it. To understand what it takes to win at Auburn, one must understand, well, Auburn. Auburn's athletics director is a grinder, a former blue-collar athlete who rose from Birmingham-Southern College to a contributor on Mississippi State's World Series team in 1990. He later coached the Bulldogs on the diamond, finishing as national runner-up in 2013. Always inquisitive, Cohen's path diverged from that of a top-tier coach to athletics director. Now he carries the burden of repairing Auburn's identity. "I grew up in the state of Alabama. I know how special this fanbase is, and again, I wake up every morning saying, 'We've got to get this done,'" Cohen said Monday. "We've got to get it done for people who are at the top of that upper deck, the people who are on our streets, the people who are on the field. We've got to get this done. And again, I know fans hear that we're close, right? I'm not going to say that we're close. Close doesn't matter. Getting it done matters." The booster culture hovering over Auburn's every remains a threat. Interference is part of the DNA Before Harsin's hire in late 2020, some boosters tried to install defensive coordinator Kevin Steele as head coach. It failed. When AD Allen Greene was thrown to the curb, Cohen was hired away from Mississippi State. He insists he'll lead the search alone. "I am the committee," he said. "Even though I will listen and I will do as good of a job as I possibly can of taking in information, I will be the committee." If so, Cohen's search to identify top candidates shouldn't take long, particularly if "The Auburn Creed" is the backbone. Industry sources believe Tulane's Jon Sumrall should and will emerge as the Tigers' top target. The Huntsville, Alabama native took over a Troy program with five wins in 2021 and quickly lit the Sun Belt ablaze, going 23-4 with two conference titles in two years. He advanced to the American Conference's championship game in his first year at Tulane and is currently 6-2 heading into the final three games of the season. He's a grinder, a relationship-builder and -- to a fault -- brutally honest. Dozens of Alabama high school coaches, including ardent Tide supporters, consider him a friend. More importantly, those who know Sumrall believe he exemplifies everything Auburn stands for, and his fiery personality will enhance what has long been lost on the Plains. (It doesn't hurt that his wife, Ginny, is an Auburn alumna, too.) Others to consider include ousted Penn State coach James Franklin, who has been contacted by several schools, including Arkansas and Virginia Tech, sources tell CBS Sports, but is allowing the coaching carousel to spin before considering more options. Missouri's Eli Drinkwitz is a possibility, although he may opt to stay in Columbia, even if Florida becomes involved in his candidacy, according to sources. Arizona State's Kenny Dillingham, who coordinated Auburn's offense in 2019, is an intriguing candidate; however, it's believed that a substantial financial package and increased NIL support will be required to pique any interest in leaving his alma mater. The answer for Auburn seems simple: Find a man who embodies what you were and can be, not someone who sells you a bill of goods they don't care to understand. In a cynical world, old-fashioned cheesy cliches and creeds still work at Auburn. That warm blanket provides insulation from the outside world, and it's why Auburn was once so magically maddening. For all its chaos, Auburn's identity has always been its secret weapon. When Nick Saban ruled college football in the 2010s, the Tigers somehow clawed the GOAT's face three times. They won or appeared in three SEC championship games and also won a national title, advancing to the national championship game twice. Auburn lost its way when it stopped believing in itself and turned to outsiders for answers. All the Tigers have to do is trust themselves and look around. The answers are all around them.
