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This is an opinion piece. Keith Etheredge has a unique perspective on the head football coaches at Auburn University. As the head football coach at nearby Auburn High, Etheredge probably has as close a relationship with whoever is leading the Tigers as any other high school coach in the state. That was the case with Bryan Harsin. Etheredge coached Harsin’s son, Davis. It’s also been the case with Hugh Freeze, the now former Auburn head coach. Etheredge’s son, Camden, is among several former Auburn High players on the current Tigers roster. When Freeze was dismissed Sunday afternoon, I was interested in Etheredge’s thoughts about the now former coach and the future of the Auburn program. “You can’t control what they do,” he said. “My thing is I’ve got kids there. My son is there. I like coach Freeze. I don’t want to see anyone lose their job. But the way the business is now, it didn’t surprise me. It’s a business decision, and they have to make up their own minds. You hate it. When a coach loses his job, there are a lot of other people affected as well. You hurt for all those families and the uncertainty surrounding the situation.” Etheredge noted that Freeze’s recruiting during his three years at Auburn has clearly elevated the Tigers’ talent level. “He recruited Alabama really hard,” Etheredge said. “He’s gotten a lot of the best players out of the state, and they’ve played really well for him. Defensively, Auburn is playing really good. They just struggled offensively obviously.” Who is next? Etheredge said he had no inside information, but he did bring up one name that many have talked about already: Tulane coach Jon Sumrall. “He’s a really good football coach,” Etheredge said. “I think he could come in and do a good job and really build something. He’s done it everywhere he’s been. He did it at Troy. He has now done it at Tulane. No one can question what he has done. It’s hard to imagine what he could do with the talent and backing at a place like Auburn. They’ve done a great job of pouring into the program. Now, they just have to find the right fit moving forward.” The 43-year-old Sumrall was born in Texas, graduated from Grissom High in Huntsville, played college football at Kentucky and has a 38-11 overall record as a college head coach at Troy and Tulane. Interestingly, AL.com surveyed high school coaches when Sumrall was at Troy in the summer of 2022. One of the questions asked was which college and which coach recruits your high school the best. The clear winner wasn’t Alabama or Auburn. It was Troy. It was Sumrall. One high school coach wrote the following: “Jon Sumrall is one of the best recruiters in the country, real and genuine. His staff follows his lead.” Sumrall told me at the time that it was evident where recruiting started for him. “We are fortunate to be positioned in a state that has outstanding talent but equally outstanding coaches,” he said. “For me, everything we do in recruiting and in relationships starts here at home.” Here are some remarks other high school coaches had about Troy/Sumrall at the time. The survey was anonymous so coaches would talk more freely. “They stop every recruiting cycle. Coaches are easily accessible and provide great evaluations.” “We have been down for a while even before we took the job, and they have consistently reached out to inquire about potential players to ensure they don’t miss on a kid.” “Troy is the most active in communication. They make the most trips to campus. I feel like they are sincere in their relationships with our coaches and players.” “Troy has always recruited the schools where I’ve been very well. They generally don’t miss a local guy.” “They go the extra mile to build relationships.” I don’t know who the next coach at Auburn University will be. But I know where I would start looking. Big loss for Alabama My friend Simone Eli, the sports director at WKRG in Mobile, announced earlier this week that she would be leaving to join the PIX11 Sports Team in New York City as evening anchor and co-host of NY Sports National Nightly. She will officially sign off at WKRG tonight, appropriately on a high school football playoff night. Simone always has had a heart for high school sports. That’s no surprise really since she was a star in her high school days in Ohio and since her husband, Bart Sessions, is the high school football coach at Alma Bryant. She has consistently been a leading voice for prep sports whether she was in Mobile, in Houston or in the Birmingham market. She even won the AL.com high school picks contest one year, though her record has plummeted as of late. Together, we hosted a short-lived but highly popular (at least in our minds) high school recruiting podcast on AL.com. She also has worked with AL.com as host of the head-to-head Auburn and Alabama football preview shows each week. Simone will kill it in New York and wherever her career leads after that, but her presence will be sorely missed in the 251. More than that, I’ll miss a good friend. When we lost our granddaughter, Maxi, last September after just 13 days, Simone and Bart were incredible in their support of our family. That is something we will never forget, nor could we ever repay. Have a blast in the Big Apple, Simone. We’ll hold down the high school fort here. And thank you. Thought for the Week “Whatever it is you may be going through. I know He’s not gonna let it get the best of you. You’re an overcomer. Stay in the fight until the final round. You’re not going under ‘Cause God is holding you right now.” -- Overcomer, Mandisa
