Why was Hugh Freeze fired by Auburn midway through the 2025 NCAA season?

Following a 10-3 defeat to the Kentucky Wildcats in Week 10 of the 2025 NCAA season, the Auburn Tigers fired Hugh Freeze. Now, many college football fans are wondering why was the head coach relieved of his duties.

Freeze’s time at the helm in Auburn wasn’t exactly what the Tigers hoped for. Following a 6-win campaign during Freeze’s first year on campus, the Tigers fell in their bowl game, and it’s only been downhill since. Last year, Auburn finished the 2024 NCAA season with a 5-7 record.

This time around, Auburn didn’t wait around to see where the school winded up before stepping in. After an embarrassing home game against the Wildcats, the Tigers decided to move on from their head coach, as the team fell to a 4-5 record in the season.

The Tigers can’t escape their regressing path, and the school opted to nip the problem in the bud. Now, Auburn must win at least two of its three remaining games in order to make a bowl game in the current season. If the Tigers fail to do so, they will see their season end short once again, for the third time in the past four years.

Hugh Freeze has been fired by the Auburn Tigers

Buyout

Now, the Tigers will have to pay Freeze to leave the facilities on campus. According to reports from Sports Illustrated, Auburn must pay $15.8 million to Freeze. However, Freeze will face no mitigation. If he decides to take another job in college football, the school will still pay him every cent of his buyout.

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Auburn’s last bowl win

Barring a miraculous run under interim head coach D.J. Durkin (defensive coordinator), the Tigers will fall short of the 6-game quota to make a bowl appearance in college football. Freeze had guided Auburn to one during his first season, but that was as good as it ever got for him during his tenure in the state of Alabama. As he packs his bags, Freeze walks away with a 15-19 record as head coach in Auburn.

The last time Auburn won a bowl game in the NCAA was during the 2018 season. Then, the program led by Gus Malzahn defeated the Purdue Boilermakers by a score of 63-17 at the Music City Bowl at Nissan Stadium in Nashville.

Tough stretch

With three games left in the campaign, the Tigers will aim for their first winning season since the shortened 2020 NCAA campaign. Up next, Auburn will take on No. 15 Vanderbilt on November 8.

Following that character-testing matchup, the Tigers will host the Mercer Bears before facing the Alabama Crimson Tide in Rivalry Week. If the previous two outings go as expected, Auburn could determine its bowl eligibility when it hosts its eternal rivals from Tuscaloosa.