5 best Hugh Freeze replacements for when he burns Auburn to the ground

Eventually, Auburn is going to get this right. I just have no idea if Hugh Freeze will be the head coach who does that. While he has won everywhere he has been before (Arkansas State, Ole Miss, Liberty), Auburn is a different animal. This is the hardest job in the country because you have realistic expectations of winning a national championship, but its two biggest rivals are Alabama and Georgia.

Admittedly, it has been a trying few years at Auburn. This is a college football blue-blood. The sport is better when Auburn is good. Over the years, the Tigers have given us some of the greatest moments in the sport's history, usually saving them for the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry and the Iron Bowl. However, Auburn quickly devolves into a chaotic mess because of the pressure it wallows in.

So what I want to do today is outline five potential head-coaching candidates who could replace Freeze sooner rather than later. Again, I would not fire Freeze after two years because it makes the job toxic and the situation untenable. That being said, this was the year Freeze needed to make a charge in the SEC. Instead, former players like Bo Wallace turned on him and he just lost to Arkansas and Cal.

Let's start with a polarizing head coach who defines being a cult of personality. It just might work out.

5. Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders

Look. If and when Deion Sanders leaves the Colorado Buffaloes for a bigger and better job in the wake of his sons' blossoming NFL careers, I don't think it is going to be for Florida State. That may be his alma mater, but I trust Mike Norvell to right the ship after an 0-3 start, especially with offensive coordinator Alex Atkins back from his suspension. There are three jobs for Coach Prime to be had.

Barring a second-half collapse, I don't see South Carolina opening up. And while I do envision the Baylor gig becoming available, I would actually take Auburn over the Bears. Even though Sanders may have a ways to go prove he is a great Power Four head coach, Auburn is not that far from Atlanta and competes in the same conference as Florida and Texas. Those are three states Sanders knows well.

I don't know if you have the stomach for it, but take what we have seen out of Colorado the past two years and inject that with cattle steroids, and that is what you would get with Coach Prime at Auburn. The massive brand will already be even bigger. Players are going to want to transfer to Auburn and sign with the Tigers out of high school. To me, Sanders is a coach who could get Auburn fully aligned.

This could be an absolute tire fire as well, but it is still a very intriguing boom-or-bust coaching hire.

4. UNLV Rebels head coach Barry Odom

I'm calling it right now: UNLV Rebels head coach Barry Odom will be leading his own Power Four team again next season. While he may have been promoted from within a tad prematurely at his alma mater of Missouri, Odom reinvented himself as an ace defensive coordinator for rival Arkansas before making the UNLV Rebels relevant for the first time since what, Randall Cunningham starred for them?

Clearly, Odom has learned and grown after being let go by his alma mater. If any SEC job opens up, I would venture to guess he would be a serious candidate for most of those positions. In a way, I feel Odom could work at a Power Four school in any league. Again, the right job has to open up. The big question is if Auburn is the right job for him? Oh, he will be ready for the opportunity, but will Auburn?

I hate to say it, but if Odom is hired to be the next head coach at Auburn should Hugh Freeze fail, it would come across as the Tigers hiring their third choice because Plan A and Plan B both said no. While this could be like hiring Gus Malzahn back in 2013 to some extent, I question if Odom has what it takes to unite a fractured fan base upon arrival. I know he can coach, but UNLV might be better now.

Odom can stay as long as he wants in Las Vegas, but he may leave if UNLV does not join the Pac-12.

3. UCF Knights head coach Gus Malzahn

Shame, embarrassment, it doesn't matter. Auburn made a GOB Bluth huge mistake for firing Gus Malzahn after he led the Tigers to a 6-4 record during a COVID season. He won the SEC West twice during his near-decade-long run as their head coach, leading the Tigers to the final BCS National Championship in 2013. Malzahn resurfaced at UCF, helping the Knights transition to the Power Four.

In a way, I feel like Auburn hiring Freeze came across as admitting defeat in letting Malzahn go. When Freeze was at Ole Miss, he used to instill fear on the sidelines of opposing teams, just like Malzahn did during his head-coaching run at Auburn. While I don't know if he would accept John Cohen's apology and return to The Plains, this would be a great example of reaching into one's past being a good thing.

That is not always the case, but look at some of the places where it has worked out, at least for the most part... (Bobby Petrino at Arkansas, Mike Bobo at Georgia, Mack Brown at North Carolina, etc.). Right now, I don't think Malzahn has any reason to leave UCF. The only gig I think he would take if offered would be Arkansas. He is from that state and briefly played there for the Hogs in the 1980s.

Of course, there is one thing that may be a deciding factor in getting Malzahn to come back: Money!

2. Nebraska Cornhuskers head coach Matt Rhule

For some strange reason, I have a feeling that the cure to what ails Auburn may lie truly outside of the southeastern footprint. In short, the right Big Ten coach to potentially succeed Freeze should he fail may present itself sooner rather than later. Admittedly, there are a lot of good candidates to be had, but I think Matt Rhule might be the one who can handle the smoke that comes from leading Auburn.

Outside of the Carolina Panthers, Rhule has won everywhere he has been. He did extraordinary things at Temple previously, as he did with Baylor. While Rhule is starting to develop a reputation as a bit of a job-hopper, he usually gets tremendous on-field results by year three (in college), This is year two for him at Nebraska, and the Cornhuskers are starting to make the turn. This team should go bowling.

However, the same athletic director who hired him no longer works in Lincoln. Trev Alberts left his alma mater to replace Ross Bjork at Texas A&M, who in turn replace Gene Smith at Ohio State in a lengthy athletic director carousel. Things may be peachy with Troy Dannen for now, but John Cohen might be desperate and the combination of Apple and YellaWood could outbid Berkshire Hathaway.

Nebraska may very well be the last stop on the Rhule coaching train, but Auburn does feel enticing.

1. Missouri Tigers head coach Eliah Drinkwitz

Are you watching closely? I could be totally wrong in this, but I think there is a good chance Eliah Drinkwitz leaves Missouri after this season, especially if the Tigers do not qualify for the expanded College Football Playoff. For as good as Drinkwitz has been for Mizzou, I wonder if he has tapped out all the resources they have available. There are only so many blue-chip players in-state he can recruit.

At the start of the year, I had Mizzou going 9-3 and barely missing the playoffs. The Tigers are a frustrating mess for me when it comes to the SEC College Football Playoff bubble watch I do every week. Even after looking a bit concerning the two previous weeks, I still have the Tigers in at No. 11 this week. Unfortunately, they will get got by someone, and do not have the schedule to overcome this.

Given that I don't think his ego has been checked yet, Drinkwitz may be the one to leave Missouri to take over at a place like Auburn or Florida. Factor in that he was a quality control coach on Gene Chizik's staff from 2010-11 before following former Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn to Arkansas State, I think Drinkwitz may take the Auburn job if offered, either this year or next or beyond.

The Alpha Nerd may be flourishing in CoMo as we speak, but I think we have a villain arch to unearth.