The upcoming college football coaching carousel is shaping up to be one of the most chaotic and intriguing in recent memory. Several elite jobs are available, including those at LSU, Penn State, Florida, and Auburn. While there still hasn’t been any definitive movement, the early dominoes are starting to fall.
One analyst believes Auburn may have made a massive mistake by waiting to hire Tulane head coach Jon Sumrall, especially now that rumors are building about him becoming a serious contender for the Florida job.
Auburn Risks Losing Jon Sumrall as Florida Enters the Picture
Auburn has had a disastrous 2025 season. After a 4-5 start, the Tigers parted ways with head coach Hugh Freeze and have been actively searching for his replacement.
In a typical offseason, the Auburn job would be viewed as one of the top openings in the country. However, this coaching carousel is different as the Tigers are competing against several elite programs for the top candidates.
One of those candidates is Sumrall, who has guided Tulane to a 9-2 record this season and has the Green Wave firmly in the College Football Playoff hunt, with PFSN’s CFB Playoff meter giving them a 53.77% chance to make it.
Sumrall has been linked to the Auburn job since the program moved on from Freeze. However, Greg McElroy believes the Tigers may have waited too long to make a move and that their hesitation has opened the door for other programs to get involved.
.@GregMcElroy explains why @AuburnFootball shouldn’t look anywhere else other than Jon Sumrall as their next head coach! pic.twitter.com/OjdJ5Jp2OR
— McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning (@macandcube) November 28, 2025
“It’d be Auburn’s fault, in my opinion, for waiting,” McElroy said. “That, to me, would be a big mistake. You got a good guy, you got a good candidate, he has an appeal towards Auburn, and the longer you drag your feet, the more likely other schools are going to be in the mix.”
McElroy likely isn’t wrong. On3’s Pete Nakos, Chris Low, and Brett McMurphy reported Friday that Florida has shifted its focus to the Tulane head coach.
With the Gators now in the mix for Sumrall, McElroy believes Auburn has put itself in a difficult position. He argued that the Florida opening is more attractive than Auburn’s and that the Tigers may have missed their chance to secure their top candidate by waiting too long.
“Now, all of a sudden, Florida is very interested in Sumrall,” McElroy said. “And Florida is a better job than Auburn. So it’s like, I mean, I don’t know, dragging your feet. To me, you could’ve had this thing done.”
In such a competitive coaching carousel, especially at a place like Auburn, where you are not the top opening, programs have to be decisive. Instead, the Tigers waited, and as McElroy points out, it may have caused them to miss out on the Sumrall sweepstakes.
