Auburn’s 2025 season has turned into a full-blown circus, and former athletes aren’t holding back their frustration. After a string of embarrassing losses, including a 10-3 defeat to Kentucky, the Tigers fired Hugh Freeze. They played Vanderbilt in Week 11 and again lost a close encounter in overtime. The team no longer resembles its core identity. That’s why Auburn legend Cam Newton couldn’t stay shut.

As he started talking about the Vanderbilt game, Newton couldn’t help but remember his days at Auburn under Gene Chizik. However, he has now practically given up on the program. “When I went to Auburn, I had winning on my mind. I had dominance on my mind. That’s what the people were expecting. Hard-nose defense, unbelievable effort, and something to believe in,” Newton said on the November 9th edition of the 4th and 1 with Cam Newton show. “These last 10 years as an Auburn fan, bro, I don’t even watch the game. Depressing.” You can practically feel the pain in his voice when he talks like this about his alma mater.

When Cam Newton arrived at Auburn after a rocky start at Florida and a junior college stint, he practically took over. Auburn surged to a perfect 14-0 season, culminating in a thrilling national championship victory over Oregon. But after he left to make a name for himself in the pros, Auburn sort of died. Now, Gus Malzahn’s tenure wasn’t that bad at Auburn. He went with a 68-35 record, making him the fifth-winningest coach in the program’s history. However, the team began to slip, posting records of 8–5, 8–5, and 7–6 over the next three seasons. Malzahn got the boot after finishing 6–4 that year, and his 8–17 record against rivals like Alabama, Georgia, and LSU didn’t help his case.

After him, Bryan Harsin didn’t do much to help the Tigers. Harsin wrapped up his run with the Tigers at 9–12 with a 42.8% win rate. No full-time Auburn coach has posted a worse record since Earl Brown back in 1948–1950. Harsin ended the 2021 season on a brutal five-game losing streak and had the Tigers sitting at 3–5 this year before getting shown the door. That 3–10 stretch marked Auburn’s worst 13-game run since way back in 1928–1929. And after that, the Tigers thought Hugh Freeze would bring the light back to the program. But the exact opposite took place. The team started the 2025 season hopeful after a 3-0 nonconference run, including an impressive 38-point win at Baylor.

But then the wheels fell off once SEC play began, with Auburn dropping five of its next six conference games. The offense was abysmal at times, scoring 24 points or fewer in 17 of Freeze’s 22 SEC games. The quarterback situation was a revolving door, with Freeze struggling to find consistency with transfers Jackson Arnold and Payton Thorne, among others. And then the loss against Kentucky was the final straw as fans started demanding Hugh Freeze’s unemployment. And even Cam Newton laid down his thoughts on that game, saying, “I’m saying to myself as an alumnus, we’re losing to this team? We’ve given up another league. We’re getting our backs blown off by this team.” 

The Tigers entered the matchup as 10.5-point favorites against the Wildcats but couldn’t reflect that on the scoreline. The recent loss against the Commodores also reflected their glaring issues. Auburn’s offense finally clicked with 442 yards behind Ashton Daniels’ huge night with 353 passing yards and four total TDs. However, the defense collapsed after halftime, allowing 28 points and blowing key plays in crunch time. This doesn’t even come close to the “hard-nosed” defense Cam Newton was referring to from his days.

Cam Newton’s aversion towards the betting favourites for the Auburn helm

Cam Newton seriously shows how depressed he is with Auburn football. And the midseason coaching change makes him more anxious about who will be the next to take charge. That’s when the former QB clears his stance on this. “You need good coaches…you need to hire a coach that understands the S.E.C., man,” Newton said. “You ain’t got time to introduce your culture. Ain’t got time for a fan base that’s been feeling for some type of something for you to say it’s gonna take time.”

Jon Sumrall and Alex Golesh have emerged as the front-runners in the Auburn coaching search. Sumrall, currently the head coach at Tulane, leads the betting odds with around a 25% chance to land the job. His resume is impressive. He’s known for turning programs around, boasting a strong 23-4 record at Troy before taking Tulane to a 6-2 record this season. And even Paul Finebaum endorsed him as the right fit.

Right behind him is Alex Golesh, the head coach at South Florida. He is the second favorite to land the Auburn head coach job with +375 odds, giving him about a 21% chance. However, Cam Newton is clearly not sold on these two due to their lack of SEC experience. Keeping that in mind, Sumrall is more or less familiar with how the conference works. His deep SEC roots, as a former linebacker at Kentucky and an assistant at Ole Miss and Kentucky, give him a strong recruiting edge in Alabama.

That’s why Sumrall here can be the clear choice.