Auburn’s search for a new coach is in full swing. DJ Durkin, Auburn’s new interim head coach, is considered a favorite for the head coaching role. He’s in the good books of Auburn’s AD John Cohen and has proved consistency in the recruiting class. However, David Pollack predicts DJ Durkin will be dumped for a $3M candidate, comparing their pros and cons side-by-side.

“If you start with Durkin and how he earned the job, I think the offense immediately got better, but the problem is the defense got absolutely smoked.” The CFB Hall of Famer said on the November 13th episode of See Ball Get Ball with David Pollack. “So that was not the best start, but he’s a defensive guy who’s been really, really great. Like you hired him to do a job, paid him a ton of money, one of the highest-paid coordinators in all of college football.” 

Throughout the season, the Tigers hadn’t allowed more than 24 points, but Vanderbilt had 31 points and the lead with 14 minutes left in the fourth quarter. While Auburn earned 563 yards, it allowed 544 yards, in which the Commodores rushed 167 yards for three touchdowns. This led to a 45-38 overtime loss to the Tigers.

Talking about DJ Durkin’s pros, “He’s absolutely built a great defense, recruited well, and replaced a lot of different guys. The recruiting really speaks for itself… Familiarity with the school, hard-nosed, energetic, like super energetic. The guy’s got really good energy.” Talking about the cons, DJ Durkin has already lost a game, and his time in Maryland ended in turmoil with a 10-15 record in two seasons. “He didn’t have a winning record anyway, and didn’t do well at Maryland,” the CFB legend noted. 

One of the main reasons for firing Hugh Freeze was the coach’s inability to fix the Tigers’ offensive issues, keeping the offense lifeless against the SEC opponents with a 6-16 record. With that being said, hiring a defensive coach for Freeze makes no sense. He also referenced that Auburn won the championship with the explosive offense under Gus Malzahn in 2013 and Gene Chizik in 2010. 

David Pollack predicts that Jon Sumrall, who will earn $3M this season with Tulane, has the ‘it’ factor that Auburn needed. “Sumrall is younger… Built a lot of success… He’s 40 and 11 at Tulane. He used the transfer portal successfully, was successful in recruiting, is culture-driven, and is really hardworking. He’s a tough, passionate culture builder. He’s done it at Troy. He’s done it at Tulane. He’s got that familiarity with Alabama.” The Legend claims that being familiar with Alabama is a big advantage, and they are familiar with the SEC, who played for Kentucky from 2002 to 2004 as a Linebacker.

Sumrall has a winning record of 39-11 with Troy and Tulane in four seasons, leading the Troy Trojans to win the Sun Belt Conference title twice (2022 & 2023), and taking Tulane to the AAC conference division title in 2024. However, the con is that “he hasn’t done it at this level, at the highest level, like where he’s going to be at.” Pollack then praised Sumrall’s defense, who had a background in defense, and believes, “He’s the younger version of aggressive mentality, culture builder, and familiarity with the area.” 

The CFB legend suggests that Durkin and Sumrall are the two potential candidates to debate for the Tigers’ next head coach, who could solve Auburn’s problem.

John Cohen considers DJ Durkin a worthy candidate

DJ Durkin is already a solid candidate in Auburn’s AD John Cohen’s list.  In an interview with the Montgomery Advertiser, Cohen said, “We’ve been watching him coach for several years now, so I have a real familiarity with his style, with his energy, with his sense of discipline, his preparation. We feel very comfortable with DJ Durkin and his lineage, the great head coaches he’s worked for in the past. We think DJ is somebody who’s very worthy of consideration here.”

Before joining Auburn under Hugh Freeze in 2024, Durkin worked for Jimbo Fisher at Texas A&M and Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss. He also worked as an assistant at some of the top schools, including Florida, Michigan, Notre Dame, and Stanford, under Jim Harbaugh and Urban Meyer. 

However, Durkin has head coaching experience only once, at Maryland, and it was subject to big turmoil and allegations of toxic culture, and he was fired in 2018. With Durkin having familiarity with the programs, Sumrall having the best numbers, and a lot of other options in hand, it could be a tough job for the athletic director to make the right decision.