Auburn football has seen it all. National titles, heartbreaks, miracle kicks, and a revolving door of head coaches. But even on the Plains, where chaos is practically a tradition, the post-Hugh Freeze era feels like another wild chapter in a never-ending saga. The Tigers are once again in search mode, and this time, their eyes might be drifting toward a familiar Southern name with a growing legend – $3M Tulane’s HC Jon Sumrall.

FOX 8’s Garland Gillen dropped a coaching carousel bombshell on X on November 2 that sent shockwaves through the South. “Curt Cignetti, Matt Rhule, and Rhett Lashlee all had plenty of suitors for head coaching jobs, but they all re-signed to stay with their programs,” he wrote in the caption. “So what is Tulane AD David Harris doing to keep Jon Sumrall Uptown? My sources tell me not much.” Then came the fiery on-air rant that sounded more like a wake-up call to Tulane fans than a segment.

Garland Gillen revealed the obvious. “There’s a coach in New Orleans who a lot of programs in America want. His name is Jon Sumrall,” he said. “What is David Harris, the athletic director of Tulane, what is he doing to keep him?” Because Jon Sumrall’s name is surfacing in almost every HC vacancy talk. “This is a football school. Tulane is a football school. You want to keep it that way,” he said. “You fight to keep John Summerall. Because you know Auburn is going to be calling. If there’s other programs interested in him, do something about it.” He wasn’t wrong. When a coach from Alabama, with SEC bloodlines and a record built on toughness, starts turning heads, Auburn doesn’t stay quiet for long.

Auburn and Tulane aren’t strangers on the gridiron. The two programs have clashed 32 times since their first meeting in 1902, with Auburn holding the edge including a 24-6 win in their last matchup in 2019. And now, with Auburn reportedly eyeing Tulane’s HC, history might just find a new chapter to write. Jon Sumrall, a former Kentucky linebacker who’s coached at both Kentucky and Ole Miss, is one of the few non-Power Four coaches everyone’s watching. The Huntsville, Alabama native has already conquered one corner of the state, going 23-4 with back-to-back Sun Belt titles at Troy. Now at Tulane, he’s 15-7 and possibly steering the Green Wave toward a College Football Playoff berth.

So when Hugh Freeze’s 15-19 Auburn tenure ended after a gut-punch loss to Kentucky, it didn’t take long for whispers to turn into possibilities. The Plains have a vacancy and a potential heir waiting just down I-85. But what does the man himself think about it?

Tulane’s $3M gamble with Jon Sumrall 

Last December, Tulane gave Jon Sumrall a new contract extension worth nearly $3 million annually, locking him up through 2029. On paper, that’s security. But behind the scenes? Garland Gillen’s sources hint at neglect. “Because everything I’ve heard, [the AD] has not done much to try to lock in John Sumrall in the future,” the reporter said. That might be all Auburn needs. When rival programs like Arkansas and Penn State are extending their coaches to keep them out of the fray, Tulane’s apparent inaction feels risky. 

Jon Sumrall, of course, isn’t feeding the frenzy. “The coaching carousel isn’t even a thought,” he said this week. “We’re in the midseason phase. Whatever people want to speculate, they can do that. UTSA has 100% of my focus.” And then he added another line which is gold for Tulane fans. “If my ultimate goal was just to make the biggest paycheck, I wouldn’t be at Tulane. Other people have offered me more money than I make here. I love where I’m at. I love what I do.” Jon Sumrall for you. Humble, loyal, and focused. But fans know how this story usually ends.

Tulane fans better take the FOX 8 reporter’s advice. Send those emails, make those calls, and fight for the man who made Uptown football relevant again. Because if Auburn really wants him, we never know what could happen.