Auburn’s 2026 reset took a hard turn Saturday night, and Paul Finebaum thinks the blame lands squarely on the people making the decisions.
Florida rolled past the Tigers in a SEC matchup that drew plenty of attention beyond the Ole Miss-LSU spotlight game, and Finebaum pointed directly at Auburn athletic director John Cohen for missing on Jon Sumrall before Sumrall ended up in Gainesville. Auburn hired Alex Golesh as the 30th head coach in program history, but Florida’s version of the coaching cycle ended up looking a lot better on the field.
“I still like Alex Golesh a lot, but I blame John Cohen, the athletic director, for this loss. This game was lost on Thanksgiving weekend in 2025 when John Cohen’s massive ego got in the way of hiring Jon Sumrall.
It should’ve been done, he intended to do it, every Auburn fan was expecting it.” Finebaum said.
That frustration tracks with how badly Auburn fans wanted Sumrall. He had built a strong resume at Troy, where he guided the program to two bowl appearances in two years, and then moved on to Tulane and took the Green Wave to the College Football Playoff. By the time Auburn was making its hire, he was one of the biggest names available.
Whether Cohen truly pulled back from hiring Sumrall is open to debate, but the broader criticism around Auburn’s football leadership is harder to shake. The program has spent years trying to find a steady voice, and the problem hasn’t been confined to the athletic department. Boosters have also been part of the mess, and Auburn has repeatedly struggled to establish a clear chain of command.
The Tigers may have thought they found that in Hugh Freeze, but the results never backed it up. Bryan Harsin never appeared to get a real chance to settle in, and the last coach many would point to as a true leader there was Gus Malzahn.
Since Malzahn’s exit, Auburn has kept searching for the right answer. Sumrall looked like the latest possible fix. Instead, he’s at Florida, and after Saturday’s result, Auburn fans are left staring across the SEC and asking the same question: What if?
In Other News...
Florida Ole Miss Just Got Even Bigger In Gainesville
Gainesville is getting the full national spotlight before Ole Miss visits in Week 4, with SEC Network announcing that SEC Nation will broadcast live from campus on Saturday morning. The pregame show starts at 9 a.m. ET and will feature Tim Tebow along with the rest of the crew, setting the stage for a marquee SEC matchup that has already drawn plenty of attention.
The timing only adds to the buzz around a game that pits No. 4 Ole Miss against No. 21 Florida in the late afternoon window on ABC. For the Gators, the visit from SEC Nation is another sign that this one has the feel of a bigger moment than a typical conference game, with the buildup stretching well beyond kickoff at 3:30 p.m. ET. [Read more 🡒]
Kahleil Jackson Earned A Florida Moment Fans Wont Forget
Kahleil Jackson delivered one of those flash-point moments Florida fans will remember from the Auburn game, when the wide receiver stepped into a trick-play role and uncorked a 48-yard pass to tight end Amir Jackson. The play helped set up a field goal and had been in the playbook for two weeks before Florida finally found the right look to call it, with the defenses alignment giving the Gators the opening they wanted.
For Jackson, the moment carried extra weight because it came after a long stretch of recovery from previous injuries, and Florida coach Jon Sumrall also pointed to the play as a reflection of how the staff and players had prepared for the opportunity. It was the kind of sequence that can change the feel of a game in a hurry, and it added another layer to a season already marked by Jackson trying to get back to form and back into the spotlight. [Read more 🡒]
Florida Still Faces One Real Danger In This Calmer Ole Miss Week
The buildup to Floridas meeting with Ole Miss feels a little different this time around. After a year that brought plenty of noise around coaching changes and a much sharper edge between fan bases, the conversation has settled into something closer to a normal game-week hum. There is still history here, and there is still plenty for both sides to care about, but the social media temperature has cooled enough that the Gators can approach this one with less off-field static than they faced a season ago.
Even so, calm does not mean safe. Florida is the favorite, and that alone is enough to make this the kind of matchup that can turn tricky if the Gators are not locked in from the opening kickoff. Ole Miss has the profile of a trap game opponent, especially in a conference schedule where one flat stretch can change the feel of a season, and Floridas real concern is not the chatter around the matchup so much as what happens if the focus slips once the game starts. [Read more 🡒]