Iron Bowl 2025 Preview: Q&A with Ryan Sterritt

With only one day left until our favorite end-of-year slugfest, the Iron Bowl, friend of the blog Ryan Sterritt returns for yet another year to give his mostly unfiltered opinions on all things Auburn Football.

1. You were one of the first and most vocal detractors of the Hugh Freeze hire, and I remember your scathing response in your Q&A a couple of years ago. Now’s your chance to get any final soapboxes off and memorialized on the internet about his tenure – any final thoughts?

Let’s link that (if you haven’t already), because I’m not sure I’ve ever been more right about something than I was about Hugh Freeze. It’s a shame that it’s something I can’t even enjoy, but alas – that’s life.

Just a few quick points and then we can bury this asshole for good:

• I place full responsibility for the offensive struggles on him. There’s plenty of valid criticisms of Payton Thorne and Jackson Arnold out there, but both quarterbacks showed at least some valid skillsets that could be schemed around by a better mind (or less arrogant one, pick your poison).

• Forcing an RPO heavy offense when you have mobile QBs who have decent arms but struggle with post-snap decision making is a recipe for failure. You’re also kneecapping an offensive line who can’t commit to runblocking or passblocking, and instead struggles to do either. I could go on about his scheme mishaps, but this isn’t an Auburn filmroom.

• His *elite* recruiting at Auburn, in the NIL and portal era, should really be the baseline. He doesn’t get points from me for outrecruiting Brian Harsin or late-stage Gus (god love him but the man hated the messiness of recruiting).

• He stayed out of trouble! Mostly! The golf story was easy to make fun of him for, but I truly believe that was his outlet for stress relief. I won’t vilify him for that, although it does say a lot about how in over his head he was here.

• The arrogance of thinking Auburn needed to be more like a Mississippi program or Liberty (see the assistants and staffers he brought into the building, after claiming he was only hiring the best and brightest to Auburn) is insulting. Rebranding everything in his image was sickening *before* he lost to New Mexico State. If I see one more ice-themed piece of media I might personally add an extra degree celsius to the global warming crisis.

• He’s a con artist, used car/snake oil salesman who I don’t believe stands for anything besides himself. Think whatever you like about Bruce Pearl’s beliefs outside of basketball – the man fights for his cause, and invested more than lip service into bettering his community. The AUTlive campaign the Pearl family spearheaded for the last decade in Auburn (and Knoxville before that) has raised millions for cancer research, and that’s before mentioning his work with Children’s Harbor. I haven’t seen an ounce of that out of Freeze’s office. Good riddance.

2. Moving on, every single one of Auburn’s SEC games have been within 10 points. From a big picture lens, do you view the Tigers as a team that’s been close, but something is just keeping them from getting over the hump (ahem, Freeze)? Or are they just a team that’s good at keeping things muddled up but never truly had a shot to win?

This is a very TALENTED team, in spite of the leadership from the top. There’s been flaws, for sure, but I view a lot of them as scheme and in-game adjustment related. The Auburn faithful expected an 8-10 win season out of this roster, and it wasn’t delivered on. The players on the field have showed weekly that they can keep up with anyone they play, but once they lack the leadership and mental fortitude to adjust when things go askew in the middle of the game.

3. Just what has made the offense play so much better since firing Freeze? Sure, Vandy is a one game sample size, but things definitely looked different? Is it as simple as streamlining the playcalling? Or changing QBs?

I do think the QB change was needed. Jackson Arnold, to put it simply, has been done wrong by two coaching staffs now, and sometimes that damage isn’t fixable (see, Peyton Thorne). Ashton Daniels and Deuce Knight aren’t world beaters (I think), but they showed that this offense has at least some of the right pieces to win some SEC games. Less of an emphasis on the RPO game allows the line to block better, the QBs to make better decisions, and the ground game to flourish (I think.. don’t look at the ypc from the running backs last week).

Also, like… sometimes you just gotta chuck it up to a future 1st round WR and let him make a play in coverage. Novel idea that a new playcaller has seemed to realize.

4. Jeremiah Cobb is averaging 5.7 yards per attempt and has a shot at finishing the season with 1000 rushing yards, and yet I don’t think I’ve heard him talked about among SEC circles this whole season. Just how good is this guy, and how on earth has he put up the average that he has with such dysfunction all season?

Auburn has a long history of great running back success. Sure, there’s the big names like Bo Jackson, Rudi Johnson, Cadillac and Ronnie Brown. But Tre Mason was a Heisman finalist, Kerryon Johnson was SEC OPOY in 2017, and guys like Ben Tate, Cameron Artis-Payne, Peyton Barber, Corey Grant, Tank Bigsby, and Jarquez Hunter have all transitioned from Auburn lead back to NFL talents in the last 20 years. So Jeremiah Cobb, at least in Auburn fans’ eyes, is just the next guy to do what the expectation is now. He was viewed as more of a “receiving back specialist” before this year, and Auburn went into the season expecting to have a 3 or 4 man rotation in the backfield. A combination of Cobb’s play and injuries to others forced him into being the lead guy with little depth. Despite a playcaller who could best be described as a ground game terrorist, Cobb made the most of his touches in several SEC games this year. I think team success and vitriol towards the coach and quarterbacks has taken the shine off what has been a great year for the kid from Montgomery Catholic.

5. Auburn’s rush defense has been utterly dominant this season, but they are giving up 240 passing yards per game. Has that just been a function of game flow, or are there some legitimate areas of concern for you?

It’s weird, isn’t it? Auburn’s anemic offense has meant most opponents just needed to get to the 20 point mark or so for a win, and should be able to park the bus in the second half and lean on the ground game. Auburn’s front seven has shut down that gameplan though, which has forced opponents to either run into a brick wall and punt with a small lead, or dare to throw… against a porous secondary. Keldric Faulk has lived up to his preseason All-SEC hype, but LSU transfer linebacker Xavier Atkins has been the real key for the rush defense.

It’s a shame that an elite rush defense has been wasted with the rest of this team for a second year in a row. Auburn’s next head coach would do well to retain as much as he can from this unit (which we’ll dive into later).

6. Which Alabama position group are you most excited about Auburn being able to exploit, and which Auburn position group are you most worried about?

To continue the above – Auburn’s rush defense against Bama’s rush offense should be a massive advantage for the Tigers. I’m normally Team #EstablishIt, but I really can’t recommend that for the Tide this week. I’m not sure what the status of Jam Miller is – is he fully heathy? – but I’m not sure it matters.

I’m still not sure I’m completely sold on Ty Simpson is one of the nation’s best quarterbacks, but people smarter than me seem to think so. It doesn’t matter, though, when you have the targets Simpson does. I don’t think Bama will *have* to score a ton to win this game, but if it turns into a track meet, I don’t know how Auburn’s secondary plans to stop the Tide passing game. The pass rush is decent, but if the Bama o-line holds up it’ll be a blood bath.

7. Do you think DJ Durkin is/should be a legitimate candidate for the next head coach?

At the risk of not being a good guest for your questions… no. Next question.

8. And the obvious followup to that: Who do YOU want to be the next coach, and who do you predict Auburn will actually hire?

I will preface this by saying I’m not sourced up like so many message board/podcast bros claim to be. But it’s Jon Sumrall.

I think he’s the best hire on the market for what Auburn needs. Auburn has shown commitment to NIL, opened a brand new facility last year, and has continued to pack out Jordan Hare every week for the worst era of Auburn football of all time. The recruiting will take care of itself. But Auburn needs someone to power-wash the losing out of the building. In four seasons as a head coach, Sumrall is 41-11, won the Sun Belt twice, and will likely have a chance to win the American this season. He’s an in-state guy (Grissom HS stand up), is married to an Auburn grad, has been an assistant in the SEC, and again… he wins. Bring him home.

9. Which 6 players currently on the roster will be the most important for Auburn to retain through the coaching transition to build around for the future?

This has been one of the more hotly contested topics of discussion the last few weeks. Again, I tend to think you need to reset as much as possible, so whichever Auburn players choose to move on for greener pastures, I won’t be heartbroken. Go get a bag and do what’s best for you. That said, there’s a few guys with eligibility left that I don’t expect back:

• Keldric Faulk (Jr) is a 1st round NFL pick. Good luck in the league!

• Eric Singleton (Jr) is another guy who will likely get some NFL love. An dreadful Auburn passing offense shouldn’t be held against him by scouts. He’s also getting a big NIL paycheck, and Auburn historically just doesn’t make look wide receivers look great. Either go on to the league or find a program who is going to professionally develop you.

• Cam Coleman (So) is probably the most talented wide receiver to wear orange and blue… ever. If he could get drafted this year, he’d go Day 1. If he loves Auburn and wants to stay, Auburn should give him as many American dollars as he wants. But it would be extremely understandable to find a better place to audition for the league. I’m afraid he’ll look phenomenal next to Jeremiah Smith in Columbus next season, if he chooses to leave.

Keep those guys if at all possible. But assuming those three are gone:

1. Connor Lew, C (Jr) – Lew was on track to be the next great Auburn center, garnering NFL 1st/2nd round hype just a month or two ago, which is near unheard of at his position. A knee injury ended his season, though, and may keep him off early draft boards for next season. If you can bring back a team leader and the anchor for your offensive line, I think you should absolutely do it.

2. Xavier Atkins, LB (So) – I mentioned him already, but Atkins is an elite run-stopper in the middle of the defense. Sumrall, a former linebacker himself, should build the defense around him.

3. Jay Crawford, CB (So) – Crawford stepped in last season as a freshman corner and immediately looked like a veteran. Auburn has several underclassmen in the secondary who started great last season, but regressed this year after Charles Kelly left for Jacksonville State. Crawford, though, has been an exception, and has continued to progress this year.

4. Jeremiah Cobb, RB (Jr) – I talked about him at length above. Auburn loves a 1000 yard rusher.

5. Malik Blockton, DT (So) – Another unheralded anchor of this elite rush defense, Blocton came in without a ton of fanfair out of Pike Road HS last season and immediately earned a starting job. He’s an old school, down and dirty defensive tackle that you can trust to flood rushing lanes.

6. Jackson Arn- No I’m kidding. There’s a few different routes to go here including an uber-talented but raw freshman DB class, highly touted sophomore receivers, and productive linebackers, but I’m a fan of winning in the trenches. Amaris Williams, DE (So) could be next year’s Keldric Faulk. A crazy athletic big man on the end of the DL who creates havoc on the OL, and can at least put pressure on a pocket to allow other pass rushers to clean up sacks.

10. The divisionless SEC and the Playoffs and all of that are just a big mess. If you’re Greg Sankey, what do you do to improve *gestures around wildly* all of this?

Maybe I’m alone, but I don’t hate the 3/6/6 format for the next few years. It preserves most all relevant rivalries, and ensures everybody at everybody else’s stadium every four years. I’m not sure what specific droughts Bama has, but Florida for example hasn’t played in Auburn since 2011, and that’s arguably the rivalry old heads in east Alabama care about the most after Bama/UGA.

Of course, the *best* answer would be to restore the old alignment with 10-12 team maximums for conferences. Sure, playing Oklahoma and Texas is a cool novelty, but it doesn’t feel any different than playing Penn State, Baylor, or Miami. Give me a schedule of Alabama, UGA, the Mississippis, Florida, Tennessee, LSU, and Vanderbilt every year. Heck, throw in Tulane and Georgia Tech for good measure!