Auburn athletic director John Cohen is on the opposite side of the Iron Bowl rivalry he grew up in. A native of Tuscaloosa, Cohen has had to sway some of his family members to put on orange to come to Auburn games in the home of his new job.

And now just over a year into his tenure at Auburn, he’s the one in charge of the program on the other side of the Iron Bowl when the day finally arrived that Nick Saban, arguably the greatest college football coach of all time, retired from Alabama.

Saban retired on Jan. 10.

“I’ll say this, as somebody who’s lived in the region for a long time and more than a casual observer, Coach Saban can be considered one of the greatest of all time,” Cohen said in a January interview with AL.com. “But, Alabama won national championships before he got there and they have the potential to win them after he leaves. I have nothing but the ultimate respect for not only Coach Saban but (Alabama athletic director) Greg Byrne. I think that my expectation is that Alabama will continue at a positive path in the sport of football. But I will say, this has nothing to do with Auburn University.”

Several pundits including Paul Finebaum of the SEC Network have said the day Saban retired would be one where Auburn would need to capitalize. And to capitalize, Finebaum said, Auburn would have to be positioned with a stable coaching staff and program.

And while Auburn’s staff has faced significant change among its coordinators and assistants this offseason — a staff that is nearly fully re-stocked — Cohen is confident he hired the right person at Auburn.

It happens that Hugh Freeze is, and always will be, the head coach at Auburn at the time of Saban’s retirement. But to Cohen, his belief in Freeze has nothing to do with him running the team when Alabama faces its first coaching change in 17 seasons.

“What happens in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, at the University of Alabama does not affect the way we work, the way we prepare, the way Coach Freeze builds his program,” Cohen said. “There’s no question that Hugh Freeze took over a program that’s recruiting class was ranked in the 60s and we’re one calendar year later and it’s currently in the top 10 with the potential to be in the top five before it’s all said and done. I don’t know of anyone in the country that could do that in one calendar year. That has nothing to do with anything that’s going on anywhere else.”

“It’s fun for fans to talk about and things of that nature,” Cohen continued. “But in reality, the things that are happening in Tuscaloosa have very little effect on how we go about our business. And if you talk to any one of our coaches, especially Coach Freeze, he would agree with that.”

Auburn’s recruiting was never quite as poor as Cohen said. Its worst-ranked class by 247Sports since 2020 was 21st overall.

But the infusion of talent after Freeze’s first season with Auburn is immense.

Auburn has flipped one former Alabama player, former four-star cornerback Antonio Kite, over to the Plains in a vast series of Crimson Tide player departures after Saban’s retirement. Auburn continues to pursue five-star wide receiver and Saraland native Ryan Williams, who de-committed from Alabama shortly after the news of Saban’s departure broke.

Williams, who was already a high-priority Auburn target before Saban left and new head coach Kalen DeBoer was hired, is the player Cohen was referring to when suggested Auburn’s class could vault into the top five. It is currently ranked No. 7 nationally by 247Sports’ composite rankings.

Externally, noise has been about Saban’s retirement being a crucial moment for Auburn. Internally, Cohen suggests Auburn is focused on beating Alabama regardless of its head coach.

Matt Cohen covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @Matt_Cohen_ or email him at [email protected]