October 31st, 2022 at 2:25 PM ^
I had a feeling this was gonna happen really soon and it did!
October 31st, 2022 at 3:05 PM ^
Most appealing job? It's a political cesspool. They way they treated Harsin is appalling. Agreed it was a bad fit from the get go but for money guys to go around whispering (false) accusations so they can get out of paying a large buy-out is just awful. The SEC at its worst and that is saying something.
October 31st, 2022 at 2:26 PM ^
The coaching carousel is going to be a wild one this year.
October 31st, 2022 at 2:29 PM ^
Saw Hugh Freeze floated as a candidate. I laughed and then I realized they are not a public institution and not subject to FOIA.
EDIT: I am completely mistaken. They are public and thanks for correcting. I guess Hugh will have to stock up on burner phones.
October 31st, 2022 at 2:33 PM ^
He just signed a deal through 2030 with Liberty but Im sure a power 5 will pay his buyout if they are desperate.
October 31st, 2022 at 3:06 PM ^
Auburn University is indeed a public institution. It's a land grand school, as a matter of fact.
October 31st, 2022 at 4:17 PM ^
Auburn is a public land grant school. One of its earlier names was Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama. So it’s basically MSU or Texas A&M and they changed the name to class it up a bit. Kind of explains the little brother attitude and the Iron Bowl.
October 31st, 2022 at 5:27 PM ^
I guess Tommy Tuberville has a job now...
October 31st, 2022 at 7:23 PM ^
Liberty is perfect for Hugh! Falwell, Jr. 100% supportive of Hugh’s lifestyle. There is no better home for HF than a place where the head of the university is a hot wife guy
October 31st, 2022 at 2:30 PM ^
Probably least appealing.
Still in Alabama's shadow, Harsin in the hot seat from day 1, SEC competition...
October 31st, 2022 at 2:48 PM ^
And you have to great everyone with "War Eagle" whenever you're in public.
October 31st, 2022 at 4:25 PM ^
Worse still, they are nicknamed the Tigers but refer to each other as Plainsmen because of an old honorific poem to Auburn. Kind of weird considering it is nowhere near the Great Plains, nor any other Plains to the best of my knowledge. They are a confused bunch.
October 31st, 2022 at 3:00 PM ^
2 National Titles just this Century (I'm counting 2004, they should have just as much a claim on it as USC), 1 of them occurring while Saban had his Alabama Death Star running.
And that doesn't count 2013, also during peak-Saban, when they led the Title Game with just 1:19 to play.
There's absolutely no reason Auburn can't reach those levels again. It's a very appealing job ---orders of magnitude more upside versus Wisconsin & Nebraska --- IMO.
October 31st, 2022 at 3:09 PM ^
Really depends on your long-term goal. If you want a chance at a national title in an "everything goes right year" not caring if you're going to be fired relatively quickly thereafter because of the craziness surrounding the program (leaving with a lot of money) then it's more appealing. If you're hoping for some kind of stability and to improve your reputation, you'd be much better off at Nebraska or Wisconsin
October 31st, 2022 at 4:29 PM ^
Auburn is an 8-5, 9-4 per year job that can occasionally do better, but the locals and boosters expect to compete with Alabama which doesnt happen unless they get Cam Newton or they have the luckiest two endings in college football in 2013.
October 31st, 2022 at 2:30 PM ^
Surprised it took so long. I mean, he asked for it in his post-game presser Saturday, saying "we're not good enough right now". When you tell the world that your team - you and your staff - are not good enough, WTH do you expect to happen? But he was a dead man walking, anyway. We all knew it...
Honestly, I don't think Auburn is any better a job than Nebraska or Wisconsin. All three have high expectations against a tough field and poor recruiting outlooks. Although Auburn might be a tad easier to recruit than the nether regions of northern, football barren, corn-filled landscapes.
October 31st, 2022 at 2:48 PM ^
Auburn is infinitely easier to recruit than Nebraska or Wisconsin. Its still right in the middle of a recruiting hotbed with being right on the Georgia border, and then Florida is only a few hours drive. There's boatloads more talent to draw from in the surrounding area than Wisconsin and Nebraska have for themselves. Wisconsin has the Chicago area to draw on, which isn't bad but its not like having Atlanta or New Orleans talent right down the road, which are home to some of the best HS teams in the country. Nebraska has Kansas City close by and....St. Louis? Its much harder for them to recruit, and at the end of the day, Auburn is still an SEC job.
You can definitely argue whether or not its a better job overall than Wisconsin or Nebraska right now, but Auburn will have no issues luring in talent. As long as the next guy they hire is at least a semi-competent recruiter.
October 31st, 2022 at 3:05 PM ^
The recruiting possibilities makes it appealing. The craziness of the Auburn boosters, and the control they have over the program, make it a mess.
Their craziness, plus being in the SEC West with an annual cross-over game against Georgia, make Auburn an incredibly hard job. This article calls it the worst job in college football (unless you just want to be guaranteed to walk away with a giant buy-out in 3 years).
https://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/auburn-football/hayes-bryan-harsin-vs-auburn-boosters-is-the-hottest-rivalry-in-college-football/
October 31st, 2022 at 3:10 PM ^
I have to disagree, at least to an extent. Auburn has had two BCS Championship appearances this century, winning one of them. While the most recent of those is almost a decade old at this point, more recently they've knocked Alabama out of the playoffs and beaten both Alabama and Georgia when those two teams met in the playoff finals.
On the other hand, they've got to play Alabama and Georgia every year. Still, Saban isn't going to coach forever* and I'm not sure if Kirby Smart will have the same longevity that Saban has had.
*Saban is going to retire at some point to at least pretend to be mortal. Give it a decade and I expect him to pop up with another name at another school looking suspiciously young.
October 31st, 2022 at 7:27 PM ^
I don’t think they have to play GA every year, but LSU is one they do have to
October 31st, 2022 at 9:07 PM ^
Auburn/Georgia absolutely is every year.
October 31st, 2022 at 10:23 PM ^
Wisconsin is the best job. Fairly good recruiting base, lots of resources, and reasonable boosters.
Auburn is far less attractive. Excellent recruiting base - although first takes are grabbed by Bama and UGA, lots of resources, and completely unreasonable boosters. The AD is a disaster with a handful of power brokers steering every decision.
October 31st, 2022 at 2:33 PM ^
Not sure why they kept him after last year and their investigation. Like Scott Frost, you knew he was getting fired this season - months before the season even began.
October 31st, 2022 at 2:42 PM ^
So, which teams are now "in the search process" for head coaches?
Nebraska, Wisconsin, Auburn - who else?
The path to winning a division is a LOT easier in the B1G West than the SEC. But, with the B1G adding UCLA and USC - how much easier will it really be?
Which alumni base / AD will be more patient? Which programs really require a "rebuild"?
October 31st, 2022 at 4:11 PM ^
Nebraska, Wisconsin, Auburn...Staeeeeeee?
October 31st, 2022 at 10:26 PM ^
Georgia Tech, ASU, Colorado.
October 31st, 2022 at 2:42 PM ^
It's appealing if you don't mind being the less preferred in-state SEC school, while having the same expectations of said more popular school.
October 31st, 2022 at 2:44 PM ^
With those boosters and that conference? Not even close
October 31st, 2022 at 2:54 PM ^
Deion Sanders will be getting a call before too long.
He will be a game-changer for recruiting, and at this point, after multiple crummy seasons, I have to believe that Auburn is willing to take a chance on someone that could have an extremely high ceiling as a coach.
Deion has already gone on record in saying he wants no part in coaching in the NFL, so if he pans out, you've got a great coach locked up for a long time, and someone who could take advantage of the massive power vacuum whenever it is that Saban decides to hang it up.
October 31st, 2022 at 3:49 PM ^
Lane Kiffin is their top candidate according to recent rumours
November 1st, 2022 at 2:11 AM ^
Deion is way to smart to take this job
October 31st, 2022 at 2:58 PM ^
Yeah it's very appealing. They'll clearly throw money too so someone is getting paid.
October 31st, 2022 at 2:58 PM ^
And had Auburn come up with one more stop in the Iron Bowl last year, the guy would be untouchable right now. Nature of the business.
October 31st, 2022 at 3:00 PM ^
How about a horse-shit B1G coach we all know and love....
October 31st, 2022 at 10:33 PM ^
If I were Mel, then Auburn would be in consideration. Much better recruiting base, SEC West is no harder than B1G East, and a fresh start for him. Money should be comparable (although not ten years of lunacy).
November 1st, 2022 at 11:31 AM ^
Why would Auburn want Mel?
October 31st, 2022 at 3:00 PM ^
A quick look at Auburn's Team Talent, according to 247 sports. And, over the past five years, they are consistently in the mid teens. However, that also means there are four or five SEC teams ahead of them. Those other SEC teams ahead of them include - Alabama, Georgia, LSU, A&M, and Florida.
It would seem to be that coaching and player development is the difference. They have very good talent, just not elite talent - as some of those other schools.
And, a quick look might also show that Bo Nix was there, but perhaps not utilized as effectively as he could have been.
October 31st, 2022 at 7:29 PM ^
A good coach and some portal help could make Auburn good pretty fast
October 31st, 2022 at 3:07 PM ^
Wisconsin is going to stay with Leonard as long as they make a bowl, which I expect they will.
Nebraska may go for K State guy, who oddly enough turned Martinez into a decent QB. I think the Kansas guy will not be job hopping as he will likely end the year with 7 straight losses.
Lane Kiffin isn't going anywhere.
Deion has definitely built a good program and his son would transfer to Auburn. Back up the truck and give him what it takes to bring him into the big time world.
Auburn fans won't go for a non-big name hire this time around.
October 31st, 2022 at 4:44 PM ^
I still maintain that Lance Leipold should be the next coach at Iowa. If he gets passed over this year then it seems all the more likely.
November 1st, 2022 at 2:09 AM ^
Deon is too smart
October 31st, 2022 at 3:10 PM ^
Have a feeling any increase in the number of MSU players suspended will be directly proportional to the number of Auburn players entering the portal.
October 31st, 2022 at 3:22 PM ^
Nebraska, Texas, USC, Wisconsin, Miami (FL), Notre Dame, Auburn ...all vying for the most appealing opening in college football...
November 1st, 2022 at 11:36 AM ^
??? Why are Texas, USC, Miami and ND on this list?
October 31st, 2022 at 3:47 PM ^
zowie, i'd call it the worst opening, actually.
October 31st, 2022 at 4:02 PM ^
It has to be Nebraska right? 😂
October 31st, 2022 at 4:44 PM ^
Tuck Comin?
October 31st, 2022 at 6:15 PM ^
Tuck Goin'
October 31st, 2022 at 5:38 PM ^
Goes to show what losing to Frames will do for your career.