Auburn announced earlier in the week it was moving on from head coach Bryan Harsin less than two years after he was hired. After their former coach went 9-12 during his Tigers' tenure, the program is reportedly going after a big name to fill in the void.
Pete Thamel went on ESPN's College GameDay and offered some insight to what direction Auburn might go in following Harsin's departure.
“Expect Auburn to go big-game hunting in this coaching search to replace Bryan Harsin,” Thamel said. “One of the attractions of this job to John Cohen is he feels Auburn has the resources to win a national championship. That could include paying more than $10 million for a coach.
“Expect the Auburn search to be focused on these five names. It’ll start with former NFL coach Matt Rhule. It’ll include Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin, Kentucky’s Mark Stoops, Alabama offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien, and Liberty’s Hugh Freeze. Expect the pitch to these coaches to be a simple one; come in, build up Auburn, and as Nick Saban eventually retires, you have the program in place to potentially rise up in the SEC West and fill that power void that Alabama has occupied for so long.”
The candidates (Kiffin, Rhule, Stoops, O'Brien and Freeze) have a mix of NFL and college football experience. As for Auburn, the Tigers are on the hook for $15.5 million of Harsin's deal, 50% of which has to come in the next month. It is their second buyout in as many years after Auburn paid Gus Malzahn $21.7 million after firing him.
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