🏈 Auburn hires Bryan Harsin as head coach.

[Crimson&WhiteGecko]

Yawn...

 

[c5vetman]

Early signing period starts on Wednesday and ends Friday. Auburn currently sits at #43 on 247sports.

They're going to do this in haste and be back in the same spot in 3-5 years.

How sad is that? The only SEC teams that they're ahead of are Vandy and South Carolina.

 

[planomateo]

How sad is that? The only SEC teams that they're ahead of are Vandy and South Carolina.

Sad? Perhaps you have me confused with a barner?

 

[It Takes Eleven]

Vanderbilt had an opportunity to be really creative. Why not run the triple option or something crazy. Bring in a bitchin offensive coach and turn it up.

At the end of the day they'll still be constrained by being Vanderbilt.

Seems like another meh hire to me.

I think I shared I have a coworker whose godson is a WR recruit. A good student, Vandy fits him, and no triple option is all they needed to sign early.

 

[TerryP]

I would be willing to bet MC has absolutely no interest in this job.

You'd be broke.

 

[#80]

You'd be broke.

And how would you know that?

 

[TerryP]

And how would you know that?

I know people directly related to this whole story. There's a reason I mentioned his name at the end of last week with regard to this search. Take the time and re-read the thread. Gus being fired and Mario's interest (as well as their interest in Steele) was old news here before it was breaking news in the media.

 

[RTB X Bot]

 

[RTB X Bot]

 

[TerryP]

Not too shabby for a troll on Twitter ...

 

[rocknthefreeworld]

Not too shabby for a troll on Twitter ...

Actually surprised Auburn has not shut this one down. And it took me way longer than it should to see that this one has an upper case i at the end of the username.

 

[TerryP]

Marshall and Sanders have been repeating this line for several days now.

Multiple sources have also said they don’t expect Hugh Freeze to get the job

While I don't know for certain, I'm definitely leaning towards the notion Sankey had a "word of advice" here. And quite frankly at 3+million per year I'm not of the opinion it would be much of an upgrade for Hugh (other than salary and that's not likely to be much of an increase.) Auburn's facilities aren't near what he has at Liberty and that's not even mentioning the administration's support.

 

[rocknthefreeworld]

Freeze has it made at Liberty. Win 8-10 games and keep them ranked off and on and he is a legend. Their field will be named after him if he can do that for very long.

 

[JoseyWalesTheOutlaw]

I will assume that Sankey hasn't given the barn the OK to bring back Freeze to the SEC.

 

[Brandon Van de Graaff]

I'm still not allowing myself to believe that there is even a slight chance that auburn hires Steele.

 

[planomateo]

2020 has proven anything can happen

Perhaps it all comes back to the money. Can Auburn buy out all the staff plus afford the new staff?

 

[SoCalPatrick]

FOURTH QUARTER: THE AUBURN SEARCH IS ALREADY HILARIOUS
In the first 30 hours after Auburn fired Gus Malzahn (32), winner of two-thirds of his games and the only coach not named Nick Saban to capture the SEC West twice in the last decade, the athletic department has shown why it leads the nation in palace intrigue. (Make it barn intrigue, this being Auburn.)

Athletic director Allen Greene (33) sent a letter to donors Monday saying the search to replace Malzahn is underway. Lord only knows how many backseat drivers Greene will have for this ride. This has always been Empowered Booster Central, and it’s good to know some things don’t change.

One comment heard multiple times from industry sources Monday: “A lot of cooks in the kitchen.”

Another comment heard: “People are divided into camps.”

What a surprise.

Auburn has hired a search firm, Atlanta-based Parker Executive Search, and president Jay Gogue has formed a search committee. Those developments indicate that this will not be a fast process. But 247 Sports reported that Gogue is “being urged to move quickly.”

One camp likes Liberty coach Hugh Freeze, and one source says Freeze could get an interview this week. But another camp says Greene doesn’t want him because of the NCAA issues on Freeze’s watch at Mississippi and he will not be a candidate.

Another camp likes defensive coordinator Kevin Steele (34). That quickly gained traction Monday afternoon, and that also would be the Auburn-est hire imaginable. Would a school pay more than $21 million to buy out a coach only to hire his assistant? A guy who had a 9-36 record as a head coach at Baylor—including a 1-31 conference record? One school might.

This is actually an old page from the Auburn booster playbook. In the late 1990s, there were reports that boosters pushed out Terry Bowden in an attempt to get defensive coordinator Bill “Brother” Oliver the job. Oliver was the interim after Bowden resigned during the 1998 season, but he only went 2-3 after taking over and the school hired Tommy Tuberville instead.

Tuberville had the prescience to hire Bobby Petrino as his offensive coordinator in 2002, and after a strong season there Petrino got the head-coaching job at Louisville. Once again, boosters took a shine to someone other than their current coach—power broker Bobby Lowder flew the school president and athletic director to greater Louisville to interview Petrino behind Tuberville’s back before the ’03 Iron Bowl. When the plot was publicized, Auburn had to backtrack and keep Tubs.

In Steele, Auburn would theoretically be hoping for Ed Orgeron (35) lightning to strike twice. Orgeron got the head-coaching job at LSU after the school fired Les Miles and whiffed on Jimbo Fisher, despite misgivings after his failed head-coaching tenure at Mississippi. Orgeron, of course, wound up winning the 2019 national title in an all-time Second Act redemption story.


There could be another attraction to Steele—he’d come cheap, and there is no buyout to pay at another school. There was a flurry of speculation about Oregon coach Mario Cristobal (36), but his buyout was in the $8 million range. And, darn the luck, one problem with paying $21 million to get rid of a coach is that there may not be a stockpile of cash to buy out the next guy you want.

(Of course, Cristobal might simply have been playing the market to put some urgency into talks on an extension at Oregon. All the talk about the pandemic slowing down the spending in college football? Yeah, no.)

All of which is to say: who knows? Auburn is a good job and can land a good coach, as it has many times in the past. But this thing is off to a classic Auburn start, with everyone and no one in charge. One industry source summed it up this way Monday night: “The search firm doesn’t even know exactly where it stands.”

 

[TerryP]

I'm still not allowing myself to believe that there is even a slight chance that auburn hires Steele.

I've sufficient reason to believe Freeze has been 'Nixed' by the SEC.

 

[JoseyWalesTheOutlaw]

I've sufficient reason to believe Freeze has been 'Nixed' by the SEC.

I don't want Lane nor Hugh at the cow college and I am willing to take it to the REC to make that not happen

 

[Brandon Van de Graaff]

I've sufficient reason to believe Freeze has been 'Nixed' by the SEC.

There's little doubt that the SEC (and some member schools) have a ton of leverage against auburn if they try to hire him, and they've let that be known. But, I still wouldn't put it past auburn to paint themselves in a corner and hire him anyway. If it comes down to a fight between Sankey and Sexton, my money is on Sexton. But, I doubt it comes doubt it comes down to that as I don't think Gogue will go into that briar patch (from what I understand), which I'm very thankful for. My bet is that Freeze eventually ends up at Tennessee. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that if it begins to even look like Freeze may be target #1, then Fulmer will fire Pruitt with a quickness.