Getty Image / Tim Warner
Auburn has finally, mercifully, fired Bryan Harsin. The former Boise State head coach had an absolutely disastrous tenure at Auburn. He went 9-12 in one full season and a part of another and it was never a good fit. Harsin seemingly never understood what it took to win in the SEC, and recruiting was somehow worse than the on-field results at Auburn.
Now, Auburn needs its next head coach. They just hired Mississippi State Athletic Director John Cohen to the same position to lead that search. While there are definite drawbacks to the job, mainly out-of-control boosters who want too much involvement in the program, it’s still a job that someone can win a national championship at. Gene Chizik even won one there, and no one is building statues of him.
There’s one name that is coming up more than any other, though, and it’s maybe the most fun coach in all of college football.
According to reports, Lane Kiffin is the top target
Following the firing on Monday reports surfaced that Kiffin was Cohen’s top choice.
Brandon Marcello of 247sports was the first to outwardly link the two.
The top name to watch at Auburn: Lane Kiffin https://t.co/P0T7SHhp4h
— Brandon Marcello (@bmarcello) October 31, 2022
Kiffin has been fantastic since getting fired by USC in 2013. He became one of the sport’s most respected play-callers when he was the offensive coordinator at Alabama, and turned around Florida Atlantic when they hired him as head coach. And, he’s done the same thing at Ole Miss. After a 5-5 first season, Kiffin has gone 18-4 the last two seasons despite playing in the brutal SEC West. Ole Miss plays tough and physical football, too. That’s something people wouldn’t think of when they think of Kififn, but the stats don’t lie. Ole Miss has the third-best rushing offense in college football, and it’s first among teams who are not triple option-based.
Auburn has a lot more resources than Ole Miss, too. It would be fun to see what he would do there.