College Football

Top Auburn coaching candidates: Deion Sanders, Lane Kiffin, and more

Updated Oct. 31, 2022 11:36 p.m. ET

The coaching carousel can often get a little off-axis and spin in wildly different directions over the course of a college football season. That’s what leads to surprises like Wisconsin letting go of Paul Chryst mid-season, or TCU showing the door to Gary Patterson in the middle of last year.

But there are other times when things are simply fait accompli when it comes to firing a head coach. Such was the case on Monday when Auburn finally made the inevitable announcement that they were letting head coach Bryan Harsin go after less than two seasons.

The Tigers were coming off a 41-27 home loss to Arkansas on Saturday that dropped Harsin to 9-12 over his short tenure and just 4-9 in SEC play. On top of the disappointing results on the field, the former Boise State coach (who went 69-19 with the Broncos and had a New Year’s Six bowl win) never seemed like a cultural fit for one of the most demanding jobs in the country.

Between Harsin and predecessor Gus Malzahn, the Tigers have paid roughly $37 million in buyouts to just two head coaches in the past 687 days — nearly $54,900 per day in that time span. Add in assistant salaries and the cost of hiring a new staff, and the figure shoots even higher. That’s a reflection on just what kind of hectic and pressure-packed job it can be on the Plains — but also underscores the school’s commitment to winning at the highest level after the previous five head coaches led Auburn to either a national and/or SEC title.

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The decision to move on from Harsin also marks a near-complete leadership turnover with the Tigers that, more or less, clears the decks for a reboot that goes far beyond the football team but is chiefly focused on making the sport a winner again. School president Chris Roberts was hired in February, and it is widely reported that Mississippi State athletic director John Cohen will be taking over the same position with AU in the coming days.

What direction could the Tigers go in replacing Harsin? In what is sure to be one of the most discussed job openings of the 2022 carousel, here is a look at potential candidates to take over at Auburn:

Deion Sanders, Jackson State head coach

Prime to the Plains? There’s a distinct possibility of it happening, and Sanders has indicated he would listen to bigger jobs like this one. He’s quickly turned around JSU into a marquee program at the FCS level, going 23-5 in three seasons as a head coach. On top of that, he’s proven he can bring in players at the highest level after beating out his alma mater Florida State for No. 1 overall recruit Travis Hunter last year. Don’t discount the coach’s connection with Under Armour, a notable school sponsor, either. On top of the obvious victory during the introductory press conference that hiring Sanders would represent, his ability to inject a bit of swagger into the program that has been missing just such a thing the past few years might be an even bigger win. It would also add a bit of spice going against Aflac commercial co-host Nick Saban across the state as well.

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Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss head coach

If the school wants someone with proven head coaching experience in the SEC, Kiffin should be the first name on the call sheet. He’s gotten the Rebels to a New Year’s Six bowl and has the team off to its best start since the 1960s. There are obvious parallels to hiring Tommy Tuberville from Ole Miss back in the day, but Kiffin would bring an exciting offense and the ability to recruit against the best, too. His usage of the Transfer Portal would be an asset in turning things around quickly, and the combination of that and the Tigers’ NIL war chest would make for a pretty formidable opponent for the rest of the SEC. There are not many moves that could lure Kiffin out of Oxford at the moment, but the ability to needle Saban at Alabama’s greatest rival might be just as enticing as the hefty payday.

Hugh Freeze, Liberty head coach

Freeze recently signed an extension with the Flames, but the buyout on that deal is not expected to get in the way of a departure to a place such as Auburn. Notably, he is one of the rare coaches to beat Alabama in back-to-back games — something that carries added weight at a place like the Plains. Freeze's offenses are entertaining, and he knows what it takes to assemble a roster that can compete for conference and national titles from his stint at Ole Miss. He’s elevated Liberty into a top-25 team and gone 33-12 overall while juggling the schedule of a football independent. One complicating factor for Freeze is the potential for the conference office not looking too favorably on such a hire, but perhaps enough distance from a scandal with the Rebels would make administrators more amenable to the thought.

Matt Rhule, former Carolina Panthers head coach

Rhule’s name is bound to come up with just about every college opening after performing turnaround miracles at Temple and Baylor. Auburn won’t be quite as big of a rebuilding job as either of those two, but will bring a different level of pressure compared to even an NFL gig. Rhule has done well pretty much everywhere he’s been at the college level, shaking off his Northern roots to thrive in the heart of Texas and parlay that into a pro job. He’s still being paid by the Panthers, which could be a nice cherry on top for Auburn given the amount the Tigers have committed to buyouts, too.

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Dave Doeren, NC State head coach

Doeren could be one of the few coaches without SEC experience that may get a look from the Tigers after pretty much maxing out what the Wolfpack can do, winning at least eight games in four of the past five years before this one (NC State is currently in the AP Top 25 at 6-2). He’s an excellent developer of talent, especially in the trenches, and has defenses that would fit in well inside the conference. He’s flirted with openings like Tennessee in the past and could be a veteran option that gets the Tigers back on track to being a consistent program.

Jamie Chadwell, Coastal Carolina head coach

Chadwell is 29-4 in the past three seasons at Coastal, elevating the program into one of the Sun Belt’s best and into the AP Top 25 on a regular basis. His offenses are extremely fun to watch and his variations of spread option looks would be quite the curveball in the SEC. The Tennessee native has won everywhere he’s been, but Auburn would have to be comfortable given his lack of SEC or Power 5 experience.

Charles Huff, Marshall head coach

Huff led the Thundering Herd to a bowl game in his first season and has them competitive in their first year in the Sun Belt. He overlapped at Mississippi State as an assistant under incoming AD John Cohen and was widely regarded as one of the best recruiters in the country as Alabama’s associate head coach.

Kevin Steele, Miami defensive coordinator

Steele has been synonymous with the SEC, leading gritty defenses the past two decades at stops such as Alabama, LSU and Tennessee. He was briefly Auburn’s interim head coach after Malzahn was let go and has head coaching experience at Baylor. Steele is close with several key figures at Auburn and probably will garner plenty of support if a big name is skittish over the situation around the program.

Todd Monken, Georgia offensive coordinator

File this under helping your own program while also hurting a rival. Monken is a former head coach at Southern Miss and has extensive NFL experience. He also has been a veteran in the SEC, with stops at LSU and in helping lead the Bulldogs to the national title a year ago. His offenses are known for the ability to create big plays, and he’s recruited at a high level under Kirby Smart, too.

Bobby Petrino, Missouri State head coach

If Auburn really only cares about winning, could reviving Petrino’s career in the SEC make sense? He led Arkansas to a top-five ranking before things came crashing down in Fayetteville, and he made Lamar Jackson a Heisman winner at Louisville. Petrino was an OC on the Plains years ago and has been seriously connected to the top job at AU twice before (including, infamously, the scandal known as JetGate). Could the third time be the charm? Nothing at Auburn will ever surprise and that includes the return of Petrino.

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Bryan Fischer is a college football writer for FOX Sports. He has been covering college athletics for nearly two decades at outlets such as NBC Sports, CBS Sports, Yahoo! Sports and NFL.com among others. Follow him on Twitter at @BryanDFischer.