Bryan Harsin’s replacement at Auburn? Lane Kiffin, Hugh Freeze names to watch

As has long been expected, Bryan Harsin didn’t make it out of Year 2 at Auburn. The Tigers fired the former Boise State coach who simply was never a good fit and didn’t have the support of almost anyone who mattered there. On top of that, and largely because of both of those things, recruiting at Auburn was in dreadful shape. The good news: Auburn has some very interesting options and will attract some big-time coaches. After all, Gene Chizik won a national title there and his successor, Gus Malzahn, took the Tigers to the brink of another one.

Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss head coach

The biggest name to watch is working in the SEC West right now. It’s Ole Miss’ head coach Lane Kiffin, Nick Saban’s former OC who is 18-4 with the Rebels the past two seasons and 10-3 in the SEC. His team is No. 11 in the country. He’s one of the better offensive minds in college football. He’s also proven adept at managing social media and knows how to build buzz like the one that gave the Rebels a lot of momentum. When Kiffin left Tuscaloosa, there was plenty of skepticism about whether he could be trusted with running his own program, but hiring him proved to be a very wise gamble for Florida Atlantic, which went 26-13 in his three seasons. Word is, Kiffin had interest in this job two years ago when Harsin got it. Of the three biggest names in play, he might feel like the safest, most attractive option to the Tiger power brokers.

Hugh Freeze, Liberty head coach

Former Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze left the SEC amid a scandal, but no one doubts how sharp of an offensive mind he has, and he knows how to recruit in the SEC. Freeze led the Rebels into the top 10 and beat Nick Saban’s Alabama team twice. He resurfaced at Liberty and is 33-12 overall. There have been rumblings about SEC boss Greg Sankey being against one of his programs hiring Freeze as a head coach. Freeze is still a very polarizing figure, but if Auburn hired him, he’d have the Tigers back in the top 20 before too long.

Deion Sanders, Jackson State head coach

The biggest wild card in this search is also a head coach in the deep South, but he’s running an FCS program: Jackson State’s Deion Sanders.

The 55-year-old is 19-2 the past two seasons and was honored with the Eddie Robinson Award as the season’s top FCS head coach in 2021. He upgraded that roster dramatically and landed big-name recruits who probably never would’ve thought of going to Jackson State. Last December, Sanders pulled off a huge recruiting coup by beating everyone, including his alma mater, for Travis Hunter, the nation’s No. 1 recruit. No doubt Sanders would be a huge force in recruiting. No one has a presence like he does. The guy is Saban’s co-star on all those Aflac commercials and got dragged into that NIL dust-up between the Alabama head coach and Jimbo Fisher. Sanders was the only one of the three who probably emerged from it not looking bad or having to apologize. We’ve heard mixed reactions on whether Auburn brass would be comfortable with Sanders taking over. The feeling here is that the Tigers would be foolish not to give him serious consideration to find out if it seems like a good fit.

Matt…