If Auburn were to make a move internally, this is the direction it would go. Steele, currently the highest-paid assistant coach in college football and the team's current interim head coach, is in his fifth season directing Auburn’s defense to being one of more consistently strong units in the SEC.
His only head-coaching stint is a sizeable blemish on his resume; Steele went 1-31 in the Big 12 as Baylor’s head coach from 1999-2002. But he’s one of the most experienced and well-respected coaches in the industry, and Auburn thinks very highly of his ability to develop talent and implement a standard.
This would be the opposite of what Auburn had been dealing with when Malzahn was the coach. Steele will want to have his fingerprints on the defense, so the offensive staff choices would be all the more important.
[h=2]MARIO CRISTOBAL[/h]
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</picture><figcaption style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">(Photo: Troy Wayrynen , USA TODAY Sports)</figcaption></figure>Cristobal has been long respected as a top-tier developer and recruiter in the trenches, particularly on the offensive line, where he played and won national championships at Miami in the early ‘90s.
He’s currently in the second head-coaching stint of his career (FIU from 2007-12). After Willie Taggart left Oregon for Florida State three years ago, the program decided to promote from the inside, granting the job to Cristobal, who was the Ducks’ offensive-line coach at the time.
His first season at the helm in 2018, he turned Oregon from 6-6 in Taggert’s final regular season to a team that was one overtime period away from winning 10 games.
Cristobal became a household name last year, going 12-2 with the Ducks, winning the Pac-12 title and the Rose Bowl, and being named Pac-12 Coach of the Year.
According to OregonLive.com, Cristobal’s camp is looking for a long-term extension at Oregon. Does that change with the Auburn job now open?
If Michigan chooses to also move on from https://247sports.com/Coach/Jim-Harbaugh-732Jim Harbaugh, Cristobal will likely be near the top of their wish lists, too.
[h=2]BILLY NAPIER[/h]
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</picture><figcaption style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">(Photo: Jeremy Brevard, USA TODAY Sports)</figcaption></figure>Could Napier’s success in the Sun Belt translate to the SEC?
In three years at Louisiana, Napier’s first head-coaching job, the Ragin’ Cajuns have won their division each season, including a program-record 11 wins last year.
Prior to Napier’s arrival, Louisiana had never won double-digit games in a season. At 9-1 in 2020, it looks set up to do so for the second straight year.
Napier’s resume before landing the Louisiana job included quarterbacks coach at South Carolina, wide receivers coach at Alabama, and offensive coordinator at Clemson and Arizona State.
Napier was reportedly linked to the Mississippi State and Baylor openings last season, and he parried the South Carolina job earlier this month with a public statement that he was staying put in Lafayette.
Auburn would undoubtedly be the biggest job Napier’s been tied to yet. The question would be where he wants more time to develop with little-to-no pressure at Louisiana.
[h=2]LUKE FICKELL[/h]
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</picture><figcaption style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">(Photo: Cincinnati Athletics, 247Sports)</figcaption></figure>Fickell is another example of a coach in his first head gig finding huge amounts of success.
Following https://247sports.com/coach/Jim-Tressel85Jim Tressel’s exit at Ohio State, Fickell posted a 6-6 season with the Buckeyes as the interim coach before returning to his assistant duties when Urban Meyer took over.
Cincinnati plucked him in 2017. After a rocky first season getting things going with the Bearcats, Fickell won 11 games in back-to-back years, and is currently 8-0 and contending for a College Football Playoff berth in 2020.
He’s been in Ohio most of his life but has shown he can recruit across the states. He’s viewed as a future star capable of running a Power Five program. Is the future now?
[h=2]STEVE SARKISIAN[/h]
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</picture><figcaption style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">(Photo: Stuart McNair, 247Sports)</figcaption></figure>Is Sarkisian ready to be a head coach again? The Alabama offensive coordinator has spurned a few big jobs over the past couple years — like Colorado and the Arizona Cardinals offensive coordinator opening — to stay on Nick Saban’s staff.
Many think he’s waiting for a bigger opening, and Auburn certainly qualifies as such.
Following an ugly exit at USC, he went from Alabama offensive analyst to Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator, and now back to Tuscaloosa, running the best offense in the nation.
Sarkisian went 46-35 in seven seasons as both Washington and USC’s head coach, and had at least four losses in each of his six full campaigns as a head coach. But he’s been one of the nation’s top assistants recently and has put his energy toward rebuilding his career over the past five years.
If he isn’t given the keys at Auburn, he’ll likely land somewhere else in the near future.
[h=2]HUGH FREEZE[/h]
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</picture><figcaption style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">(Photo: John Bowen, Getty)</figcaption></figure>Could the man Malzahn replaced at Arkansas State in 2012 now do the same for him at Auburn?
Formerly the head coach at Ole Miss before his exit in Oxford was shrouded in scandal after the Rebels were charged with recruiting violations. Freeze was reportedly a candidate to become Alabama's offensive coordinator three years ago before the SEC recommended to Saban that he not make the hire and allow Freeze back into the conference.
If Freeze isn't met with similar roadblocks this time around, many Auburn fans would consider him a home-run hire. He's an offensive mastermind whose Liberty team is currently putting up video-game numbers with former Auburn QB Malik Willis running the show.
What could be an added bonus for Freeze in Auburn's eyes: He beat Saban and Alabama in back-to-back seasons at Ole Miss. He and Malzahn were two of a small number of active coaches with multiple wins over Saban.
[h=2]MATT CAMPBELL[/h]
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</picture><figcaption style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">(Photo: Peter Casey, ISU)</figcaption></figure>The two-time Big 12 Coach of the Year (2017-18) has been linked to numerous jobs over the past few seasons thanks to his success at Iowa State, which is currently No. 7 in the College Football Playoff rankings. Like many others on this list, however, Auburn would likely be his biggest offer yet should the Tigers flirt with him.
Campbell has led Iowa State to four straight winning seasons after his success at Toledo (35-15 over five seasons) landed him the Big 12 job.
[h=2]JOSH HEUPEL[/h]
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</picture><figcaption style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">(Photo: Jason Beede, 247Sports)</figcaption></figure>An All-American quarterback for Bob Stoopsduring Oklahoma’s 2000 BCS national title team, Heupel has been one of the most successful, young offensive minds over the past 20 years.
He bounced from OU to Utah State to Missouri as an offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach or both. After Mizzou posted the SEC’s top offense in 2017 (502 yards, 37.5 points per game), he became Scott Frost’s replacement at UCF.
He went 22-4 in his first two seasons at the helm with the Knights, again boasting one of the top offenses in the country over that span. His three quarterbacks— McKenzie Milton, Darriel Mack Jr. and Dillon Gabriel — have all been near the top of the nation’s best QB ratings during their playing periods.
Auburn would have to trust that Heupel could translate offensive success in the American Conference to the SEC.
[h=2]DAN QUINN[/h]
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</picture><figcaption style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">(Photo: Kevin C. Cox, Getty)</figcaption></figure>The former Atlanta Falcons head coach (fired after an 0-5 start this season) has reportedly been flirting with some college programs about coordinator and head coach openings already, and he would surely think the Auburn job to be attractive.
Quinn’s past few years in Atlanta didn’t get the job done, but he did take the Falcons to the Super Bowl in 2016. Prior to taking over in Atlanta, Quinn held the position of D-line coach for the 49ers, Dolphins, Jets and Seahawks, as well as a two-year stint as the Florida Gators’ defensive coordinator from 2011-12.
[h=2]LANE KIFFIN[/h]
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</picture><figcaption style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">(Photo: Justin Ford, USA TODAY Sports)</figcaption></figure>After Kiffin’s career backslided with the Oakland Raiders, USC and Tennessee, the son of legendary NFL defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin has found his footing with his recent gigs at Alabama, FAU and now again the head coach of a major program at Ole Miss.
Kiffin’s offense in 2014 was Alabama’s first to fully embrace a spread tempo system. The result was a program record for points and yards in a season.
Alabama has had great coaches and players since Kiffin left in 2016, but his arrival in Tuscaloosa to run the offense for Nick Sabanmarked an identity switch for the Crimson Tide from defensive juggernaut to the explosive, high-scoring team fans know in 2020.
Kiffin won double-digit games in two of three seasons at FAU before taking the Ole Miss opening at the end of last season. His Rebels, helped by coordinator and quarterbacks coach Jeff Lebby, are currently the No. 3 total offense in college football. Quarterback Matt Corralhas the nation’s No. 4 quarterback rating behind the likes of Mac Jones, Justin Fieldsand Kyle Trask.
Proponents of a Kiffin hire at Auburn would hypothesize what his offense could do with high-level recruits.
[h=2]BILL CLARK[/h]
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</picture><figcaption style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">(Photo: Icon Sportswire, Getty)</figcaption></figure>No one on this list knows the state of Alabama like UAB’s Bill Clark.
Clark played at Jacksonville State before bouncing around Alabama high schools until 2008, when he landed the South Alabama defensive coordinator job. He parlayed five years of success with the Jaguars into a head-coaching job with his alma mater before he took over as UAB’s head coach from 2014 on.
Clark was a guiding force for the UAB community when the football program was nixed in December 2014. He held steady with his commitment to the players and to the program, and vice versa.
Since UAB football was reinstated prior to the 2017 season, the Blazers have gone 8-5, 11-3 and 9-5, with a current record of 4-4 in 2020.
UAB won Conference USA in 2018 with its best season in program history. Clark was named Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year.
[h=2]BRENT VENABLES[/h]
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</picture><figcaption style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">(Photo: ACC)</figcaption></figure>Programs have long tried to lure Venables, one of the best defensive coordinators in the nation year over year, away from Dabo Swinney and Clemson. And for years he's turned them down.
218COMMENTSAfter an eight-year stint as Oklahoma's defensive coordinator, Venables has been on Swinney's staff since 2012. His defenses, which consistently produce multiple high-round NFL talents, has been a massive factor in the Tigers' run of five straight College Football Playoff appearances and two national titles.
Auburn would need to view Venables as a significant upgrade from Steele in terms of a program-builder.
His only head-coaching stint is a sizeable blemish on his resume; Steele went 1-31 in the Big 12 as Baylor’s head coach from 1999-2002. But he’s one of the most experienced and well-respected coaches in the industry, and Auburn thinks very highly of his ability to develop talent and implement a standard.
This would be the opposite of what Auburn had been dealing with when Malzahn was the coach. Steele will want to have his fingerprints on the defense, so the offensive staff choices would be all the more important.
[h=2]MARIO CRISTOBAL[/h]
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He’s currently in the second head-coaching stint of his career (FIU from 2007-12). After Willie Taggart left Oregon for Florida State three years ago, the program decided to promote from the inside, granting the job to Cristobal, who was the Ducks’ offensive-line coach at the time.
His first season at the helm in 2018, he turned Oregon from 6-6 in Taggert’s final regular season to a team that was one overtime period away from winning 10 games.
Cristobal became a household name last year, going 12-2 with the Ducks, winning the Pac-12 title and the Rose Bowl, and being named Pac-12 Coach of the Year.
According to OregonLive.com, Cristobal’s camp is looking for a long-term extension at Oregon. Does that change with the Auburn job now open?
If Michigan chooses to also move on from https://247sports.com/Coach/Jim-Harbaugh-732Jim Harbaugh, Cristobal will likely be near the top of their wish lists, too.
[h=2]BILLY NAPIER[/h]
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In three years at Louisiana, Napier’s first head-coaching job, the Ragin’ Cajuns have won their division each season, including a program-record 11 wins last year.
Prior to Napier’s arrival, Louisiana had never won double-digit games in a season. At 9-1 in 2020, it looks set up to do so for the second straight year.
Napier’s resume before landing the Louisiana job included quarterbacks coach at South Carolina, wide receivers coach at Alabama, and offensive coordinator at Clemson and Arizona State.
Napier was reportedly linked to the Mississippi State and Baylor openings last season, and he parried the South Carolina job earlier this month with a public statement that he was staying put in Lafayette.
Auburn would undoubtedly be the biggest job Napier’s been tied to yet. The question would be where he wants more time to develop with little-to-no pressure at Louisiana.
[h=2]LUKE FICKELL[/h]
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Following https://247sports.com/coach/Jim-Tressel85Jim Tressel’s exit at Ohio State, Fickell posted a 6-6 season with the Buckeyes as the interim coach before returning to his assistant duties when Urban Meyer took over.
Cincinnati plucked him in 2017. After a rocky first season getting things going with the Bearcats, Fickell won 11 games in back-to-back years, and is currently 8-0 and contending for a College Football Playoff berth in 2020.
He’s been in Ohio most of his life but has shown he can recruit across the states. He’s viewed as a future star capable of running a Power Five program. Is the future now?
[h=2]STEVE SARKISIAN[/h]
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Many think he’s waiting for a bigger opening, and Auburn certainly qualifies as such.
Following an ugly exit at USC, he went from Alabama offensive analyst to Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator, and now back to Tuscaloosa, running the best offense in the nation.
Sarkisian went 46-35 in seven seasons as both Washington and USC’s head coach, and had at least four losses in each of his six full campaigns as a head coach. But he’s been one of the nation’s top assistants recently and has put his energy toward rebuilding his career over the past five years.
If he isn’t given the keys at Auburn, he’ll likely land somewhere else in the near future.
[h=2]HUGH FREEZE[/h]
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Formerly the head coach at Ole Miss before his exit in Oxford was shrouded in scandal after the Rebels were charged with recruiting violations. Freeze was reportedly a candidate to become Alabama's offensive coordinator three years ago before the SEC recommended to Saban that he not make the hire and allow Freeze back into the conference.
If Freeze isn't met with similar roadblocks this time around, many Auburn fans would consider him a home-run hire. He's an offensive mastermind whose Liberty team is currently putting up video-game numbers with former Auburn QB Malik Willis running the show.
What could be an added bonus for Freeze in Auburn's eyes: He beat Saban and Alabama in back-to-back seasons at Ole Miss. He and Malzahn were two of a small number of active coaches with multiple wins over Saban.
[h=2]MATT CAMPBELL[/h]
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Campbell has led Iowa State to four straight winning seasons after his success at Toledo (35-15 over five seasons) landed him the Big 12 job.
[h=2]JOSH HEUPEL[/h]
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He bounced from OU to Utah State to Missouri as an offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach or both. After Mizzou posted the SEC’s top offense in 2017 (502 yards, 37.5 points per game), he became Scott Frost’s replacement at UCF.
He went 22-4 in his first two seasons at the helm with the Knights, again boasting one of the top offenses in the country over that span. His three quarterbacks— McKenzie Milton, Darriel Mack Jr. and Dillon Gabriel — have all been near the top of the nation’s best QB ratings during their playing periods.
Auburn would have to trust that Heupel could translate offensive success in the American Conference to the SEC.
[h=2]DAN QUINN[/h]
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Quinn’s past few years in Atlanta didn’t get the job done, but he did take the Falcons to the Super Bowl in 2016. Prior to taking over in Atlanta, Quinn held the position of D-line coach for the 49ers, Dolphins, Jets and Seahawks, as well as a two-year stint as the Florida Gators’ defensive coordinator from 2011-12.
[h=2]LANE KIFFIN[/h]
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Kiffin’s offense in 2014 was Alabama’s first to fully embrace a spread tempo system. The result was a program record for points and yards in a season.
Alabama has had great coaches and players since Kiffin left in 2016, but his arrival in Tuscaloosa to run the offense for Nick Sabanmarked an identity switch for the Crimson Tide from defensive juggernaut to the explosive, high-scoring team fans know in 2020.
Kiffin won double-digit games in two of three seasons at FAU before taking the Ole Miss opening at the end of last season. His Rebels, helped by coordinator and quarterbacks coach Jeff Lebby, are currently the No. 3 total offense in college football. Quarterback Matt Corralhas the nation’s No. 4 quarterback rating behind the likes of Mac Jones, Justin Fieldsand Kyle Trask.
Proponents of a Kiffin hire at Auburn would hypothesize what his offense could do with high-level recruits.
[h=2]BILL CLARK[/h]
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Clark played at Jacksonville State before bouncing around Alabama high schools until 2008, when he landed the South Alabama defensive coordinator job. He parlayed five years of success with the Jaguars into a head-coaching job with his alma mater before he took over as UAB’s head coach from 2014 on.
Clark was a guiding force for the UAB community when the football program was nixed in December 2014. He held steady with his commitment to the players and to the program, and vice versa.
Since UAB football was reinstated prior to the 2017 season, the Blazers have gone 8-5, 11-3 and 9-5, with a current record of 4-4 in 2020.
UAB won Conference USA in 2018 with its best season in program history. Clark was named Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year.
[h=2]BRENT VENABLES[/h]
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218COMMENTSAfter an eight-year stint as Oklahoma's defensive coordinator, Venables has been on Swinney's staff since 2012. His defenses, which consistently produce multiple high-round NFL talents, has been a massive factor in the Tigers' run of five straight College Football Playoff appearances and two national titles.
Auburn would need to view Venables as a significant upgrade from Steele in terms of a program-builder.
