Auburn Football: 3 best fits to replace Bryan Harsin as head coach

After two tumultuous years on The Plains, Auburn football has decided to fire Bryan Harsin. The hire was controversial because Harsin was not an “SEC guy.” Harsin had a reputation as a solid head coach coming from Boise, but there were questions about his desire to recruit in the SEC.

There was some irony to the hire since Gus Malzahn was fired because recruiting was falling behind Georgia in the Atlanta-Metro area, where the Tigers traditionally recruit well.

Harsin’s firing comes when Auburn is expected to hire Mississippi State Athletic Director John Cohen for the same position, replacing former AD Allen Green. With Cohen in place, the Tigers have someone to lead the search for a new head coach.

The name on everyone’s list is Deion Sanders, the head coach at Jackson State. The question here is whether or not Auburn is ready for Coach Prime.

The answer to that question is more about autonomy for the coach than what Sanders brings to the program. Auburn’s boosters need to take a page from Alabama’s boosters when they hired Nick Saban (yes, Saban had a National Title at LSU before he took the Alabama job) and get out of the way and let the coach recruit and win games.

Who is the next coach at Auburn? Here are three candidates — and an honorable mention — to take the job.

Honorable Mention: Mike Leach, Head Coach Mississippi State

Incoming AD John Cohen could take a page from Tennessee AD Danny White and hire his guy from his former job. Let’s be clear; this is a long shot. Leach does not want to recruit the way Auburn would like him to recruit (maybe), and how long does the “Leach schtick” go over with fans and the Auburn brass in press conferences?

That said, Leach has succeeded in out-of-the-way places, i.e., Texas Tech, Washington State, and (so far) Mississippi State. Maybe Leach is willing to change his ways if the Auburn job is his only shot at a potentially-elite program.