Paul Finebaum details how deep Auburn's pockets could run during coaching search

The college football coaching carousel is in full swing and few jobs will command more attention than the open Auburn gig. But how deep are Auburn’s pockets, exactly?

That’s a question that was raised Monday on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning.

ESPN analyst Greg McElroy noted he’s heard Auburn has extended one offer to a coach, but the figure the Tigers offered came in a little shy of what that coach wanted. To that end, McElroy asked fellow ESPN personality Paul Finebaum just how deep Auburn’s pockets will run in this coaching search.

“Money doesn’t seem to be an object when it comes to firing coaches, Greg, so I would have a hard time imagining why it would be an issue bringing them in,” Finebaum said. “I mean if you can afford to pay what, $35, ($36) million to get rid of coaches you should be able to spend any amount to get one.

“Greg, I don’t know what you know, but I’m certainly interested in hearing what you said. But if Auburn is going to try to be cheap about a coach then they’ve got more problems than appear, because that would be absurd. At this point in the coaching world, numbers don’t really matter, whether it’s $7 million, $8 million, $9 million. What difference does it make? Get a good coach in. Get a coach you want, pay him what the market value is and get this thing corrected as opposed to what you say is going on.

“But again, I don’t know that, so I’m going to defer to you for more information.”

Paul Finebaum: Spend the money, Auburn

Finebaum came out pretty clearly on the side that the Tigers should spend whatever they need to in order to lure their top coaching target.

He seemed to believe Auburn’s pockets are deep enough for that.

“It’s not my money, but I’m going to spend it for Auburn anyway,” Finebaum said. “But if you think some coach is worth $85 or $90 million, I don’t have a problem going to the limit. Whatever they paid Brian Kelly, do you think it was worth it Saturday night? Yeah, I dare say it was.

“I don’t want to come off looking like I’m throwing a double-standard up here. I think some of the contracts are absurd. When you extend a coach for no good reason, that’s on you. But when you’re going out there trying to bring a coach in that’s as low as Auburn currently is, and you think whatever the coach’s name is is worth it, don’t try to save $15 million and end up with somebody you don’t want. Just go for it. That’s all I’m saying, Greg.”