Auburn coaching search: Greg McElroy names favorite candidate for job

With Tuesday’s news that Oklahoma State was hiring North Texas‘ Eric Morris as the Cowboys’ next head football coach, courtesy of On3’s Pete Nakos and Brett McMurphy, the number of open Power Four coaching opportunities officially dropped to eight.

And while there are more prominent and newsworthy searches at Florida and LSU, especially given their unabashed interest in Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin, Greg McElroy sees only one clear-cut option at Auburn — Tulane‘s Jon Sumrall. The Tigers fired third-year head coach Hugh Freeze on Nov. 2, one day after their disappointing 10-3 home loss to Kentucky.

During Tuesday’s episode of his Always College Football podcast, McElroy detailed what makes Sumrall the perfect fit at Auburn (5-6, 1-6 SEC), which is facing a fifth consecutive losing season, something that hasn’t happened on the Plains since before legendary coach Ralph “Shug” Jordan‘s tenure.

“When you look at Auburn, it’s always been very intriguing, the appeal of this job, because if you have the right guy, you can win a ton of games. … I think it’s very clear where this coaching search should have started, and I think it’s very clear where this coaching search is likely to end, and that’s with the hiring of Jon Sumrall from Tulane,” McElroy said Tuesday. “This is a guy that fits the (Auburn) archetype perfectly. He’s a disciplinarian, he has great organizational control, he’s got deep ties to the region. He’s coached at Tulane, he’s coached at Troy, he’s spent time in the SEC, and has put together a track record of punching above his weight class at both of his previous stops. I (like) how organized he is, I think as a program builder, it makes me a real believer in him being able to get things done and get Auburn going in the  right direction.”

The 43-year-old Sumrall has the 24th-ranked Green Wave (9-2, 6-1 American) on the verge of accomplishing something Auburn has yet to achieve — a potential College Football Playoff berth. That would obviously require Tulane winning the American championship in two weeks and finishing the regular season as the highest-ranked Group of Five champion.

But in the meantime, McElroy raised a couple of questions that could complicate the Tigers’ pursuit of Sumrall, namely if there will be any staffing requirements placed upon him, as well as the timing of his eventual hiring. If Auburn drags its feet ay, McElroy suggested the Tigers might lose its bargaining power, especially once other prominent jobs begin to fill their openings.

“Now, what will he be asked to do when it comes to putting together a staff? Will he be expected to retain (defensive coordinator) DJ Durkin, who is currently serving in the interim role? I don’t know that just yet. But I think Jon Sumrall is absolutely where this search should start, and I think it’d be wise for Auburn to lock this down sooner than later,” McElroy added. “Because the second round — in the event Lane Kiffin leaves (for Florida or LSU), in the event that there’s movement at other places – Jon Sumrall is going to start receiving a bunch of phone calls, and his price tag is going to go up. And there is an appeal for Jon Sumrall, he’s from the (Huntsville) area, his wife, I believe, is an Auburn graduate. So there’s a lot of appeal for him to go to Auburn. But you’re going to cost yourself more money if you don’t get this thing done, and get it done sooner than later.”