Pete Thamel reveals latest on Auburn head coach search, names top contenders

After firing Bryan Harsin early in the week, Auburn is onto a coaching search and doing so with a new athletic director in John Cohen. On College GameDay on Saturday morning, ESPN’s Pete Thamel gave a look at what the coaching search could look like for the Tigers.

“Expect Auburn to go big-game hunting in this coaching search to replace Bryan Harsin,” Thamel said. “One of the attractions of this job to John Cohen is he feels Auburn has the resources to win a national championship. That could include paying more than $10 million for a coach. Expect the Auburn search to be focused on these five names. It’ll start with former NFL coach Matt Rhule. It’ll include Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin, Kentucky’s Mark Stoops, Alabama offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien, and Liberty’s Hugh Freeze. Expect the pitch to these coaches to be a simple one; come in, build up Auburn, and as Nick Saban eventually retires, you have the program in place to potentially rise up in the SEC West and fill that power void that Alabama has occupied for so long.”

Harsin did not even make it two full seasons at Auburn. He went a combined 9-12 during his time leading the Tigers.

The last 18 months have been tumultuous for Harsin and the football program. In February, the university launched an inquiry into the program and Auburn Live’s Justin Hokanson reported Harsin’s future was “in question” after just one season. But the university opted to keep Harsin in place following the investigation.

Recently, multiple Auburn players announced their intentions to enter the transfer portal. Three players — A.D. Diamond, Tar’Varish Dawson and Landen King — all announced they plan to enter the portal when the window opens in December.

Griffin McVeigh contributed to this report