Auburn could off the radar to replace Gus Malzahn

Perhaps with the hefty buyout they’re paying out in mind, Auburn could go a little off the radar to replace Gus Malzahn.

Gus Malzahn was perpetually on the hot seat at Auburn, but a 6-4 record with three losses to top-5 teams this year seemed good enough to give him another year. But on Sunday, Malzahn was fired, with a list of candidates to replace him that starts with Hugh Freeze and goes all the way to incumbent defensive coordinator Kevin Steele.

Auburn is going to pay Malzahn a $21.45 million buyout, with half of that paid out within 30 days. The purely financial aspect of the move to fire Malzahn, with lost revenue due to COVID-19 in mind, points to not ponying up huge for a new football coach.

Auburn may go off the radar to replace Malzahn

On College Football Live Tuesday, ESPN’s Trevor Matich pointed to an under-the-radar candidate for Auburn.

“Bill Clark has done a phenomenal job at UAB and coaches that coach high school within the recruiting footprint know they can trust him,” “Plus, because of the shutdown of the program for a couple of years and managing the politics of that whole scenario and then bringing them back to win the first conference championship in school history.

“He understands how to navigate the politics and use them to his benefit, which really is job No. 1 at Auburn. I think it’s Bill Clark and he should keep Kevin Steele as his assistant head coach to once again help navigate the waters of Auburn and maximize what other people see as a detriment.”

Clark in his fifth season at UAB, with a 39-22 record (5-3 this season). Following a 6-6 mark in 2014, his first season, the Blazers’ football program was shut down for two years. They returned to action in 2017 and went 8-5 with the school’s first bowl appearance since 2004. In 2018, the Blazers went 11-3 and won Conference USA. A third straight bowl berth followed the 2019 campaign (9-5 record).

Clark went 11-4 in his lone season as head coach at FCS Jacksonville State (2013). Before that he was defensive coordinator at South Alabama from 2008-2012, and prior to that he was a high school coach in Alabama for many years.

Being able to recruit well in the nearby geographic footprint will be important for the next coach at Auburn, and Clark’s roots in Alabama high school football will help there. And as Matich cited, the politics of the Auburn job are unlikely to throw Clark off after dealing with a program shutdown at UAB. Freeze is the big-name candidate, but Clark might be a better fit.