Auburn football coaching search targeting pair of Clemson assistants

The Auburn football coach search continues with a pair of Clemson assistants now in the mix.

After firing Gus Malzahn, the Auburn Tigers have continued to expand the search for the next head coach. Early front-runner Hugh Freeze was quickly eliminated from the conversation and Malzahn’s defensive coordinator Kevin Steele emerged as the favorite to get the job.

Steele was a massive failure 20 years ago at Baylor and the Auburn fan base has got a #StopSteele movement trending on Twitter as they try to prevent the hire. FOX Sports’ Bruce Feldman spoke on Saturday’s Big Noon Kickoff that Steele has the backing of influential people at Auburn and is being viewed as a Ed Orgeron-like reclamation project who has learned from his past failures.

“It’s a pretty wild search unfolding at Auburn right now, Kevin Steele has emerged as the frontrunner for the vacancy I am told,” Feldman said on FOX. “He has some really key money people in his corner. Steele was a head coach 20 years ago at Baylor and it was a rough, rough run he had, but the people who are backing him feel like he may have evolved ala Ed Orgeron and they feel like he’s the right man to run the program.

Auburn football search focusing on big-name assistant coaches

In addition to Steele, Alabama offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian will reportedly interview for the job and Clemson’s coveted offensive coordinator Tony Elliott and defensive coordinator Brent Venables are others that Auburn is interested in.

“A couple other people I have heard Auburn is interested in speaking with for the job are Steve Sarkisian and both coordinators at Clemson, Tony Elliott and Brent Venables, Feldman continued.”

If Auburn can pluck any of those three out of their current jobs, that would be nothing less than a grand slam hire for the Tigers.

Auburn could also be wise to consider UAB head coach Bill Clark who is fresh off winning another Conference-USA championship. His local ties and ability to build a program and establish a culture are undeniable, but is he a big enough name to sway the big-money boosters? That remains to be seen.

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