Auburn is finalizing a deal to hire Mississippi State athletic John Cohen to the same position for the SEC West rival school.
A person with knowledge of the negotiations told The Associated Press on Saturday that the school and Cohen were close to an agreement. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because a deal was not yet done.
Cohen is in his seventh year as athletic director at Mississippi State after a long career as a successful baseball coach. His first job could be to decide the fate of football coach Bryan Harsin, whose team is at the bottom of the Southeastern Conference Western Division after ending his first season in 2021 with five straight losses.