Auburn Football announced Gus Malzahn is fired as head coach, meaning it is now searching for the next Auburn head coach. So who are the top candidates to replace Gus Malzahn as the Tigers head coach? We’ve got the top Auburn head coach targets and some realistic options.
Malzahn’s firing won’t be cheap: It will cost about $21 million, plus money owed to assistant coaches who will be fired once the next head coach is hired. Malzahn was constantly on the hot seat with Auburn, but this year’s 6-4 mark did him in (and it really should have been 4-6).
There are some big names Auburn could hire, like Mario Cristobal, Lane Kiffin, Matt Campbell and Luke Fickell, but just how attractive is the Auburn job right now? Would the top coach candidates want to face Alabama every year?
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Proven coaches should be high on Arkansas’ head coach candidate list and there are several who make sense. They are at smaller schools, but Billy Napier has done a fantastic job at Louisiana, as has Bill Clark at UAB.
Hugh Freeze might be the top gettable target for Auburn, if they want to take the risk of course. Dan Quinn, the fired NFL head coach, was the DC at Florida and that could be an option.
Auburn Football could go with a coordinator hire, and one in particular makes sense: Alabama OC Steve Sarkisian. Keep an eye out for Clemson OC Tony Elliott here too.
Here’s the full Top 10 Candidates List:
#10 Tony Elliott, Clemson OC
#9 Luke Fickell, Cincinnati HC
#8 Matt Campbell, Iowa State HC
#7 Dan Quinn, Former Falcons HC
#6 Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss HC
#5 Steve Sarkisian, Bama OC
#4 Bill Clark, UAB HC
#3 Billy Napier, Louisiana HC
#2 Mario Cristobal, Oregon HC
#1 Hugh Freeze, Liberty
FOLLOW: Tom Downey is the Senior Writer & On-Air Host at Chat Sports. Please follow him on Twitter @Whatgoingdowney.
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