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Auburn Tigers
Candidates: Bob Petrino, unemployed; Jimbo Fisher, Florida State head coach; Kirby Smart, Alabama defensive coordinator; Jeff Fisher, St. Louis Rams head coach; Charlie Strong, Louisville head coach; James Franklin, Vanderbilt head coach; Gus Malzahn, Arkansas State head coach; Sonny Dykes, Louisiana Tech head coach; Mark Hudspeth, Louisiana-Lafayette head coach; Skip Holtz, South Florida head coach
Analysis: Auburn is in a pickle, thanks to an NCAA investigation looming over the program. The names Auburn is said to be courting run the gamut from promising assistant (Smart) to mid-major up-and-comer (Dykes) to unemployed offensive guru (Petrino) to NFL pipe dream (Jeff Fisher). This job has been “open†for about a month now, and some of the names that have become attached to the job over that period of time included Dykes and Hudspeth from lesser conferences, to Holtz at South Florida and Tom O’Brien at North Carolina State. The reason for inclusion of the latter two has to do with an unstated goal of the Auburn administration to find a tough, discipline-heavy head coach who can help wrangle some of the attitudes prevalent among the core group of players Auburn will have back for 2012. But the struggles of Holtz and O’Brien likely mean their candidacy for the job is over.
Prediction: Look for Auburn to make Jimbo Fisher its primary target. Bob Petrino may still be too toxic for any SEC program to take right now, while Jeff Fisher is highly unlikely. There is a lot of support for Kirby Smart, but Auburn would be taking a risk going after an unproven coach at this time. Gus Malzahn would seem to be the fallback option if Jimbo Fisher says no.