A look at (possible) candidates for Auburn’s offensive coordinator position

It’s been exactly one month since news broke that offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn would be leaving his job as Auburn’s offensive coordinator to become head coach at Arkansas State. In the four weeks since then, there have been plenty of rumors about potential candidates and interviews, but nothing concrete has come to the surface. If Auburn fans have learned anything from the recent search for a new defensive coordinator, it’s that Gene Chizik is playing this close to the vest and nothing should be believed until it becomes official. Still, there are rumored candidates out there, so it wouldn’t hurt to see what each has to offer. Kerwin Bell and Dirk Koetter appear to be old news at this point, so we’re not going to bother analyzing them.

Brian Schottenheimer, former New York Jets offensive coordinator — Schottenheimer, son of longtime NFL head coach Marty, recently left/was pushed out of his position as Jets OC. He’s been linked to several other offensive coordinator positions in the last week, including Florida, Alabama and the Atlanta Falcons. In Shotty’s six seasons with New York, the Jets never really had a prolific offense, finishing in the top 10 in scoring just once. The allure of Schottenheimer is that he prefers a power running game, something Chizik and Auburn fans alike covet. His rushing attacks ranked in the NFL’s top 10 from 2008 to ’10, leading the league with 172.2 yards in 2010. Aside from his first and final years with New York, Schottenheimer’s rushing offenses have ended the season with a better NFL ranking than his passing offenses. It’s hard to believe he’s actually a candidate at Auburn, especially with his recent interview at Alabama, but Schottenheimer would be a good philosophical fit for Auburn’s offense. He’s not a very exciting name, but Auburn fans could learn to quickly love Schotty.

Adam Gase, Denver Broncos quarterbacks coach — Gase was tabbed as quarterbacks coach in Denver a year ago after serving as the wide receivers coach for two seasons. It’s hard to turn the TV to any sports coverage without seeing wall-to-wall reporting on the quarterback Gase tutored this season, Tim Tebow. Tebow is the hottest story in the NFL, having led the Broncos to quite a few improbable wins this season, including Sunday’s Wild Card game against the Steelers. Tebow’s regular-season passing stats weren’t all that impressive — 1.729 yards, 12 touchdowns, six interceptions, 72.9 rating in 11 starts — but his ability to play well in crunch time can not be denied. Tebow did a good job of protecting the ball until the final two weeks of the season when he threw four of his six picks. Gase’s Bronco receivers were above average, ranking 13th and ninth in 2009 and ’10, respectively. He’s never held a coordinator position, so it’s impossible to tell how he would handle the responsibility and what his offense would look like. Gase is an even less exciting name than Schottenheimer and would probably be a tough sell to Auburn’s boosters and fans.

John McNulty, Arizona Cardinals wide receivers coach — McNulty (cue Wire flashback) joined the Cardinals in 2009 and has done a great job with Arizona’s receivers over the past three seasons. The Cards finished 27th, 18th and 7th in ’09, ’10 and ’11 in yards per catch, averaging 10.7, 11.5 and 12.9 yards over that span. Before moving on to Arizona, McNulty spent five seasons as Rutgers offensive coordinator, where he ran a balanced attack and worked wonders with a team that had been pretty inept for most of the last century and a half. In his final season at Rutgers, McNulty’s offense averaged 29 points per game, which isn’t outstanding. But after getting off to a slow start, the 2008 Rutgers O averaged 43.3 points over its final six games. That is pretty outstanding.

Frank Cignetti Jr., Rutgers offensive coordinator — Cignetti took over as Rutgers OC before the 2011 season and didn’t do much to impress this year. His offense averaged 26.4 points per game, which actually was better than Auburn in 2011, but his rushing attack had a measly 97.7 yards per game average. That kind of number sends us to bad flashbacks of the final days of the Terry Bowden regime, when no competent running back was in sight and Auburn was throwing the ball 80 percent of the game — not a fun memory. Cignetti was OC at Pittsburgh in 2009 and ’10, where his offenses averaged 32.1 and 26.3 points, and 186.3 and 165.6 rushing yards per game. Cignetti has an NFL background, serving as quarterbacks control for the Chiefs and quarterbacks coach for the Saints and 49ers at various points before his time in Pittsburgh. Cignetti coached Dion Lewis to a 1,799-yard season in ’09, which is the kind of running back production Auburn fans dream of.

So, those are the four hot names right now in the coordinator search. Will any of them be hired? Anyone’s guess is as good as ours. It’s pretty clear that Chizik is going for a guy with NFL experience, just as he did with Brian VanGorder. But beyond that, it’s hard to tell what is going through his mind. If this process is anything like the process that hired VanGorder, Chizik has his target set on someone no one else is expecting.