After the worst loss of the Auburn football program during the Bryan Harsin era this past Saturday against Penn State–a 41-12 rout that casts a shadow on whether or not the Tigers are truly cut out to compete against the Alabama’s and Georgia’s, and even the Arkansas’, Ole Miss’ and Texas A&M’s of the SEC West–the web is blowing up about who could take over the most important job on the Plains.
AU has been heavily-linked to current Rebels HC Lane Kiffin, with OutKick’s Clay Travis and AL.com’s John Talty both making the case for the Auburn football program to dump their current play-caller for one more experienced with the SEC. Hugh Freeze has similarly been tabbed to return to the conference given his Ole Miss stint from 2012-16.
While Auburn and the two former Ole Miss coaches are being mentioned in the same breath at the moment, the Knoxville News Sentinel’s Blake Toppmeyer is advocating for a different HC from the state of Mississippi.
That would be one ‘Prime Time’ Deion Sanders, who currently runs the Jackson State football program in the the Magnolia State’s capital city. As the Clarion Ledger points out, the 18 highest-rated recruits in FCS program Jackson State’s history during the recruiting rankings era all came during the past three years under Deion Sanders.
Auburn football should want Deion Sanders, but will he want them back?
It’s unfortunately a relevant question to ask at this stage of the game after the debacle of an offseason inquiry Bryan Harsin went through this past February — Auburn football should want Deion Sanders, but will he want them back?
Sanders is building something special in Jackson, Mississippi, a city that is currently in a serious water-crisis the likes of which Flint, Michigan famously went through for years. Jackson State is the one shining light in a community plagued with unsafe conditions and a governor that just joked about their plight.
Sanders could be swayed by someone in the SEC, but given what Harsin went through and even Gus Malzahn before him (#StopTheSteele anyone?) Sanders is better off waiting for an opportunity less likely to humiliate him and set back his coaching career.