Paul Finebaum was right when he said the Auburn football head coaching conversation surrounding Bryan Harsin has moved on — everywhere you turn, someone is talking about who is going to be the next coach.
You have FOX analyst Joel Klatt thinking Deion Sanders is the man for the job, while former Auburn baseball star pitcher Tanner Burns wants to see Ole Miss Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin make way to the Plains. Auburn football fans certainly seem keen on the idea of ‘Prime Time,’ which is a common trend among the college football world.
Add Pardon The Interruption host Tony Kornheiser as another national media analyst in the vein of Klatt who believes that Auburn has the perfect guy for the head coaching seat just one state away in Mississippi.
Kornheiser said on the September 27 episode of PTI that while Nebraska and Arizona State aren’t good fit, and Georgia Tech would have a nice homecoming angle, the Auburn job has the perfect built-in rivalry for Sanders via the Iron Bowl against Alabama and his former TV spot co-star Nick Saban:
"“Nebraska is a bad fit, Nebraska’s program is lost. Arizona State is a bad fit, their conference is lost,” Kornheiser said. There is a ‘come home’ quality to Georgia Tech, but if it was me, I’d like to see him go to Auburn. It’s in the best conference, the SEC, they’ve won national championships […] and he’d be an in-state rival with his Aflac co-star Nick Saban, and that would be juicy. I would like to see that.”"
Auburn football is the best available option for Deion Sanders
Big Red is begging for a turnaround after the failed Scott Frost era, but Nebraska isn’t the kind of situation worth jumping ship for the seemingly happy Jackson State head coach. Arizona State needs to build trust with top coaching candidates again after Herm Edwards’ assistants gave away his gameplans to opposing teams.
Georgia Tech’s expectations are below sea level right now, so Sanders could be a hero pretty quickly in the ATL. 247Sports still sees the Auburn Tigers as a better fit for ‘Prime Time’ than the Yellow Jackets.
Until Florida State opens up — which doesn’t look imminent with Mike Norvell finally having the Seminoles up to the standard set in Tallahassee back in the late 1970s — Auburn football is the best vacancy for Sanders to fill.