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Auburn football rumors: Lane Kiffin emerges as top coaching candidate following Bryan Harsin firing

By Andrew Hughes

Following the dismissal of Bryan Harsin as Auburn football head coach, Lane Kiffin has emerged as the top name to watch per Brandon Marcello (Photo by Michael Chang/Getty Images)
Following the dismissal of Bryan Harsin as Auburn football head coach, Lane Kiffin has emerged as the top name to watch per Brandon Marcello (Photo by Michael Chang/Getty Images) /
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Auburn football finally pulled the band-aid off and fired Bryan Harsin from his head coaching perch he assumed in December 2020 on Monday, October 31st. For many, the news byte was the greatest treat possible to receive on Halloween.

In the aftermath of the long-awaited letting go of the Boise native, 247Sports’ Brandon Marcello was quick to report the top name to watch for the newly kicked-off head coaching search — that being Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin’s.

Kiffin’s Rebels just knocked off Texas A&M at Kyle Field this past weekend and are 8-1 heading into the bye week before hosting Alabama at home for a potential shot at representing the SEC West in Atlanta this December in the SEC Championship game.

With the hiring of Mississippi State’s John Cohen as the new athletic director, the coaching search is set to kick off in earnest as soon as possible, with a decision likely being reached after the season if the new hire is currently coaching.

Eulogizing the Bryan Harsin era of Auburn football

Bryan Harsin has finished his Auburn football career with a 9-12 record, a slew of transfers — one of whom, Bo Nix, has claimed that he was miserable playing for Harsin in 2021 and has become a Heisman candidate with Oregon in 2022 — and plenty of fans who never want to see him step foot in East Central Alabama ever again.

Harsin will not be spoken of with the same reverence many Tiger fans speak about Gus Malzahn with, and his 2021 team will always be remembered for the historic 5-game losing streak to end a season in which AU ranked in the top 15 at one point. The 2022 Auburn football season still has a chance to be turned around by the interim head coach, who as of this writing has yet to be named.

While there was potential in the pairing, both Harsin and the program failed to embrace each other, and now a massive buyout will be the only remaining link the Boise native has to a university that likely wants to forget he was ever head coach.

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