Auburn football: Former Tiger in NFL doesn’t want Lane Kiffin or Matt Rhule as head coach
Former Auburn football star receiver-turned-Daniel Jones target with the New York Giants, Darius Slayton, has weighed in on who he would like to see become the next head coach of the program after Bryan Harsin’s dismissal following just 21 games on the Plains.
The Tigers’ 2019 fifth-round NFL draft pick had a specific requirement for the job that would disqualify two of the most popular names to pop up for the head coaching search — with one of them even being deemed the top name to watch by 247Sports’ Brandon Marcello.
Slayton only wants a man from the south to be considered for the head coaching position after the Pacific Northwest’s Harsin came to the Southeast and failed to connect with the players Gus Malzahn recruited.
With that qualification, Slayton has ruled out recently-fired Carolina Panthers head coach Matt Rhule, a New York City product, and Lane Kiffin, who is native to Lincoln, Nebraska:
Whoever AU hire next needs to have a birth certificate from the southern region of the US
— Darius Slayton (@Young_Slay2) October 31, 2022
The popular Auburn football option among players would be Deion Sanders
Many Auburn football recruits, current Tigers, and former players on the Plains likely idolize ‘Prime Time’ Deion Sanders. That is true for just about any NFL locker room, and most collegiate locker rooms across the country. Sanders was a legend at the pro level, and would be an ace in the hole recruiting for defensive backs in the talent-rich states of Georgia and Florida as the local legend with deep-seated roots.
The former Florida State Seminole and Atlanta Falcon would be in a perfect spot in football-centric Alabama as the rival coach of his Aflac sponsored co-star Nick Saban. It’d have every Class of 2023 recruit excited, and would entice new ones to come from the high school circuit and transfer portal.
Bo Jackson believes Sanders could coach anywhere, and pondered whether Auburn football was ready for ‘Prime Time.’ If John Cohen and the AU brain trust don’t believe he is, they don’t share the opinion of most Tiger fans.