Auburn moving forward

Andrew Gribble
Media General News Service
Published: December 5, 2008

AUBURN — Athletic director Jay Jacobs said Thursday he will approach Auburn’s coaching search with an open mind and a blank check.

Finding $6 million to fund Tommy Tuberville’s buyout didn’t send the Auburn athletic department burrowing through couches for change, and gathering up enough cash for Auburn’s next candidate won’t be a hurdle, either.

“Financially,” Jacobs said, “we will not have any constraints.”

Letting the money talk might be the best way Auburn can lure the best possible candidate down on the Plains and into the SEC.

According to CollegeSportsReport.com, SEC coaches took home an average salary of $1.86 million in 2007. Alabama’s Nick Saban and Florida’s Urban Meyer, who will square off in Saturday’s SEC Championship, each clear more than $3 million per season.

“This league has stepped it up. The tree has gotten a lot taller,” Jacobs said. “It’s gotten a lot more competitive. And we’re going to hire someone who is equally competitive.”

Jacobs laid out the criteria Auburn’s next head coach must meet in his Thursday press conference. The specifications lack specificity, seemingly opening the search to any possible number of candidates.

“We’re looking for the person that is the right fit for this team, the right fit for this university and the right fit for the Auburn family,” Jacobs said. “We will not limit ourselves to anyone.”

Jacobs said he had a 2-to-5 minute conversation with Bill Carr of CARR Sports Associates, Inc. hours after Tuberville’s resignation. Auburn used the search firm to find new baseball coach John Pawlowski and during the school’s search for an athletic director before ultimately selecting Jacobs in early 2005.

Jacobs said he did not know if Carr contacted Texas Tech coach Mike Leach before Tuberville was fired.

ESPN reported Thursday that Leach pulled his name out of the running for the open coaching job at the University of Washington.
Other possible candidates include Buffalo’s Turner Gill, Texas Christian’s Gary Patterson, Tulsa’s Todd Graham, Wake Forest’s Jim Grobe, Air Force’s Troy Calhoun, Connecticut’s Randy Edsall, Cincinnati’s Brian Kelly and Arkansas’s Bobby Petrino.

Auburn will not pigeonhole its search by just looking at college football head coaches, Jacobs said. That opens the door for Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp and Florida State’s Jimbo Fisher, both of whom are currently their respective school’s “coach in waiting.”

“We’re not going to limit ourselves on any one particular thing,” Jacobs said. “We’re going to find somebody with those intangibles that match up with our values here.”

Jacobs did not set a timetable for when he would like the hire to be made. The search promises to be efficient, but “we’re not going to rush to judgment.”

A quick search, however, might provide the proper damage control for Auburn’s dwindling class of 2009.

Four-star running back Rodney Scott (Cross City, Fla.) rescinded his commitment Thursday, according to AuburnSports.com. He is the fifth player since Tuberville’s resignation to do so, dropping the class from 26 to 21 players.

It is no guarantee if the new coach will honor all or any of Auburn’s current offers to prospective players.

Jacobs said Tuberville, as part of his staying connected with the university, will be in contact with Auburn’s verbal commitments.

“Tommy said that’s something he wants to do,” Jacobs said. “He’s a great ambassador for Auburn, so that would be a good thing.”

Former center Jason Bosley said the next candidate shouldn’t be a drastic change from how things have been done the past 10 years.

“He set a foundation of doing it the right way, of family, of taking care of your players and believing in each other and doing things the way they’re supposed to be done,” Bosley said. “They’ve got to find somebody who can build on the foundation he set here.”