Auburn’s head football coach position isn’t even open, but that hasn’t stopped the speculation as to who could be the Tigers’ next coach.
Bryan Harsin is on the hot seat, especially after his team’s 21-17 home loss to LSU on Saturday. One name that’s been linked to Auburn should the school fire Harsin: Deion Sanders.
“Bryan Harsin is on the hottest seat in the country at Auburn, and I’m hearing Auburn may target Deion Sanders,” college football insider Bruce Feldman said on Fox Sports Saturday.
Sanders is 19-5 as head coach at Jackson State, a Division I FCS school. In his third season, Jackson State is 4-0 with a point differential of 153. Sanders’ Tigers won 49-7 over Mississippi Valley State on Saturday.
Auburn is far from the first Power 5 school to which Sanders has been connected. Last week, Georgia Tech fired coach Geoff Collins, and Feldman also said that Sanders could be a candidate for the Yellow Jackets.
“With Georgia Tech’s job coming open this week, Deion Sanders is a name to watch,” Feldman said. “You’re talking about a guy who was a star for both the Falcons and the Braves, and he would make that program immediately relevant nationally and pump a lot of much-needed life into that place.”
The start to Sanders’ coaching career has been impressive. The former multi-sport superstar and flashy personality has turned into a marketing and recruiting savant. Sanders is in commercials with Alabama coach Nick Saban, and he’s punching above his weight as a recruiter for an FCS school.
“You’re talking about a guy who is in all these commercials with Nick Saban that you’re seeing every week,” Feldman said. “You’re talking about a guy who showed his recruiting prowess last year by beating everybody for the No. 1 recruit in the country, Travis Hunter, to get him to go to an FCS program. As one coach told me this week, good luck to the guy who has to do the in-home recruiting visit before or after Deion Sanders does his.”
• Jacob Calvin Meyer can be reached at jmeyer@washingtontimes.com.
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