Two Possible SEC Openings Nobody Is Really Considering
Don't get distracted over all the talk about LSU, Florida and USC coaching jobs.
Those aren't the ones that could possibly shake things up in the SEC West even more. One, Washington, is available and the other, Miami, very likely could be soon.
Two sitting coaches in the West are on the hot list of names for those jobs and it reportedly may not be as far-fetched as one might think.
Forget Lane Kiffin going to LSU. That's not going to happen. Last week all the smoke in Baton Rouge centered around Lincoln Riley leaving Oklahoma for Baton Rouge, which would be — being overly optimistic — a lateral move.
Another name that popped up was more interesting. Would Bryan Harsin leave Auburn after just one season to go to Washington?
Could Bryan Harsin be headed out of Auburn?
Nelson Chenault/USA TODAY Images
Considering the Tigers have an Iron Bowl matchup with Alabama this week it was rather interesting to even see that floated out there, but it probably isn't by accident.
"From the moment Auburn hired Harsin, some questioned how the Boise, Idaho, native would fit in the Plains, and those questions remain," Adam Rittenberger wrote at ESPN.com.
Sitting at 6-5 with the Crimson Tide coming up Saturday, it's not what a lot of folks expected when the Tigers finally figured out how to get rid of Gus Malzahn.
"We could have stuck with what we had and gone through 6-6," one Auburn insider told me this week. "And saved several million dollars."
Things have been strangely quiet around Kiffin for a few weeks.
But now the smoke is starting to billow in Miami and it may be just a matter of days before Manny Diaz is kicked out.
That's one job that almost makes too much sense to NOT happen. Kiffin loves living in South Florida and still has a house in Boca Raton.
Lane Kiffin going to Miami could happen ... if job comes open.
Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin has a pretty clear picture of the new world in college football. (John Reed/USA TODAY Images)
It's one thing to be in the SEC West, the best conference in all of college football. It has produced nine national champions over the last 12 seasons. Of course that comes only from Alabama (7), LSU and Auburn over that period.
The Hurricanes haven't re-captured the magic they had with Howard Schnellenberger, Jimmy Johnson and Dennis Erickson and, to a lesser extent, Butch Jones.
They are in the process of hiring a new athletics director who will make the decision on the football coach. That could start happening in the next few days.
Don't be surprised by next week if Kiffin's name doesn't start surfacing.
The agents will probably make sure that happens. Don't blame them ... that's their job.
But the interesting part of the coaching carousel is not the marquee jobs out there, but the level just below them.
Don't forget the openings we don't even know will be there yet, but it's a good bet it will affect the SEC West.
Throw a couple of openings in the division open and, well, it could sail beyond wild.
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