Five offensive coordinator candidates for Auburn football
Now that the Bryan Harsin/Board of Trustees mess is behind us, Auburn can now begin to focus on the things that really matter; spring practice, and finding an offensive coordinator.
It feels like ages ago that former Seattle Seahawks quarterbacks coach Austin Davis announced that he was resigning as Auburn's offensive coordinator after just two weeks on the job. Now, Harsin & Co. must turn their attention towards finding a replacement before practice gets underway, whether that be a promotion from within, or a poaching from another program.
Here are five candidates to become Auburn's third offensive coordinator in less than a year.
Eric Kiesau, Auburn
Wide Receivers coach Eric Kiesau was one of the favorites to land the job prior to the hiring of Austin Davis. Now, it seems more likely than ever that Harsin will promote from within and give Kiesau a shot.
Major Applewhite, South Alabama
Applewhite is the current offensive coordinator at South Alabama, but he has some ties to both the SEC and Bryan Harsin. He was the offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at Alabama in 2007, and an analyst with the Crimson Tide in 2019-20. He was co-offensive coordinator alongside Harsin at Texas in 2011-12. If Auburn wanted him, picking up Applewhite would not seem too difficult to do.
Jeff Grimes, Baylor
Grimes would be an interesting candidate for OC, not only because of his connection to Auburn (offensive line coach from 2009-12 at AU), but because of his scheme. Harsin wanted the Tigers to feature a physical downhill rushing attack that controlled the pace of the game. With the way that Grimes dictated the Bears' offense in 2021 (219.7 rushing yards per game, 10th nationally), it would make sense to bring him in.
Phil Longo, North Carolina
While still very new to the Division I game, Longo has been known to produce explosive offenses. He was the offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at Ole Miss through 2017-18 before moving to North Carolina to fill the same position in 2019. During his time with the Rebels and the Tar Heels, Longo never had an offense produce less than 33.1 points per game. Yardage wise, his offenses have been more impressive. His offenses have never ranked worse than 18th nationally in total yards per game (18th, 9th, 12th, 5th, and 10th in his five years with Ole Miss and UNC).
Dameyune Craig, Texas A&M
Former Auburn wide receiver turned quarterback Dameyune Craig has had coaching stops at South Alabama (WR), Florida State (QB), Auburn (Co-OC/WR), LSU (WR), and Texas A&M (WR). An impressive list for sure. He would likely be a fan favorite, and would be able to learn under Harsin.
