Auburn Daily

Auburn Set to Hire New RB Coach as Derrick Nix Interviews with SEC School

The Auburn Tigers are turning to a former Gus Malzahn assistant at running backs coach.
Cam Parker|
The Auburn Tigers are set to hire a new running backs coach.
The Auburn Tigers are set to hire a new running backs coach. | Chuck Cook-Imagn Images

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Auburn Tigers

Alex Golesh has reportedly found his running backs coach.

The Auburn Tigers are set to hire West Virginia's Larry Porter as the program's running backs coach, according to CBS Sports' Matt Zenitz. The reported hiring comes as former offensive coordinator and running backs coach Derrick Nix emerges as a leading candidate for the running backs coach at Florida.

Porter was previously Auburn's tight ends coach under Gus Malzahn from 2017-20.

Porter was signed to a one-year contract at West Virginia, but since he won't complete his contract, Auburn and Porter will owe the Mountaineers a buyout of about $14,400, according to 247 Sports' Mike Casazza.

Notably, Porter coached at Auburn for four seasons as the tight ends coach and special teams coordinator for the final years of the Malzahn era. He departed after Malzahn's firing and subsequent hiring of Bryan Harsin.

However, Porter is best-known for his work as a running backs coach for over 25 years.

He was the running backs coach for UT-Martin (1998), Arkansas State (1999-2000) and Oklahoma State (2001-04), before becoming the running backs coach at LSU (2005-09). As part of Les Miles' staff, he won a BCS National Championship in 2007, coached two 1,000-yard rushers (Jacob Hester, 2007; Charles Scott, 2008) and had six backs selected in the NFL Draft.

He was later the running backs coach at Arizona State (2012), Texas (2013) and North Carolina (2014-16, 2021-24), where he was also a special teams coordinator.

Porter was also the head coach at Memphis from 2010-11, accumilating a 3-21 record before his firing.

At Auburn, Porter will be key in the Tigers' retention efforts of Jeremiah Cobb, who rushed for 969 yards and five touchdowns last season as a junior.

Meanwhile, Nix leaves the program after two seasons as the offensive coordinator and running backs coach. He became the primary offensive play-caller after Hugh Freeze was fired on Nov. 2 following a 10-3 loss to Kentucky.

Nix helped Auburn's offense have a turnaround late in the season with 38 points against Vanderbilt, which tied a season-high against Power Four opponents, as well as a 62-point outing against Mercer, a season-high.

Nix's offense also saw emergences from quarterbacks Ashton Daniels and Deuce Knight, both of whom passed for at least 230 yards in starts across the final three games of the regular season. Auburn also had at least one 100-yard rusher and one 100-yard receiver in each of the three games Nix was the primary play-caller.

Since his departure, Nix has emerged as Florida's primary target for running backs coach. Nix was recently in Gainesville interviewing for the job with new head coach Jon Sumrall, a former Auburn head coaching target, as well as expected offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner.

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Cam Parker
CAM PARKER

Cam Parker is a reporter covering the Florida Gators, Auburn Tigers and Clemson Tigers with a degree in journalism from the University of Florida. He also covers and broadcasts Alachua County high school sports with The Prep Zone and Mainstreet Daily News. When he isn't writing, he enjoys listening to '70s music such as The Band or Lynyrd Skynyrd, binge-watching shows and playing with his cat, Chester, and dog, Rufus.

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