Report: Lane Kiffin is Auburn’s first target to be head coach

Could John Cohen already have his sights set on hiring Lane Kiffin?

Author:
Lance Dawe
Publish date:
Oct 31, 2022 1:59 PM EDT

In this story:

The wheels on Auburn University's bus went from not moving for months to flying in seemingly a matter of 48 hours.

Auburn has fired head football coach Bryan Harsin immediately following the hiring of John Cohen as the university's new athletic director.

Already, within an hour of his firing, top targets to replace Harsin are being named.

According to Brandon Marcello of 247Sports, new athletic director John Cohen's first target to replace Bryan Harsin will be Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin.

"He (Kiffin) will be the No. 1 guy, and I can tell you this because John Cohen, coming from Mississippi State, is very familiar with what Lane Kiffin has obviously done at Ole Miss," Marcello told CBS Sports. "But here's the number one thing - He has been a killer in the transfer portal. He calls himself the Transfer Portal King. Auburn needs immediate help in that football program. They can fix a lot of their issues with the transfer portal. It won't be an overnight rebuild. But a man like Lane Kiffin would come in there, fix things, get it back on the right track almost immediately. They need a coach like that to do it."

Cohen has spent seven years at Mississippi State as athletic director, and another eight years prior as the Bulldogs' baseball coach. He understands the SEC landscape well, and understands Kiffin's rise with the Rebels, according to Marcello.

"John Cohen is very familiar with that," Marcello noted. "Also, Auburn will offer a much larger NIL base than Ole Miss. Lane Kiffin has complained about that publicly and privately at Ole Miss about their NIL situation. Auburn is in a position right now, based off my sourcing this past weekend reporting the story, they have at least $11 million piled up in NIL money right now ready to go to help that football program, and that is only going to increase over these next coming weeks and these coming months. Whoever they try go after as a coach, you're gonna want someone who can work that transfer pool, is a killer recruiter, and they're going to promise them the world when it comes to NIL."

There have been no reports revolving who Auburn has contacted as of Halloween morning. More updates to come.