Love it, like it, or nah: We consider six names for the Auburn football job

Lane Kiffin said Wednesday that he's "extremely happy" at Ole Miss, where his Rebels "have something special going."

He lauded the "great support" he receives from Ole Miss.

Kiffin wouldn't specifically address the Auburn opening – no surprise there – but when asked directly about whether he'd have interest in the position, if AU were interested, he certainly aligned himself with the Rebels.

He even endorsed Deion Sanders as a candidate for Auburn.

That doesn't mean Auburn won't shoot its shot with Kiffin, if he's the preferred candidate to replace Bryan Harsin.

On this edition of "SEC Football Unfiltered," a podcast from the USA TODAY Network, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams consider six names for the Auburn opening.

Toppmeyer makes the sales pitch for each candidate, while Adams offers a verdict of: Love the hire, like the hire, dislike the hire – or the case of Sanders, something in between.

Here's the verdicts:

Dan Mullen

ESPN analyst; former Florida and Mississippi State coach

VERDICT FROM ADAMS: Dislike this hire

A terrific offensive coach, and I love what he did at Mississippi State. But his recruiting deficiencies would be exposed at Auburn, and I don’t think he would handle the pressure of that job well. He would be a good hire for somebody else. Not Auburn.

Lane Kiffin

Ole Miss coach; former Florida Atlantic, USC, Tennessee and Raiders coach

VERDICT FROM ADAMS: Love this hire

Checks all the boxes: knows the SEC, great offensively and can develop quarterbacks. Always a good recruiter, he has adjusted as well as any coach to the transfer portal. But I believe he would be better off staying at Ole Miss for now.

Hugh Freeze

Liberty coach; former Ole Miss and Arkansas State coach

VERDICT FROM ADAMS: Love this hire

Like Kiffin, he knows what it takes to win the SEC and excels at offense. His off-the-field issues wouldn’t concern me. You’re looking for a football coach, not a saint.

Matt Rhule

Former Carolina Panthers, Baylor and Temple coach

VERDICT FROM ADAMS: Like this hire

I wouldn’t subtract points for not succeeding in the NFL. A great program builder. He proved that at Temple. Who wins there? And he proved it again at Baylor. He might not excite fans as much as Kiffin, Freeze or Urban Meyer. But he would win at Auburn.

Deion Sanders

Jackson State coach; Prime Time

VERDICT FROM ADAMS: Lukewarm on this hire

A charismatic leader who would thrive as a recruiter and in the NIL business with all his connections. However, I would like to see him succeed somewhere else before he leaped into an SEC snake pit. That’s a big jump from Jackson State to Auburn.

I also wonder if he would be willing to put in the hours and deal with the grind of head-coaching at the SEC level. He doesn’t have to coach to be a celebrity. Being Prime Time is a fulltime job.

Urban Meyer

Former Jacksonville Jaguars, Ohio State, Florida, Utah and Bowling Green coach

VERDICT FROM ADAMS: Love this hire

He’s not a candidate for sainthood, either. But what coach is? He is close as you can get to a guaranteed winner – unbeaten at Utah, won two national titles at Florida and won another at Ohio State. If your mantra is “Just win, baby,” he’s your guy.

SOURCE: Toppmeyer, Blake and Adams, John. "Love it, like it, or nah: We consider six names for the Auburn football job." Montgomery Advertiser, 3 November 2022, https://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/sports/college/auburn/2022/11/03/auburn-football-search-lane-kiffin-hugh-freeze-deion-sanders-au-tigers/69614345007/

Blake Toppmeyer is an SEC Columnist for the USA TODAY Network. John Adams is a senior columnist for the Knoxville News Sentinel.