Another Power Five coaching position opened Monday when Auburn fired Bryan Harsin eight games into his second season at the school.
While the early consensus from national college football experts is that head coaches like Ole Miss’ Lane Kiffin and Liberty’s Hugh Freeze are among the potential leading candidates for the position, there are two BYU ties who showed up on lists of potential replacements — Baylor offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes and Mississippi State head coach Mike Leach.
Grimes has had two tenures at BYU, most recently as the Cougars’ offensive coordinator from 2018-20.
Leach graduated from BYU in 1983, though he never played or coached football at the school — instead, he played rugby.
Why would Jeff Grimes be a good fit as Auburn’s head coach?
Grimes has been mentioned in the Auburn coaching discussion from local Alabama news organizations like the Montgomery Advertiser to national publications like ESPN, CBS Sports and The Athletic since Monday’s announcement of Harsin’s firing.
He has a connection to the school — Grimes was Auburn’s offensive line coach from 2009-12 under Gene Chizik. Grimes won a national championship with Auburn in 2010.
Here’s a sampling of why these writers think Grimes, 54, could be the man for the job.
“He’s an esteemed offensive coordinator who has been named one of five finalists for the Frank Broyles Award honoring college football’s best assistant coach two consecutive years for his play-calling at two different schools (Baylor and BYU).” — Bennett Durando, Montgomery Advertiser.
“Grimes has bounced around but has become one of the more respected play callers in the game. In his last year as BYU’s offensive coordinator, the Cougars averaged more than 43 points. Last season, Baylor won the Big 12 averaging 31 points per game.” — Dennis Dodd, CBS Sports.
“Grimes is a coordinator whose stock continues to rise with Baylor the last two seasons. … Grimes, 54, has never been a FBS head coach, and he had a chance to return to Auburn as an offensive coordinator last season. Given how poorly the Harsin era went, is it the right play to hire a first-time head coach?” — Bill Bender, Sporting News.
“Grimes was a Broyles Award candidate for the nation’s top assistant coach in each of the past two years, first at BYU and then Baylor. The Bears improved from 100th in scoring in 2020 to 40th in Grimes’ first season, and that’s up to 15th this season.” — Chris Vannini, The Athletic.
“The veteran assistant has improved his stock in recent years, first as a coordinator at BYU and now Baylor, which won the Big 12 last season and will challenge again this fall. … Grimes also spent 2014 to 2017 at LSU. Auburn is a big job for a first-time head coach, but Grimes, 54, will get some consideration. The Texas native will be a head coach in the near future.” — Adam Rittenberg, ESPN.
Why would Mike Leach be a good fit at Auburn’s head coach?
Leach, meanwhile, is already in SEC territory — he’s in his third season as the Bulldogs’ head coach after successful head coaching stints at two other Power Five schools, Texas Tech and Washington State.
The 61-year-old Leach has a 155-106 record as a head coach.
Also on Monday, Auburn hired John Cohen as the school’s new athletic director. He spent the previous seven years as Mississippi State’s AD and hired Leach as the Bulldogs’ head coach.
Both the Montgomery Advertiser and The Athletic mentioned Leach as a possible candidate for the Auburn coaching position.
Here’s why they think Leach could be a fit at Auburn, and a lot of it ties to his relationship with Cohen.
“Cohen hired the enigmatic Leach at Mississippi State, and he’s gone 16-16 midway through his third season after a 4-7 start. Leach, however, did well at Texas Tech and Washington State, two programs where it’s hard to win. Could Cohen bring Leach with him?” — Durando.
“A prior relationship with an AD can be a key factor in any coaching search. Leach is 16-16 with the Bulldogs, including 5-3 this season. It has generally been considered a successful tenure when people didn’t think his offense could work in the SEC. However, Leach’s MSU teams have been outscored 120-15 against Alabama, not scoring a touchdown until the final play of this year’s game.” — Vannini.