On Friday, it was reported that Auburn will meet with Alabama offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian on Sunday regarding the head coaching job. He won’t be the only ones meeting with the Auburn brass this weekend to discuss the position.
Per FootballScoop.com, the Tigers will also be interviewing Louisiana head coach Billy Napier and Clemson offensive coordinator Tony Elliott sometime during the next few days.
Elliott is a new name among the mix of candidates for the Auburn job, vacant since the school’s decision to eat Malzahn’s $21.45 million buyout and begin anew last Sunday.
A former Clemson player and 2017 Broyles Award winner, Elliott’s long been considered a top coaching candidate who could have jumped to another opportunity in previous seasons. However, Elliott has been in the role of Clemson’s offensive coordinator – sharing the title from 2015-19 and outright since the onset of this season – for six consecutive years.
The Cajuns’ Napier has been among the hottest names in college football in each of the past two cycles. The former Furman University quarterback and Tennessee native interviewed earlier this month for the vacancy at South Carolina, before pulling out of consideration for that position. A year ago multiple Power-5 teams expressed interest in Napier, who this season guided Louisiana to a 9-1 regular season that included a win at Big 12 North Division champion Iowa State and a berth in what was scheduled to be Saturday’s SunBelt Conference championship.
Clemson meets Notre Dame on Saturday in the ACC Championship while Louisiana’s Sun Belt title game against Coastal Carolina has been cancelled due to COVID-19 issues.