Tag: Jeff Grimes

Coaching search: How to watch Auburn Football head coaching candidates this weekend

Is scouting the future in your weekend plans? Here is a guide for how to watch games involving potential Auburn head coaching candidates this Saturday.

This week has been a whirlwind for Auburn Football.

The news of [autotag]Bryan Harsin[/autotag]’s firing broke Monday morning, and interim head coach [autotag]Carnell Williams[/autotag] worked long hours this week in order to put a perfect gameplan together for the Tigers’ game at Mississippi State on Saturday night.

There is no doubt that Williams will get his chance to audition for the vacant position, but there are plenty of potential candidates to watch out for as well.

Auburn fans have read reports all week that profile each possible candidate. Some names make sense, while some seem farfetched. No matter how popular or how obscure a possible target can be, it does not hurt to take a deeper look at what each candidate brings to the table.

For Auburn fans that are looking for a chance to thoroughly examine each possible candidate, you have come to the right place.

Auburn Wire has made a list of every coach that has been mentioned in some sort of fashion as a target for the Auburn opening and has created a guide of their week ten schedule in an effort to allow you the opportunity to watch them coach with your own eyes.

Are you wanting more information on a lesser-known name? Do you need to prove your point to a fellow college football fan? Check out the list below to make sure that you do not miss an opportunity to watch your favorite candidate coach live on Saturday:

CBS Sports analyst lists familiar name as potential head coaching candidate

A Pac-12 offensive coordinator with Auburn ties is seen as a “risk-taking” candidate.

Auburn fans can expect to see many names floating around as possible replacements for former head coach [autotag]Bryan Harsin[/autotag].

The most popular names surrounding the opening are Ole Miss’ [autotag]Lane Kiffin[/autotag], Liberty’s [autotag]Hugh Freeze[/autotag], Jackson State’s [autotag]Deion Sanders[/autotag], and Baylor offensive coordinator [autotag]Jeff Grimes[/autotag].

When listing his potential candidates for the Auburn vacancy, Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports mentioned the above names, but also went out of the box by mentioning several unique names. One, in particular, has a tie to Auburn from its’ previous administration.

Kenny Dillingham, who served as offensive coordinator under Gus Malzahn during the 2018 season, is currently leading Oregon‘s high-powered offense with former Auburn quarterback [autotag]Bo Nix[/autotag] serving as the quarterback in his system. Dodd lists Dillingham as a name to watch despite his age (he is only 32 years old). Dodd says that he may be worth the risk if that is the route that Auburn chooses to take.

If you want to take a chance, this is your guy. In 2019, as a 29-year-old, Dillingham was the offensive coordinator for Gus Malzahn’s last good team at Auburn. The Tigers won nine games, beat three top 20 teams (including Alabama) and averaged 33 points a game. Dillingham birthed the Bo Nix era (16 touchdowns as a freshman). The two reunited at Oregon where Nix has matured with the Ducks as a fringe Heisman Trophy contender. There’s plenty to like there for Auburn if they want to go extremely young.

After suffering a devastating loss to Georgia to open the season, Oregon has won eight straight games and is ranked No. 8 in the initial College Football Playoff ranking. Dillingham has led the Ducks offense to a No. 3 ranking in overall offensive yards per game, averaging 514 yards per contest.

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Best case scenario: Auburn Wire staff reveals their pick for Auburn’s ‘home run hire’

The staff at Auburn Wire shares their thoughts on who would be the best fit to lead Auburn’s football program.

After weeks of speculation, Auburn University finally made the move to fire Bryan Harsin after spending a season and a half on the Plains.

Now, here comes the fun part.

There is no official timetable for Auburn to hire its next head coach, but it is assumed that a hire will not be made until sometime after the conclusion of the regular season on Nov. 28. Until then, there will be plenty of speculation as to who will take over the vacant role of the SEC’s first head coach opening.

The staff here at Auburn Wire obviously has no say as to who accepts the job, but we like to have fun and will take advantage of the opportunity to share our thoughts on potential head coaching candidates.

Who are our picks for the job? Below, you will find a list of our top three targets, as well as our “home run” pick.

Enjoy our picks for Auburn’s “home run hire.”

Which Big 12 assistant coaches could take head coaching jobs next

Brennan Marion is one of the best head coaching candidates in the conference.

Many young up-and-coming coaches are joining the Big 12 conference this season. With Jim Knowles departing for Ohio State, the overall schematic edge in the league may have shifted to the offensive side of the ball.

This offseason, TCU poached their rival’s head coach and offensive coordinator. At SMU, Sonny Dykes and Garrett Riley built an offensive juggernaut. Riley, the brother of former Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley, could be in line to become a head coach soon.

At Texas, Steve Sarkisian brings in the architect of the go-go offense, Brennan Marion. His transcendent offensive mind paired with his recruiting and development track record make him one of the best head coaching candidates in the conference.

Elsewhere are coaches with experience that have been passed up far too often. Jeff Grimes and Graham Harrell have some of the strongest resumes in the conference.

Here’s where I would rank the most likely coaches to receive a head coaching offer.

The six best offensive minds in the Big 12 this season

The Big 12 deploys multiple styles of offense.

The Big 12 is known for great offensive play, and has been for over two decades. Since Mike Leach introduced the Air Raid at Oklahoma, the conference has been known to light up the scoreboard.

Critics of Big 12 defenses cited high-scoring games as proof of the lack of defense in years past. As Air Raid concepts like “Mesh” have permeated college football, other conferences are forced to adapt to the difficult style of play.

Since the early 2000s, the Big 12 has adopted multiple styles of offense. Iowa State and Kansas State heavily utilize tight ends and offensive line play to force teams to play different personnel.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, coaches like Steve Sarkisian have modernized their offensive philosophy to take advantage of opponents in space.

Here are my six best offensive minds in the Big 12 conference ahead of the 2022 season.

Offensive coordinator hot board: Who Auburn is considering

Who do you think Auburn should get?

The Tigers are currently without an offensive coordinator after firing Mike Bobo.

I doubt Auburn makes a hire within the next couple of days, but I’m sure the Tigers will have an answer a couple of weeks before their bowl game rolls around.

There have been several names tossed around, but specifically Eric Kiesau, the current wide receivers coach at Auburn. It would not surprise me if Harsin elected to make an in-house hire, or if he went out to get someone he’s very familiar with.

Here are the candidates Auburn is considering hiring to be the next offensive coordinator.

Five candidates to replace Mike Bobo

Here are five candidates to replace Mike Bobo.

Bryan Harsin finally pulled the trigger.

Auburn has fired offensive coordinator Mike Bobo after a pathetic showing from his offense in the month of November. Auburn has scored a combined 15 second-half points in the last five games.

Bobo has bumped up Auburn’s averages by a small margin as opposed to 2020 (29.6 points per game in 2021 compared to 25.1 points per game in 2020), but the way the Tigers have fallen apart over this past month has been inexcusable. The offense has cost Auburn greatly in games where they should have won or had a legitimate chance to win.

Here are five candidates to replace former Auburn offensive coordinator Mike Bobo.

Report Card: Oklahoma Sooners fail to make the grade vs. Baylor Bears

How did the Oklahoma Sooners’ position groups grade out in their 27-14 loss to the Baylor Bears?

Oklahoma’s performance against Baylor wasn’t as pitiful as other earlier games this year. Still, it certainly lacked any level of competitive fire needed for a team who came into the game looking to answer a plethora of questions about how they would fair if tested by a good top 25 ranked football team. The test did not go as planned, and the Sooners took their first loss of the season 27-14 at the hands of the Baylor Bears.

Despite the final score, the game was tied 7-7 at the half. Oklahoma had a chance to win this game, but they never hit another gear. While this wasn’t a complete dismantling, there were a lot of position groups that struggled, which can only be more head-scratching considering the Sooners were coming off their bye week.

Let’s grade each group and break things down.

How will the Oklahoma Sooners contain this Baylor Bears’ running game?

The Baylor Bears’ much-improved running game serves as a stiff test for this Oklahoma Sooners’ defensive line.

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As Oklahoma wraps their final preparations for their trip to Waco, Texas, the Sooners’ minds are squarely on winning this game. How they go about winning the game is an entirely different situation. Baylor presents unique challenges on both sides of the ball, but for Oklahoma’s defense, they must overcome one big obstacle: Baylor’s rushing attack.

Baylor’s running game is the foundation of their offensive attack. Gerry Bohanon is a solid college quarterback in his own right, but it’s his duo of running backs that make this offense go. Abram Smith and Trestan Ebner run a version of the zone running scheme to near perfection.

After struggling with the running game in 2020, Baylor’s rushing numbers did a complete 180 in the spring thanks to tinkering by Jeff Grimes, their new offensive coordinator who spent time recently at BYU. Baylor averaged a very light 90.3 rushing yards per game last season, and that was very close to the bottom of the totem pole across all of the FBS. Currently, they are 7th with 230.9 YPG at a clip of 5.89 yards per rush.

The “wide zone” is used in the professional ranks as well, and it simply allows your ball carriers to give their offensive linemen time to out-leverage their assignments until a hole opens up. It allows for teams to be very multiple and versatile in formations as well. Baylor dresses their wide zone runs on film quite a bit, but they’ve run it out of at least 12 different formations this year.

The Sooners will trot out a likely starting defensive line of Perrion Winfrey, Jalen Redmond, Isaiah Thomas, and Nik Bonitto as the edge. When defending against this scheme, teams struggle because their interior defensive linemen get double-teamed far too easily. Whichever way the play comes, there’s likely some sort of combination block by the center and the play side guard, which becomes a double team. Too many people leave the double team too soon, allowing for the defensive linemen to penetrate. That’s where Oklahoma can make its stand. Perrion Winfrey is very disruptive, and so is Jalen Redmond.

Both have excellent play strength and can shed blocks before offensive linemen can truly engage them and dictate where they want them to go. If they can do that right, it should leave gaps for their linebackers to fill. The other side to this equation is the linebackers finishing plays by wrapping up and tackling these Bears’ running backs.

Tackling has been a significant issue for Oklahoma this year. If they tackle and play good football with good gap integrity, there’s no reason to believe they can’t stymie this Bears rushing attack enough to walk away victorious.

The Sooners have faced some good running backs this year. Names like Bijan Robinson, Deuce Vaughn, Kendre Miller, and SaRodorick Thompson are just a few. The Sooners have fared pretty well against them all. If the Sooners are to remain undefeated, Alex Grinch and his defensive staff will have to conjure up another good performance.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions.

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