It's OK if you, faithful readers, listeners and viewers of this FootballScoop podcast, did not have learning the words to the Auburn creed on your Coaching Carousel Bingo Card.
Discussion of the jobs in this already raucous coaching cycle requires depth in preparation, and, as Auburn is college football's most recent prime opening, FootballScoop President Scott Roussel, father of an Auburn undergraduate, believes the Auburn creed rings soundly in the direction of one of the Tigers' top coaching targets, per several sources.
One Jon Sumrall, Tulane head coach, former leader of men at Troy and someone with intimate familiarity with the Yellowhammer State.
"I believe that this is a practical world and that I can count only on what I earn. Therefore, I believe in work, hard work.
"I believe in education, which gives me the knowledge to work wisely and trains my mind and my hands to work skillfully.
"I believe in honesty and truthfulness, without which I cannot win the respect and confidence of my fellow men.
"I believe in a sound mind, in a sound body and a spirit that is not afraid, and in clean sports that develop these qualities.
"I believe in obedience to law because it protects the rights of all.
"I believe in the human touch, which cultivates sympathy with my fellow men and mutual helpfulness and brings happiness for all.
"I believe in my Country, because it is a land of freedom and because it is my own home, and that I can best serve that country by "doing justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with my God.
"And because Auburn men and women believe in these things, I believe in Auburn and love it."
Auburn creed author George Petrie, who wrote the school's standing statement 82 years ago.
But what if John Cohen, Auburn's athletics director, does not begin and end his search on the doorstep of Sumrall's uptown New Orleans home?
Well, there are a select few coaches who comprise the spokes in the SEC's coaching carousel wheel in this cycle: Sumrall, Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin and Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz.
Cohen nearly had Kiffin hired instead of Hugh Freeze, who was fired last Sunday after an impossible-to-stomach 10-3 home loss to downtrodden Kentucky in a game that marked Auburn's fewest points at home since a shutout-loss to Georgia in 2012.
But Kiffin is the apple of the eyes in searches at both Florida and LSU; he's also the King of Oxford, if not all of the Magnolia State, has his entire family there with him and has, with the crucial alignment and support of star Ole Miss athletics director Keith Carter, curated the Ole Miss Rebels program into exactly what he wants.
This isn't 2010 or 2015 or even 2020. These are new times in college football, and as one SEC assistant coaching pointed out to FootballScoop last week, "Ole Miss is ready to make this thing the SEC's version of Texas Tech. Set up to get any players they need in recruiting or the (NCAA) Transfer Portal."
So, Kiffin might not leave a great thing. He's also positioned for an potential extended postseason run with extremely high odds to be a participant in the 12-team College Football Playoff this year.
Eliah Drinkwitz is a very intriguing name in this job, as well as Florida and LSU. Missouri's coach has elevated the Tigers to an upper tier in the SEC, which means in college football. Missouri has games left against No. 3 Texas A&M and top-12 Oklahoma, a pair of contests that if the Tigers can win, along with handling Mississippi State and Arkansas, would have them also squarely in the Dec. 7 discussion for a CFP bid.
Jimbo Fisher likewise has deep history at Auburn and in the state of Florida, where Auburn must recruit to be successful. Fisher, sources told FootballScoop, already was working to be positioned as an Auburn candidate prior to Freeze's official dismissal, when stacked losses had begun to seal Freeze's fate.
It's all this discussion and more in updating the Auburn search.
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