Auburn fired Gus Malzahn nine days ago, the Christmas holiday is approaching and the Tigers do not have a head coach. Blink twice if you're surprised.
Auburn has held conversations with UAB head coach Bill Clark and Louisiana head coach Billy Napier, and sent overtures to a trio of star coordinators -- Alabama's Steve Sarkisian, and Clemson's Brent Venables and Tony Elliott -- only to have those overtures rejected.
Sources said Auburn could circle back to Clark, but would need to do so with better flexibility than it offered the first time around.
A source of the logjam, sources said, is Auburn's insistence that the next head coach retain associate head coach/defensive line coach Rodney Garner, and possibly defensive coordinator Kevin Steele as well.
College football's highest-paid assistant coach, Steele is in year one of a 3-year deal worth $2.5 million per year.
Steele actively campaigned for the head coaching job both in front of and behind the curtain, and so it's simple to see why the next Auburn head coach would be hesitant to retain a defensive coordinator who so clearly thinks he should be the head coach.
“Nobody involved is fully aligned on what they want, and too many people want different things," a source with knowledge of the search told FootballScoop. "Somebody is definitely trying to get the new coach to retain one if not multiple defensive staff members.”
In addition to Clark, the search may circle back to other Tier 1 candidates, including possibly Liberty coach and former Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze.
With the holiday approaching, it's likely that if a new hire is not in place soon, the search will drag into next week and beyond.
In the meantime, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.