Trainer Auburn Bryan Harsin chose two ex-coaches to fill play-call vacancies on their new team.
Former Vanderbilt coach Derek Mason and offensive coordinator of South Carolina Mike Bobo are the main candidates pursued by Harsin as he tries to hire his team’s top two, sources familiar with the process told 247Sports. Bobo, a former Colorado State coach, was a longtime coordinator in Georgia during the Mark Richt was.
Mason, 51, was fired after the first eight games of the 2020 season. The Commodores finished 0-10 in 2020 and Mason ended his seven-year coaching career in Nashville with a 27-55 record. Mason is “very likely” to be hired as Auburn’s defensive coordinator, a source said in an Auburn Undercover report.
Mason was previously the defensive coordinator at Stanford, where his units ranked among the top 15 nationally in each of their two seasons, summoning plays in 2012 and 2013. Vanderbilt’s defense ranked 22nd in 2015, but was among the country’s worst in his last two seasons as head coach of the Commodores.
Bobo recently received an offer for a new contract in Shane BeamerThe South Carolina team has a contract worth $ 1.2 million a year for two seasons, according to reports.
Bobo, 46, was fired in 2019 after five seasons as Colorado head coach. He was hired as a South Carolina offensive coordinator by Will Muschamp for the 2020 season, and replaced Muschamp in the last three games of the season as interim head coach. He has 28-38 in total in his time as coach or interim coach. He trained in Georgia from 2001 to 2014, serving as a coach for defenders for all 14 seasons and as an offensive coordinator for the last eight seasons of his tenure.
Gamecocks averaged 23.5 points per game, ranking 98th in 2020. Bobo’s last three offenses in Georgia ranked in the top 25, with his best unit scoring 41.8 points to finish in the top 10 first during his last season with the Bulldogs in 2014.
Harsin has been in his term as coach of Auburn for two weeks, after serving the past seven seasons as head coach of Boise State. Tigers shot Gus Malzahn after eight seasons as a head coach on December 13, 2020.
Chad Morris and Kevin Steele served as Auburn’s offensive and defensive coordinator, respectively, in 2020. The Tigers averaged 25.1 points per game in attack, reaching 88th place. The defense allowed 24.7 points, occupying the 39th position. The Tigers, led by Steele as acting coach, ended the season 6-5 with a 35-19 loss to Northwestern in the Outback Bowl on New Year’s Day.
Harsin spoke with some members of Auburn’s previous technical team last week, but he did not conduct formal job interviews. Since then, Harsin has hired three members of the Boise State team: defensive line coach Spencer Danielson, director of football operations Brad Larrondo and strength trainer Jeff Pitman.
247Sports will update this story.