Unless Auburn’s new football coach Bryan Harsin keeps defensive coordinator Kevin Steele on his team, Friday’s Citrus Bowl will be the last time we’ll see the $ 2.5 million man.
With the dismissal of Gus Malzahn, Steele assumed the provisional title of coach and will lead the 6-4 Tigers at the start of Friday’s Citrus Bowl against Associated Press No. 14 Northwestern (6-2).
Steele and Alabama’s offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian are college football’s highest-paid assistants, each earning $ 2.5 million.
If Steele is not hired, the Tigers, based on the length of the contract he signed last year, will owe him about $ 5 million. That adds to the $ 21.4 million owed to Gus Malzahn.
Steele’s son Gordon was an analyst on Nick Saban’s team before taking a job in southern Alabama, and perhaps Steele will end up in Tuscaloosa. Harsin will have a hard time finding someone of Steele’s caliber.
Let’s start a good conspiracy. Saban and Steele, 62, have close ties and Saban is losing two analysts, Butch Jones and AJ Milwee, to Arkansas.
Losing Steele, who is not known for his recruiting talents, is one thing. Losing defensive line coach Rodney Garner, one of the country’s best recruiters, the recruiter for all things in Georgia, is another story.
Harsin won last week’s press conference and says he will spend some time recruiting the West Coast, which makes sense, since he is a West Coast guy. Auburn fans, however, would appreciate that he spent most of his time recruiting Georgia, Florida and Alabama, rather than hanging around in Idaho or California. He will need to win the Trifeta Deep South to accompany the Sabans, Smarts, Mullens and Orgerons to have Auburn competing for the titles. Keeping Garner on the team must be of the utmost importance.
Any coach Harsin brings to Auburn will love his new income bracket. Let’s use your defensive coordinator in Boise, Jeff Schmedding, as an example. He was Harsin’s highest-paid assistant, earning $ 350,000 in 2020.
Maybe he will join 42-year-old Harsin, or maybe he won’t. Boise’s set of base salaries for his 10 technical assistants ($ 2.325 million) doesn’t even lead to Steele’s money.
Our bowl choices from January 1st to 2nd, minus the playoffs.
New Year’s Day
Citrus Bowl
Auburn vs. Northwestern
Harsin is taking a direct approach to bowling. He says he met his team, either through Zoom, FaceTime or in person, and will watch the game. Just maybe not in person. But he will closely observe the performance of his players. We’ll call it a test for the spring dance.
You can’t help but feel for Steele and many of the team who are unlikely to be around on February’s signing day. A difficult year just got tougher and the opponent, Northwestern 14th (6-2), arrives with a Big Ten finish and a fairly fair defensive unit that would love to send the Wildcats’ longtime coordinator, 73 -old Mike Hankwitz , with a resounding performance. Hankwitz is retiring after 13 seasons at Northwestern.
We know that Auburn’s 3 1/2 point underdog has several players who have given up, like Anthony Schwartz and defender Christian Tutt. There may be others, so we shouldn’t expect too many fireworks from quarterback Bo Nix and Co.
The Tigers will place their dashed hopes on Tank Bigsby’s running back and a racing game that could cause problems for Northwestern. Ohio State Trey Sermon ran for more than 330 meters. Expect Steele’s defense, whether it’s his last time on the Plains or not, to play well.
Northwestern 27, Auburn 24
Chick-fil-A bowl
Georgia 30, Cincinnati 23
Saturday, January 2
Taxslayer Gator Bowl
North Carolina State 31, Kentucky 27
Outback Bowl
Ole Miss 26, Indiana 24
Playstation Fiesta Bowl
Iowa State 26, Oregon 21
Capital One cotton bowl
Texas A&M 36, North Carolina 31
Charles Hollis has covered college football since 1983. Talk to him at budcoin @ msn, with