AUBURN, Alabama – Kevin Steele officially left Auburn’s technical football team after five seasons as a defensive coordinator. With two years remaining on a three-year $ 7.5 million contract, he will receive $ 5.2 million in monthly installments until January 2023. If he accepts another job, the amount he receives will be deducted from what Auburn pays .
Linebacker coach Travis Williams is also part of the team of Gus Malzahn, interviewed on Thursday. He was not informed whether he would be offered a place on Harsin’s team. Former Vanderbilt coach Derek Mason was appointed defensive coordinator by first year coach Bryan Harsin.
Steele became the country’s highest-paid technical assistant in January 2020, less than a year ago. Malzahn had heard that LSU might be interested in Steele. At Malzahn’s insistence, Steele received the richest contract of any technical assistant in the country.
Steele, 62, will be full of opportunities in the coaching business. His future plans are uncertain, but he said privately that he is not ready to retire.
ENTRY OF THE COORDINATORS
It seems that Harsin is allowing his coordinators to make a significant contribution to who is hired for his teams. Clearly, the new offensive coordinator Mike Bobo brought the offensive line manager Will Friend with him from South Carolina.
Etheridge was a safety highlight on the 2010 Auburn national championship team, when Ted Roof was the defensive coordinator. Etheridge spent three years working with Roof as a graduate assistant at Penn State and Georgia Tech. Roof was the defensive coordinator for Vanderbilt in 2020. He and Mason have a close relationship.
Malzahn, in his eight seasons, rarely asked the coordinators for their opinion on hiring decisions, sometimes hiring coaches before the coordinators knew these coaches were being considered.
FIVE WILL STILL BE NOMINATED
With five field coaches officially appointed, another five have yet to be named. The following week should be another news week. Our guess – it’s just a guess – is that Travis Williams is the most likely of the coaches on the Malzahn team to join Cadillac Williams to be hired. It may also be that the Cadillac Williams is the only remnant when the team is finished.
SEC EXPERIENCE
Harsin made hiring some coaches with SEC experience a priority. All five officially appointed field coaches played or coached or both at the SEC. Bobo was a Georgia quarterback, Georgia’s offensive coordinator and South Carolina’s offensive coordinator. Mason was Vanderbilt’s head coach. Cadillac Williams played and trained at Auburn. Offensive coach Will Friend played in Alabama and trained in Tennessee and South Carolina. Etheridge played in Auburn.