In a near-bye week for Alabama Football, Crimson Tide fans, still smarting from the loss to Oklahoma, find comfort in the travails of others. Half of the SEC's football programs are searching high and low for a next head coach. That includes programs that currently have no opening, but can't ignore the possibility.
Head coach candidates almost always hold the upper hand. Even the most astute athletic directors face more variables they cannot control than those they can.
Auburn, LSU, Florida, and Arkansas have current openings. Ole Miss, Missouri, Kentucky, and South Carolina may have openings. Rumors are that Texas might also have a vacancy if Steve Sarkisian can find an NFL head coaching job.
No program (or any outsider) knows what Lane Kiffin will do. He can have the LSU or Florida job. Mark Pszonak wrote that Kiffin is playing the Bengal Tigers and the Gators and will land "a large contract extension" from Ole Miss.
Ole Miss has given Kiffin an Egg Bowl deadline. If LSU and Florida remain all-in on him, Kiffin can choose to ignore the deadline. Ole Miss would have no recourse that wouldn't risk jeopardizing its playoff chances. Other than giving Lane whatever he wants.
Alabama Football 'Little Brother' Hiring History
Auburn is mostly on the outside looking in. The Tigers have provided a 20-plus-year case history for how to 'not hire' a football coach. Tommy Tuberville decided that a pine box in Oxford was not his final destination, thereby providing an example of his capacity for mendacity. Auburn didn't care, and Tuberville served them well until it was decided that Louisville's Bobby Petrino would do better. Tuberville outsmarted Auburn for a few more years, showing the level of stupidity of Auburn's decision-makers.
In wild dreams of grandeur, Auburn has recently chased Kiffin (second time), James Franklin, and hoped for other impossibilities like Urban Meyer. Auburn hopes to salvage its much-damaged reputation by winning the Iron Bowl. No hiring decision will be made until after the game. Roster attrition is a serious threat for Auburn, especially if forced to settle for a ho-hum hire.
Auburn's current viable targets are Eli Drinkwitz, Jon Sumrall, and possibly Jimbo Fisher, along with interim DJ Durkin. Many Auburn fans have not been sold on Sumrall. Informed opinion is that Sumrall wants to wait on the possible Ole Miss opening. If Lane is playing LSU and Florida, Auburn may be left to choose from Drinkwitz or Durkin. Many Alabama fans would love for the Tigers to become desperate enough to hire Jimbo.
What Alabama football fans the widespread mess is glorious.