Auburn and Boise State’s Bryan Harsin are finalizing an agreement for him to become the Tigers’ head coach.
A person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press that Harsin and Auburn were in the final stages of a deal. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because negotiations were not complete.
Yahoo Sports first reported Auburn was narrowing its search to Harsin.
The 44-year-old Harsin is 69-19 with three Mountain West titles in seven seasons at Boise State, his alma mater.
Auburn fired Gus Malzahn earlier this month after eight seasons, a surprising move after a 6-4 season – and one that cost the school more than $21 million to buy out the former coach’s contract.
Auburn has been an up-and-down program, winning the national championship under Gene Chizik before going on a rapid decline.
The Tigers turned to Malzhan, the offensive coordinator for that Cam Newton-led team. Malzahn led Auburn to the Southeastern Conference championship and into the national championship game in his first season, 2013. But the Tigers have lost at least four games in each of the seven seasons since.
Meanwhile, chief rivals Alabama and Georgia have emerged as national powers, making it even harder for Auburn to make headway consistently.
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AP Sports Writer John Zenor contributed to this report.
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More AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25
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