Auburn Coach in mix for NT Job

[Harry]

http://www.al.com/sports/birminghamnews/in...2260.xml&coll=2

Borges `absolutley' interested in Stanford head coaching job

Thursday, December 07, 2006

CHARLES GOLDBERG

News staff writer

AUBURN - Auburn assistant football coaches Al Borges and Eddie Gran could find themselves in the mix for vacant head coaching positions in the next few days.

Borges, Auburn's offensive coordinator, said he would ``absolutely" be interested in Stanford, though he says he has no contact with the school.

Gran, the running back and special teams coach, has had discussions with North Texas Athletics Director Rick Villarreal about the Mean Green opening.

Stanford fired Walt Harris on Monday after a 1-11 season. He was there two years. North Texas fired Darrell Dickey after a 2-7 start this season. Dickey was there nine years.

Borges' agent, Barry Terranova, said Tuesday that his client would be an ideal candidate because of his West Coast roots. But Borges said Wednesday ``there's nothing that's really developed. I think they're just putting together a search. It's so embryonic in nature. I'm sure my name might have come up. Because it did, I'm getting a lot of people asking questions, but I haven't talked to anybody at Stanford."

Borges' West Coast background includes his boyhood home of Salinas, Calif., and coaching stops at UCLA and California, as well as in the Pacific Northwest.

Borges is in his third season at Auburn. Borges said he hopes to hear from Stanford ``in a week for so."

``When he gets all of the candidates shaven down, and either I'm on or I'm off the list," Borges said.

Another coach with West Coast ties, Norm Chow, has also been linked to the Stanford job. Chow, the offensive coordinator for the NFL's Tennessee Titans, made a name for himself as the offensive coordinator at Southern California, among other places.

Two more West Coast guys - University of San Diego coach Jim Harbaugh and San Diego Charges wide receivers coach James Lofton are also interested. Lofton said he will apply for the job at his alma mater. Harbaugh, ironically, plans to interview at North Texas this week.

Borges said Auburn head coach Tommy Tuberville has given him blanket permission to interview for ``any job, any job that may be of interest to me. But, by the same token, I've got such a good situation. It's win-win. If they come back and say, `Well, we're not interested in you,' I've got a good thing to come back to."

Gran's special teams leads the SEC in kickoffs, kickoff returns and punting. Gran's running backs - which have included Rudi Johnson, Carnell Williams, Ronnie Brown and Kenny Irons - have routinely led the SEC in rushing.

Gran has been with Tuberville since he joined his head coach at Ole Miss in 1994.

North Texas has talked with South Carolina defensive coordinator Tyrone Nix, but Nix removed himself from consideration.

E-mail: cgoldberg@bhamnews.com

BIO: http://auburntigers.cstv.com/sports/m-foot...an_eddie00.html

[the green rokemi]

He would at least be able to know what to do with our plethora of good runningbacks and how to get more than one on the field at one time

[GoMeanGreen1999]

This guy will not be hired here as the head coach. You can also eliminate Modkins at Ga Tech.

[CaribbeanGreen]

This guy will not be hired here as the head coach.  You can also eliminate Modkins at Ga Tech.

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More "insider info" from GMG1999??

[GoMeanGreen1999]

More "insider info" from GMG1999??

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Not "insider" info at all, I just don't believe they are going to hire an RB's coach as the Head coach.

[UNTX]

We hired Matt Simon, who was the running backs coach at Washington. So we've done that before (albeit as a I-AA program at the time).

[GoMeanGreen1999]

We hired Matt Simon, who was the running backs coach at Washington.  So we've done that before (albeit as a I-AA program at the time).

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We are now D1 and the pressure is on RV to product a winner. A RB's coach does very little and makes very little "splash".

[SUMG]

We hired Matt Simon, who was the running backs coach at Washington.  So we've done that before (albeit as a I-AA program at the time).

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Matt had been the RB coach at Washington for about 10 years. But, when we hired him, he was the OC at New Mexico. I think he was there for 2 years, under Dennis Franchione.

So, he didn't come here directly from being a RB coach....he had been a OC.

[Smitty]

We are now D1 and the pressure is on RV to product a winner.  A RB's coach does very little and makes very little "splash".

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I'm not interested in RV's choice making a splash. Any splash will be washed away by more losing seasons, and any disappointment at a not-so-splashy hire will be forgotten by winning.

Remember the disdain some USC fans expressed when Pete Carroll was hired? No one is complaining now.

Why are so many here so excited about Harbaugh? Mostly because we've heard of him. Nobody wants their school to hire a coach that generates a reacton of "Who?" So what if he played in the NFL? Can he coach and can he recruit? Is he flexible to adjust his coaching style to take advantage of his roster's strengths?

Final judgment on this hire will not come in January or February. It comes three, four, or five years from now.

[GoMeanGreen1999]

I'm not interested in RV's choice making a splash. Any splash will be washed away by more losing seasons, and any disappointment at a not-so-splashy hire will be forgotten by winning.

Remember the disdain some USC fans expressed when Pete Carroll was hired? No one is complaining now.

Why are so many here so excited about Harbaugh? Mostly because we've heard of him. Nobody wants their school to hire a coach that generates a reacton of "Who?" So what if he played in the NFL? Can he coach and can he recruit? Is he flexible to adjust his coaching style to take advantage of his roster's strengths?

Final judgment on this hire will not come in January or February. It comes three, four, or five years from now.

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I also doubt Harbaugh will be hired here. But that's not really "inside" info either. I do think that we will know something soon.