Auburn running backs coach Tim Horton has applied for the head coaching job at North Texas, according to the Denton Record-Chronicle.

Horton is in his third season coaching the Tigers’ running backs. He came to Auburn with head coach Gus Malzahn in 2013.

Auburn running backs have excelled under Horton’s guidance. In 2013, Tre Mason rushed for 1,816 yards and 23 touchdowns, and was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy. In 2014, Cameron Artis-Payne ran for 1,608 yards and 13 touchdowns. Peyton Barber can become Auburn’s third different 1,000-yard rusher in the past three seasons if he can gain 53 yards in the Tigers’ final two games.

Horton has coached six different 1,000-yard rushers in the past eight years.

“Well, I don’t know anything about Tim and other jobs,” Auburn offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee told al.com. “I really don’t. He and I haven’t talked about that, so that’s kind of the first I’ve heard of it. I know Tim’s like me — we’re as deep as we can be in getting ready for this week. That being said, Tim does a great job here. He’d be an excellent coach as a head coach. That’s kind of the first I’ve heard of it. As far as I know and as far as I think he is, he’s really happy here and has done a really good job for us.”

While Horton has an interest in the North Texas job, there is one thing that could keep him at his current job. His daughter is a freshman at Auburn.

“I don’t want to (become a head coach) at the expense of my family and now I have a daughter at college who is a freshman at Auburn, and it’s probably a little easier to move on from here — just because I want to be a dad first,” Horton said earlier this year. “It’s kinda old-fashioned, maybe, but that’s just the way I think. I want to be a good dad first.”

Before going to Auburn, Horton spent six years at Arkansas, his alma mater, where he coached All-American running backs Darren McFadden and Felix Jones. He has also been an assistant coach at Kansas State, Air Force and Appalachian State.

North Texas has been looking for a new head coach since it fired former Florida assistant Dan McCarney on Oct. 10. The other coaches who have applied for the North Texas job, according to an open records request by the Denton newspaper, are Baylor offensive coordinator Kendall Briles, Texas Tech associate head coach Mike Jinks, West Georgia head coach Will Hall, Southern Utah head coach Ed Lamb, San Jose State secondary coach Donte’ Williams and Illinois College associate head coach Ray DeFrisco.