The Auburn head coaching search is rolling right along, and although reports surfaced that current interim head coach and defensive coordinator Kevin Steele has emerged as the leader for the vacant job, other reports suggest that the Tigers will interview multiple other candidates.

The first 2 candidates mentioned for the job when Gus Malzahn was fired were Hugh Freeze and Mario Cristobal. Freeze seemed to never really be a candidate after signing an extension this year at Liberty, and Cristobal just signed an extension at Oregon.

While there’s talk about candidates around the country, the Tigers may have a candidate in their own backyard in UAB’s Bill Clark. The Blazers beat Marshall Friday night 22-13 to win the Conference USA Championship. UAB finished the season 6-3, and Clark has done a remarkable job at the program.

Following a win over the Thundering Herd, Clark was asked if Auburn had contacted him about the vacancy.

“I won’t comment on that other than to say, like I told you before, I love UAB,” Clark said. “This is mine, and we built it together. But it’s always good to be thought of, and that’s my job in this business to win games. And when that happens, I think people see that. So, you know, we’ll just see what happens, but I love my players and love UAB.”

Clark has coached at UAB since 2014, but following the 2014 season, UAB decided to shut down its football program. The program thankfully was revived in 2017 under Clark’s leadership. He has an overall record of 40-22 at the university during his tenure.