The Auburn Tigers lost offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee to the same position with the UConn Huskies and, since then, much speculation has gone into who Gus Malzahn will snatch as his replacement. Now, an interesting name has emerged in that search, as a report indicates Oklahoma State offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich is in the mix.
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Yurcich has done a tremendous job under Mike Gundy in Stillwater, helping to guide the Cowboys to one of the nation's more explosive offenses. He was nominated for the 2016 Broyles Award as the country's top assistant coach, and the 41-year-old's performance was worthy of that honor.
In 2016, Oklahoma State racked up 38.6 points per game while ranking among the top-15 teams in the country in both passing offense and total offense. While his style would not seem to be a flawless fit with Malzahn and Auburn's current construction, we have seen the Tigers morph into different forms offensively in recent years and this would be an intriguing match.
The offensive coordinator role at Auburn will always be an interesting one under Malzahn's leadership, simply because he is seen by many as a "genius" on that side of the ball. Still, it is thought that the new OC will have play-calling duties and, with the way things went in 2016, a changing of the guard is probably a good thing at Auburn. We'll see if Mike Yurcich gets the call.
