Auburn Coaching Search: AU To Hire Boise State's Bryan Harsin

AUBURN, AL — Auburn University has reportedly found its next football coach. Reports say Auburn has hired Byran Harsin, who has been head coach at Boise State since 2014. The Broncos have gone 69-19 in his tenure, including 5-2 this season.

Harsin, 44, played quarterback at Boise State from 1995 to 1999, then went on to assistant coaching jobs at Eastern Oregon, BSU and Texas. He was hired as the head coach at Arkansas State in 2013 (taking over for Gus Malzahn), winning a Sun Belt title in his only year there before becoming the head coach at his alma mater.

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.

"I am incredibly excited and humbled for the opportunity to be at a place like Auburn University," Harsin said in a statement from Auburn. "I knew it would take a special opportunity to get me out of Boise and Auburn is exactly that, the chance to compete at the highest level for one of the greatest programs in college football."

Auburn fired Gus Malzahn Dec, 13 after eight years at the helm on the Plains. Malzahn was just three years removed from a seven-year $49 million contract extension, which included a guaranteed 75 percent of the deal's value. He will receive half of his $21,450,000 buyout within 30 days of his termination and the remainder will be paid in four equal annual installments.

Malzahn won an SEC championship in his first season in 2103, a year he led the Tigers to a berth in the BCS championship game and a 12-2 record, which included dramatic last-minute wins over rivals Alabama and Georgia.

Since that magical season in 2013, however, Malzahn has lost at least four games every year.