Pete Thamel explains John Cohen's 'painstaking' process for landing Auburn's next head coach

John Cohen is having quite the introduction at Auburn. Even before officially being named the new athletic director, questions began to pop up on what’s next for the football program at head coach. Cohen is no stranger to searches either, having two recently while at Mississippi State.

ESPN’s Pete Thamel said there is something to learn from those processes, where the Bulldogs wound up with Joe Moorhead and Mike Leach. He thinks Cohen will be able to look from every angle and that could lead to some candidates nobody saw coming.

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“We have recent coaching searches of John Cohen at Mississippi State to go by and give us a blueprint of what could happen here at Auburn,” Thamel said on Wednesday’s edition of The Paul Finebaum Show. “John Cohen, as he humble bragged about his 58-point plan, he is going to be thorough and going to be maniacal.

“That helped them land Mike Leach which was a solid hire for Mississippi State that came pretty straight from left field when you look back at how that search unfolded two years ago. Obviously, he hired Joe Moorhead, which didn’t work and he moved on quickly from him.”

The jury is still out on whether or not the Leach hire worked out for Mississippi State, currently 17-16 and in the middle of a third season. At the very least, nobody was expecting the Pirate to dock his ship in Starkville, MS.

Process will be “painstaking” for Auburn

With a 58-step point plan, there will be a ton going into the decision for Cohen. Thamel described the process as a “painstaking” process for everyone involved at Auburn. Cohen will not just hope a quality candidate shows up to accept the job.

“Those who have worked with John Cohen on searches will tell you he chose candidate after candidate, over and over and over,” said Thamel. “There’s going to be no stone left unturned. John Cohen loves coaching searches. He loves the challenge. He’s a former coach himself.

“He love analyzing numbers. Analytics will be heavily involved in everything he does. It will be a painstaking and laborious process. He’s not just going to sit back and hope somebody lands on the doorstep.”

John Cohen still going after big named candidates

Thamel then laid out who remains as possible candidates for Auburn, listing off some familiar names. Two are current coaches in the SEC, while another would be coming from in-state rival Alabama.

“They’re diving in now,” said Thamel. “The prominent names remain there. You’re looking at Matt Rhule, Lane Kiffin, Hugh Freeze, Bill O’Brien, Mark Stoops– somewhere in that range. John Cohen has definitely made it clear. He wants to go big and he wants Auburn to reemerge in the national conversation which it’s faded from in recent years.”

Realistically, Auburn will have to wait until the end of the season to make their hire. And with how the college football calendar works in today’s age, the decision will have to come quickly. Whoever is hired will have to figure out recruiting and work the transfer portal.

While Cohen will want to move slowly and make sure the right decision has been made, a sense of urgency will have to come eventually.