Coffee and Magnolia: 8 December 2014

DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR SEARCH

There's not a whole lot new, this morning. The biggest thing is that Gus Malzahn spoke to the press for the first time since the Iron Bowl last night on the Outback Bowl teleconference. He answered questions on the search and was pretty much exactly as vague as you would expect Gus Malzahn to be.

Muschamp is reportedly not coming back from his vacation until mid-week, so that's probably the earliest we can hope for any news. I won't say "expect" any news. There are some South Carolina sites claiming Muschamp has said he's not going to make a decision until after the SEC bowl games. The problem is that Muschamp hasn't said anything at all. I'm connecting random dots here because I haven't done the full research, but Spurrier's response to the questions on the South Carolina reports were full-on Steve Spurrier. He says South Carolina will not make any changes until after the bowls - if at all. Then come reports Muschamp will not be making a decision until after the bowls from South Carolina writers. I don't know if there's any truth to that or if it's just a case of South Carolina writers drawing links and inferences between whatever led to the debunked rumors of Muschamp taking the DC/HCIW position at USCe and Spurrier's latest responses.

AUBURN FOOTBALL

Back to what we do know. We do know that Auburn will be playing Wisconsin in the Outback Bowl. You can get all of the information on the bowl, including where to buy tickets, from the official site. AL.com has a breakdown of the Tigers' previous meetings with the Badgers in bowl games.

You can bet that we'll be covering all sorts of things in regards to the game here and also with our SB Nation Wisconsin site "Bucky's 5th Quarter." I've already done a quick Q&A with them. You can read my responses to their questions at their site, and be looking for their responses to the same questions here at College and Magnolia before too long. I'm also planning on doing a rivalry Q&A series like Kansas State did with our rivals back in September and reaching out to other B1G sites for some information on our Wisconsin friends.

Auburn finished 19th in the College Football Playoff polls. This poll was proven to be really all that mattered after the changes in the final weeks. It's an interesting question to ponder on whether or not Ohio State would have jumped into the Final Four if TCU were named Texas or Oklahoma. I'm doubting they would have.

In "that would be great" news, Auburn's four early enrollees who signed paperwork last week could possibly go through bowl practice with the Tigers. We know RB Jovon Robinson will be doing so. These are QB Tyler Queen, FB/H-back Chandler Cox, and OLs Bailey Sharp and Tyler Carr. Of that group, I would say Cox is the key. He will be in position to contribute immediately in the FB/H-back roll next season, so every bit of extra practice and familiarity with the offense will help considerably.

In terms of players leaving early, there are a few considering it according to Phillip Marshall. That's a paywall article, so I can't give too much details, but I'll tell you the names of those considering it: Sammie Coates, Duke Williams, Kris Frost, Cassanova McKinzy, and Avery Young.

AUBURN BASKETBALL

Help is on the way! Signee Trayvon Reed is clearing up his legal issues and should be able to play as soon as he arrives on the Plains. He'll have to learn Bruce Pearl's schemes, so he may not contributeto his full potential for a while, but it will at least be more talented depth.