Does Rodney Garner want to coach in Austin one day?

One of my favorite bloggers, Jerry Hinnen over at The Joe Cribbs Car Wash, in speculating about whether Coach Garner is being interviewed for something other than the unoccupied head coaching position at Auburn, has this to say:

… I seriously doubt Garner’s actually in the running for the head job, but the hypothetical “Garner comes aboard as the DC” scenario is worth discussing. The first question to ask is if Garner would be willing to make the jump out of Athens; given his oft-stated goal of becoming a head coach and how useful the Auburn DC position has been in achieving that goal in recent years, I can’t imagine he wouldn’t. [Emphasis added.]

Hmm… and I thought the recent purpose of the Auburn DC position was as an audition for a similar job working for Mack Brown.  Seriously, Garner doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy who’s looking for one of those coach-in-waiting slots like Muschamp (who’s 5 or 6 years younger than Garner).

Besides that, Garner’s current head coach doesn’t think he needs any seasoning as a coordinator to achieve his ultimate goal.

… Richt said that the role of head coach doesn’t necessarily require experience as a coordinator anyway. He said the head coach’s job is more like a CEO, and Garner’s personality makes him an excellent fit for such a role.

“I think today people understand that the head coach doesn’t necessarily have to be a coordinator,” Richt said. “Now he’s been a recruiting coordinator, but I think that at one time that was more important than it is today. I don’t see it being as important. Head coaches nowadays are more of a CEO in nature, and if you hire the right people to coordinate your offense and defense, you can do extremely well.”

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UPDATE: The inevitable rumor surfaces.  Jeezus – is there an SEC head coaching opening in the last four years to which Spurrier hasn’t had his name linked?

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UPDATE: They’re interviewing Todd Graham?  Good grief, this guy makes Bobby Petrino look like Woody Hayes from a loyalty standpoint.  Per Wikipedia, “It was later revealed that none of his negotiations with Rice were in earnest, as he was negotiating his contract with Tulsa during the breaks in the Rice contract negotiations.” You hire this guy, you’ll get exactly what you deserve, Auburn.  Plus, my bet is that Malzahn gets offered the Tulsa job if Graham leaves, which means Auburn doesn’t even get the most attractive part of the hire.  If you’re Auburn, it makes more sense financially to eliminate the middleman if it’s high octane offense you’re after.