Wednesday roundup

Hey everyone. We're now half-way through Day Seven of Auburn's search for a new football coach. Honestly, the picture isn't much clearer to me now than it was a week ago.

Here is the updated list of confirmed interviewees:

• Derek Dooley, Louisiana Technical Institute head coach
  
• Turner Gill, U. Buffalo head coach
  
• Patrick Nix, U. Miami offensive coordinator (possibly by phone)
  
• Rodney Garner, U. Georgia assistant/recruiting coordinator

*The (Muncie, Ind.) Star-Press, a fellow Gannett paper citing unnamed sources, is reporting that Ball State coach Brady Hoke has interviewed.

*We also have unconfirmed reports that Tulsa coach Todd Graham is talking with Auburn.

SO WHAT'S GOING ON, JAY?: I've told you since the beginning that I'm 95% sure Auburn had its man targeted and vetted before the search began. Why all this talk about the guys you see above?

This is just how things work. Auburn's search is following the same script followed in 1998. We learned much later that Tommy Tuberville had been targeted and vetted long before he was announced as the Tigers' coach in late November that year. Yet we spent most of that "search" talking about guys like Pat Sullivan, Bobby Wallace, Tommy Bowden (then coaching an undefeated Tulane team), George O'Leary and Mike Cavan.

I still can't believe I wrote about Mike Cavan.

I've seen a lot of hand-wringing about these candidates. Someone emailed me and said this list sounds like something Mississippi State would assemble. My advice: Wait until the search has concluded before making serious assessments. I'm not trying to be Mr. Know It All here. It's just that I can sense that plenty of action is going down in private -- out of the media spotlight -- and that's the information you'll ultimately use to judge Jay Jacobs' work.

See what I'm saying?