Greg Brown

AUBURN, Alabama — Auburn secondary coach Greg Brown is the leading candidate to join Purdue's staff as cornerbacks coach, a source tells Auburn Undercover.

The two parties are in discussions, and a deal should happen quickly if the two sides come to an agreement.

The veteran assistant coach spent the last two seasons at Auburn coaching cornerbacks for coordinator Kevin Steele. Brown is the leading candidate to take over as the cornerbacks coach at Purdue, where head coach Jeff Brohm is attempting to quickly replace Derrick Jackson. Jackson left Purdue to become the defensive coordinator at Northern Illinois on Monday. Spring practices at Purdue begin Feb. 25.

Brown's yearly salary at Auburn is $400,500. Jackson was paid $320,000 at Purdue.

Brown would be the third coach to voluntarily leave or be fired from their post at Auburn since the end of the 2018 regular season. Offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey left the Tigers in December to join the staff at Kansas, where he quickly departed and became the head coach at Troy in January. Running backs coach Tim Horton was demoted to an unspecified off-the-field role in January, but resurfaced as the running backs coach at Vanderbilt this week.

Auburn blasted Purdue in the first meeting between the two football programs in December. The Tigers strolled in the Music City Bowl to a 63-14 victory against the Boilermakers while setting the SEC record for points in a bowl game and the most points in one half of an FBS bowl game.

Brown has coached in the NFL and college football over the last 38 seasons. He coached at Purdue from 1989 through 1990. He has coached three Jim Thorpe Award winners, the only assistant coach to do so in college football history. His Auburn defensive backs included All-American and All-SEC cornerback Carlton Davis and All-SEC corner Jamel Dean, who declared early for the NFL Draft in January.

This will mark Brown's fourth job in the last five seasons should the deal with Purdue be finalized. He coached at Louisville in 2015 before jumping to Missouri in 2016 for one season. Mizzou led the SEC in interceptions in 2016.

Brown's other coaching stops include the a one-year stint in the USFL and 15 years in the NFL coaching for six teams. He has spent the last 14 seasons coaching college football at Colorado, Arizona, Alabama, Louisville, Missouri and Auburn.

Should Brown leave Auburn, a potential candidate to join Auburn is former Auburn defensive backs coach and Ole Miss defensive coordinator Wesley McGriff. McGriff was hired in early January as the defensive backs coach at Florida State shortly after he was fired from Ole Miss. It's not clear if McGriff has signed a contract with the Seminoles.

Auburn recently hired former Furman cornerbacks coach Addison Williams as an analyst. He could be an option as an on-the-field assistant should Brown leave for Purdue.

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