John Cohen has made the first of what’s expected to be 2 moves in his career, as he’s stepped down as Mississippi State’s athletics director.

Cohen has informed Mississippi State officials of his resignation from the school, sources told Ross Dellenger of Sports Illustrated. The expectation is he will be named the Auburn AD as soon as Monday in a deal that was being finalized over the weekend.

Dellenger noted that Cohen’s replacement at Mississippi State will be a highly sought after position, Dellenger reported

Three sitting Group of 5 ADs have close ties to Mississippi State and are worth watching: Georgia Southern’s Jared Benko, San Diego State’s John David Wicker and Eastern Michigan’s Scott Wetherbee.

Cohen had been the AD at MSU since November of 2016, would take over for Allen Greene, who left Auburn in late August. Prior to that, he was the Bulldogs’ head baseball coach from 2009-16. Greene stepped down with 5 months remaining on his initial 5-year deal, and was perhaps most remembered for his hire of Bryan Harsin.