AUBURN – Butch Thompson has agreed in principle to become the next head baseball coach at Auburn University.

Multiple sources close to the situation confirmed to the Montgomery Advertiser Thursday morning that the Mississippi State pitching coach and Auburn athletics director Jay Jacobs came to a verbal agreement late Wednesday evening. Thompson has notified Mississippi State officials of his intention to take the head coaching position and is currently on his way to the Auburn campus to sign the contract.

Thompson, 44, will be taking over the program from Sunny Golloway after he was dismissed with cause on Sept. 27.Thompson is more than familiar with Auburn after being the Tigers pitching coach for three seasons (2006-08) under head coach Tom Slater and has spent the last 14 seasons as an assistant in the Southeastern Conference. Each of Auburn’s three recruiting classes with Thompson on staff were ranked among the top 20 in the nation, including a No. 5 national ranking in 2007.

Thompson is noted as one of the best pitching coaches and recruiters currently in college baseball, especially the southeastern part of the country. During his seven-season tenure at MSU under head coach John Cohen, Thompson has involved in the development of 23 undrafted players out of high school into Major League Baseball draft picks. He was named the 2014 National Assistant Coach of the Year by both Baseball America and the American Baseball Coaches Association.

“Butch Thompson is not only one of the most elite coaches in the country – he is one of the best human beings I have ever known,” Cohen said after Thompson was given the honor. “His never-ending dedication to his craft, his loyalty to our program and his devotion to this university is why he is so deserving of this distinguished award.”

Thompson has recruited and developed 22 Division I All-America selections and 29 all-conference honors and his best recent recruit is arguably Oakland A’s starting pitcher Kendall Graveman, who last year became the ninth player Thompson tutored to pitch in Major League Baseball. Graveman, who had 21 starts this season before being put on the 60-day disabled list, verbally committed to Auburn, despite growing up a diehard fan of the University of Alabama, because of his loyalty to Thompson and followed him to Mississippi State when Cohen hired Thompson in 2009.

In a post-game media conference following MSU’s fall season, Cohen addressed the news that Thompson was a top candidate for the vacant head coaching position at Auburn.

“Nobody deserves to have that type of opportunity more than a Butch Thompson,” Cohen said to the Jackson Clarion-Ledger Wednesday. “We’re cheering for him. We don’t want to lose him. I’ve told many people at Auburn, you’d be crazy not to hire this guy. But I’m going to be the happiest guy in the world if you don’t.”

The Montgomery Advertiser confirmed last week Auburn did bring Thompson on campus on Oct. 12 to interview for its open head baseball coach position. Former Clemson head coach Jack Leggett also interviewed with Auburn officials that week as well. Auburn has conducted interviews earlier this week and local reports have suggested those candidates are Florida State assistant coach Mike Martin Jr. and Virginia pitching coach Karl Kuhn.

Sources close to the situation confirmed to the Montgomery Advertiser Thompson spoke to Jacobs, the Auburn baseball search committee and various head coaches including football coach Gus Malzahn, men’s basketball coach Bruce Pearl and Auburn softball coach Clint Myers.

Sources have also told The Montgomery Advertiser that Thompson would consider reaching out to former Auburn All-America selection, 7-year MLB veteran and current SEC Network baseball analyst Gabe Grossto join his staff as a full-time hitting coach.

Jacobs announced in a university release on Sept. 27 Golloway was being fired as Auburn’s head baseball coach with cause but did not reveal the nature of the violations in the statement. Jacobs told reporters on Oct. 1 that he wanted to get the program through fall drills, which are going on this week, before commenting on the head baseball coach search.

Jacobs announced that assistant coach Greg Norton, who played in Major League Baseball from 1996-2009, will be responsible for Auburn’s baseball operations until a new coach is hired.

In a phone interview with the Montgomery Advertiser, Golloway said he didn’t understand why he was dismissed from his position after two seasons with the Tigers program. Multiple sources have also confirmed to the Montgomery Advertiser that Auburn placed associate head coach/pitching coach Tom Holliday on paid administrative leave at the same time they dismissed Golloway.

In a media statement, Golloway’s attorney called the decision by Auburn “outrageous” and threatened possible litigation if a settlement on severance compensation couldn’t soon be reached between the two parties.