So What If.....

[Snaggletiger]

Gus is actually let go after this season?  First, let me say I don't think they can him right now simply due to the financial corner the administration painted themselves into.  That's an ass load of money and would be a flat out embarrassment to pay.  But, I also acknowledge that there's a very real chance they make the move if some big donors step up to the plate. Let me also reiterate that I have zero faith in anyone in charge up there to go for the home run, splash hire.  We never have and no reason to think we would now.  Look back:

Doug Barfield:  Nuff said.

Pat Dye:  Yes, he turned out to be so good they named the field after him.  But when he was hired, it was a collective "Who?" from the fan base.  His resume had Wyoming and East Carolina on it. 

Terry Bowden:  When they announced him, all I could do is ask why?

Tommy Tuberville:  Definitely not a splash hire in any way.  Admittedly, I was okay with it because I liked what he was doing with a probation ridden Ole Miss.

Gene Chizik:  Wasn't it 5-19?

Gus Malzahn:  One stinking year of college coaching experience. 


I'm of the opinion that we'd wind up with Rhett Lashlee or Scott Loeffler if they made the change.  But who do you believe would be the man to take us to the next level?  Who would be the hire that the college football world took notice of and said, "Damn, Auburn just got serious about winning."?   

[The Six]

Mario Cristobal though I don't know if the PTB would let him do it. That's the bigger issue. Our PTB won't/can't get out of the way when success happens so we've become Coach Buyout U.

[Snaggletiger]

Mario Cristobal though I don't know if the PTB would let him do it. That's the bigger issue. Our PTB won't/can't get out of the way when success happens so we've become Coach Buyout U.

We have a long history of shitting the bed whenever something good happens or Sexton claims someone is after our coach. 

[wesfau2]

I think the buyout and the weirdo pandemic season gets Gus at least one more year.

As for replacements:

Kevin Steele
Matt Campbell
Luke Fickell
Josh Heupel
Brian Johnson
Billy Napier

[GH2001]

Honestly, Cristibol or Stoops if you want to improve over what we have now and it be an absolute truth.

Yes, MC lost to Cal Sat and another team the week before. Those were bad but overall, holistically, his track record is great. His recruiting is unreal...and he has SEC experience, is a winner, and experience as a HC at a major program and asst coach exp at an SEC School. He checks off all the boxes really BUT...........would he leave the O and Phil Knight's checkbook and facilities? Probably not unless he felt the fanbase up there turning on him after one super bad loss (and they are actually). He seems to be NFL material if were being honest.

Stoops is as proven as it gets, like him or not. He knows how to win. He knows how to be in the conversation at the end of the year for all the marbles. He knows how to run a major program taking on behemoth rivals at the same time. Oklahoma, believe it or not - is not the easiest place to recruit to even with all of their success. He did it as good as anyone there has and he won, plain and simple. Big game Bob ya may say. Fair enough but he was there every January just about. Most times they were out talented by the others at that point. But would it not be an improvement over what we have to simply be in the conversation about the playoff 4 of 5 years? Yeah, id take him.


Anyone else really? Taking a chance. In that category are:

Matt Campbell - he could ALMOST go into the above category with MC and Stoops. Can he recruit this area? Can he run a major program - no offense to the fine folks in Ames. Although its impressive what he's done there. There is very little pressure to win a lot there as we've seen. Can he duplicate that UNDER a SHIT TON more pressure at a school like Auburn? I would like to think he could but its still uncertain.

Hugh Freeze - scandal ridden at OM. Paying for sex. Paying for players. While preaching the good word from the good book almost 24/7. Is he much better than Gus on the field? I dunno. Liberty has been fun to watch but who is to say Gus wouldn't be better at a smaller less pressure packed school like that. Has Hugh truly gotten past his......past? This could be a Bobby Petrino type situation where many will not touch the guy with a 10 ft pole based off past transgressions - professional and personally. I personally don't like the Evangelistic self righteous tone he carried at OM but that may be just me. Just not sure grabbing him buys us much over Gus other than he's fresh and new, and won't get 7 million a year most likely.

PJ Fleck - I like him. He may very well be good at a major program in the south, but ultimately an unknown, I read Minn took a step back this year due to losing a lot of upperclassmen last year. Although he recruits well for Minn standards - it still won't compete with the other giants of the Big 10. Even though I like Fleck, he is still an unknown. His step back this year at Minn though shouldn't play into it....much like MC, bigger picture here of an overall winner.

Sark - can he stay sober. Can he run another major program without some scandal. We don't know. But I think at the College Level, and the SEC level...hes a good shot caller.

Napier - Fleck light - up and comer, seems good. Who knows?

Several others.

[Snaggletiger]

Hugh Freeze - scandal ridden at OM. Paying for sex. Paying for players.

I like it.  I like it a lot.

[Snaggletiger]

Honestly, I would just want somebody proven.  Been there, done that at the highest level. 

I like the Freeze comparison to Petrino.  Could very well work out that way.  But I'm a bit cynical about coaches.  They like a duck in the water.  Calm and cruising on top of the water, but underneath there's a whole lot of shit going on. They're ALL cheating.  Saban, Gus, Kirby, Tom Herman, Dabo etc.  As long as they keep score and untold billions are flowing through the sport, they cheatin'. 

That doesn't bug me about Freeze.  He knew to compete with the big guns he had to play the game.  The problem IMO, was that he played it too good and #1 was getting players OM has never gotten before or since.  That alone calls major attention to your program.  And #TWO, he poked the bear. Embarrass Lord Saybinz twice and somebody's getting punished by the NCAA. 

[WiregrassTiger]

I think the buyout and the weirdo pandemic season gets Gus at least one more year.

As for replacements:

Kevin Steele
Matt Campbell
Luke Fickell
Josh Heupel
Brian Johnson
Billy Napier

Bill Clark should be on any legitimate list. Moron.

[GH2001]

Bill Clark should be on any legitimate list. Moron.

You probably aren’t wrong honestly. 

[WiregrassTiger]

I never hear Frank Beamer’s goiter mentioned to fill any of these openings.

[CCTAU]

That doesn't bug me about Freeze.  He knew to compete with the big guns he had to play the game.  The problem IMO, was that he played it too good and #1 was getting players OM has never gotten before or since.  That alone calls major attention to your program.  And #TWO, he poked the bear. Embarrass Lord Saybinz twice and somebody's getting punished by the NCAA.

With a smarter association behind him, he shouldn’t fall into the same pit again. We have been under the bammer attack for so long that we have learned to play a little better at their game. Maybe that is all he needs. 

[The Six]

If it was gonna happen, it would have happened Monday methinks.

Unless the Pirate finds a way, then the PTB might be willing to sacrifice the recruiting class but that's gonna put the new staff way behind. We are stuck with this dude at least through next year. Going into 2022 he'll either be up for extension or gone. Knowing Gus, we'll win 10 games, go to a good bowl, and Sexton will befuddle the AD again.

[Buzz Killington]

With a smarter association behind him, he shouldn’t fall into the same pit again. We have been under the bammer attack for so long that we have learned to play a little better at their game. Maybe that is all he needs.

This^^^
Plus, burner phones for errybody!

[The Six]

I think the buyout and the weirdo pandemic season gets Gus at least one more year.

As for replacements:

Kevin Steele - No. See Baylor and his inability to build talent that isn't already there on the defense. Do. Not. Want. Would be a move that a Kentucky or Vanderbilt would make.

Matt Campbell - Bright guy but zero recruiting relationships in the southeast. Probably not a good fit.

Luke Fickell - See above.

Josh Heupel - Intriguing. UCF has fallen off a bit but he's a good play caller with the southeastern ties.

Brian Johnson - Interesting choice. Glad his hearing is better. Oh you don't mean the lead singer from AC/DC? Who is this?

Billy Napier - Got all the right marks but jumping from the G5 into the meat grinder that is SEC West is A LOT to ask. There's a reason South Carolina said no. I'd want to know what that was.

[wesfau2]

Kevin Steele - No. See Baylor and his inability to build talent that isn't already there on the defense. Do. Not. Want. Would be a move that a Kentucky or Vanderbilt would make.

Matt Campbell - Bright guy but zero recruiting relationships in the southeast. Probably not a good fit.

Luke Fickell - See above.

Josh Heupel - Intriguing. UCF has fallen off a bit but he's a good play caller with the southeastern ties.

Brian Johnson - Interesting choice. Glad his hearing is better. Oh you don't mean the lead singer from AC/DC? Who is this?

Billy Napier - Got all the right marks but jumping from the G5 into the meat grinder that is SEC West is A LOT to ask. There's a reason South Carolina said no. I'd want to know what that was.

Steele - I like the continuity and the fact that he won't stick his nose into the offense.  Give him a top-flight OC and a bagman.

Johnson - UF's OC

Napier - Agree about the jump but I think the USCe decision came down to them getting a known quantity.  Beamer was an assistant there for a bit.

[Kaos]

This is where I am with it.  

We know what we're going to get with man-tits year in and year out.  It's not going to change.  So that's either accepted or you try something different.  It's like an employee.  I have one who works for me who is 15 minutes late every day no matter how I set the schedule. No amount of mitigation changes it. Nothing I've done works at getting her there when she's supposed to be.  So I either live with that or I try to find somebody who will be on time.  She's a decent employee otherwise.  Does an adequate job.  So I can get rid of her and go through the painful training process and maybe end up with a worse person or I can just accept that this is what it's going to be.  

Gus has helped ruin my passion for the game.  Not all his fault. But I think Auburn can do better.  That said, I could not abide replacing him with Hugh Freeze.  The idea that this could be seriously considered disgusts me.  

Why would you swap one circus clown for another?  

I don't know who would be a good fit.  I really don't. But I know that I could never support a charlatan like Hugh. 

[Snaggletiger]

I believe GH made the comparison of Freeze and Petrino earlier.  Could be.  Both hot coaches until their double lives got exposed.  Petrino got his chances again and while no personal stuff got in the way (that I'm aware of), he just never got back whatever magic he had prior to his "motorcycle accident". 

The personal crap with Freeze doesn't bother me very much.  He screwed up, as so many people do.  What I'd be more worried about after looking into his actual record, is I believe we'd be getting Gustav The Sequel.  I've been kind of caught up in the whole, "He made Ole Miss relevant, beat Saban and look what he's doing at Liberty" dealio.  But when you break down his record, he was 10-3 in his one year at Arky State.  Guess who was 9-3 in his one year at ASU?  He was 39-25 at Ole Miss, which included a 1-3 record against....guess who?  Yes, he beat Saban a couple of times.  Who has beaten Saban more?  Yep, you guessed it. 

As K alluded to with making the decision to stay with the status quo or trying something else.....I would opt for something else if they canned the Gusser.

[AUJarhead]

I would opt for something else if they canned the Gusser.

What about Buzz or Jumbo?

[The Six]

Posted before but bears repeating.

Auburn is very close to becoming Tennessee and Florida State, sliding into decades of total irrelevancy.

Not saying that's the reason to keep what we've got but we better be right.

[Snaggletiger]

What about Buzz or Jumbo?

Stop being so unrealistic.  We have a better chance of landing Urban or Saban than either of these two.