That argument is baseless IMO.
Pffffttttttt..
You're out of your mind if you don't think combating our state's media is part of the job. Tuberville was good at it. Hell, Chizik was pretty good at it most of the time.
Gus has no hope. His wife is a nutcase. She went to a megachurch, got on the stage, and blabbermouthed the inside information of our program and players.
Malzahn has recruited multiple players to turn out to be total thugs.
Would Petrino have been attacked? Sure. Of course. No one was denying that, and I even said that should be taken into consideration. But Petrino, no matter the circumstances so far, has been a winner at the college level. As OC for Auburn. As HC for Louisville. As HC for Arkansas. He would have won football games after establishing a new culture at Auburn. That would have shut the media up enough to get our program back.
What can Gus do? You really think Gus is going to take THIS team and win football games? With his one year's experience at an already stacked mid-major school?
This is a much, much bigger task than 2008. Gene Chizik's job when he was hired was no where near this mountainous.