Open Letter to Gus Malzahn

[abw0004 10,104]

This letter has circulated Facebook and was seen on al.com.  I think everyone on this forum should read this.  I do agree with what this guy from Huntsville said.  We would never have gone to the national championship in 2010 and 2013 without Gus.

 

Coach Malzahn,

We have never met. I am not someone who has influence at Auburn University. I am not a booster. I didn't even graduate from Auburn. I am just a fan. Just a normal work-a-day person who supports Auburn through buying apparel and attending an occasional game.

 

 

You are a very busy person right now, so it's understandable if you haven't heard the talking heads discuss your "hot seat." But I, for one, hope it isn't true.
I've been an Auburn fan my whole life. I've been an Auburn fan surrounded by Alabama fans at work, at school and at home. I've been an Auburn fan through some dark times. Even though Auburn football isn't on top right now, I would still like to thank you for being our coach.

We are told that Auburn is a family. That we support each other. But there is a hypocrisy with that. (Some) people only claim to be "Auburn Family" when the team is winning. So to that point I'd like to say a few things.

I believe our "Auburn Family" has forgotten how it felt for opposing fans to say "When is the last time Auburn won a Championship?" or "When is the last time Auburn even played for a Championship?" We forget how it felt to be skipped over for the Championship in 1983, or in 1993, or how it felt to be left out of the BCS in 2004. But in 2010, we finally broke through and got a taste of what we had longed for. We experienced what some fan bases never have. We experienced what some Auburn fans longed to have, and their lives ended before it happened. We won the National Championship.

And then a few years later, Auburn was only a few plays away from winning another National Championship. You, Coach Malzahn, were the common denominator. You were integral to both of those seasons. We were able to hold our heads high. That during Alabama's run of championships, that we played for Championships too. I believe our "Auburn Family" doesn't understand how unbearable it would be if those 2 seasons wouldn't have happened. We have you, Coach Malzahn, to thank for that.

Maybe I'm naïve, but I believe you when you say "We are close." I believe in you, Coach. I believe you can turn this thing around. I believe that you will get us back to the Championship game and make those few plays that are needed to raise the trophy. I could be wrong in these beliefs, but isn't "family" supposed to believe in each other? Aren't we supposed to support each other as an "Auburn Family?" Our phrase of "War Eagle" is supposed to embody that. We say it when we cheer. We say it as a hello, when we see a fellow Auburn fan. We also say it to console each other after a loss.

So in closing, I believe there is only 1 thing left to say.

War Eagle, Coach Malzahn.

 

 

[aubiefifty 16,705]

We are told that Auburn is a family. That we support each other. But there is a hypocrisy with that. (Some) people only claim to be "Auburn Family" when the team is winning. 

[auskip07 930]

Defending mediocrity is exhausting- Seth Godin

[LKEEL75 2,566]

This letter is on point.  CGM has been the common factor in bringing high expectations back to the plains.  The SEC West is the toughest division within the toughest conference in the country.  It is proven year in and year out.  I understand people have high expectations and I understand that the last year and the start of this year are not helping matters.  However, believe in your family.  Believe and get behind your family.  When ever CGM is replaced (and it will eventually happen) you should get behind that new coach as well.  I guarantee no coach is putting in the work, time and dedication and then is happy about a loss.  Fan is short for fanatic.  Who by definition are irrational.  However, family is about supporting those when they need it.  And right now my family needs support to beat LSU.

Best of luck CGM & the rest of the staff.  I am here for you.

 

WDE!

[Turd Ferguson 38]

Right on!  On Saturday we will go from "close" to "clicking" and we will boat race LeonardSU.  Get ready to roll some trees!  AU gets this one right and runs the table to the Iron Bowl from here.  

 

Final Score on Saturday:  AU-38  LSU-20  

Pettway and Johnson will outgain Fournette and Guice.

White will do what he needs to do, and JF3 will have his moments. 

[WeagleAU 594]

2 minutes ago, Turd Ferguson said:

Right on!  On Saturday we will go from "close" to "clicking" and we will boat race LeonardSU.  Get ready to roll some trees!  AU gets this one right and runs the table to the Iron Bowl from here.  

 

Final Score on Saturday:  AU-38  LSU-20  

Pettway and Johnson will outgain Fournette and Guice.

White will do what he needs to do, and JF3 will have his moments. 

I like your positive outlook.  I'm not quite so confident.  Here's to hoping you are right.

[AUBourne 425]

Why should I put Gus before the players and the university?  He is a hired gun paid to win games and should be developing players.  Instead some highly ranked kids that believed in Auburn will never get a shot at the NFL because they were not developed by a competent coaching staff. Meantime the home fans have not witnessed a SEC win in 2 years.  Gus is accountable. I mean I hope he gets it together and wins out. But if AU finishes in the bottom two of the SEC west after four years of Gus and recruiting classes that are ranked in the top 10 then I don't see any point in keeping him around for another year.

[tombigbeetiger 223]

i would be more sympathetic, more forgiving, if doublebubble and his crew made 40-60 grand per year.....this guy makes more in 6 months than i made in my life....he is not some poor working stiff....he makes 4.7 million dollars per year!.....the expectations and results should match the salary.....if he is let go, his family is not headed to a homeless shelter and his bmw is not going to be repossessed....some of you are just whislting past the graveyard

[ToomersStreet 795]

1 hour ago, lkeel75 said:

This letter is on point.  CGM has been the common factor in bringing high expectations back to the plains.  The SEC West is the toughest division within the toughest conference in the country.  It is proven year in and year out.  I understand people have high expectations and I understand that the last year and the start of this year are not helping matters.  However, believe in your family.  Believe and get behind your family.  When ever CGM is replaced (and it will eventually happen) you should get behind that new coach as well.  I guarantee no coach is putting in the work, time and dedication and then is happy about a loss.  Fan is short for fanatic.  Who by definition are irrational.  However, family is about supporting those when they need it.  And right now my family needs support to beat LSU.

Best of luck CGM & the rest of the staff.  I am here for you.

 

WDE!

You are absolutely right!  BUT, when you have out recruited every team in the SEC over the last four years except Alabama then it becomes obvious that your coaching is the problem.  Actually the guy hiring all these flash in the pan coaches is THE problem.  But Gus is under performing with the second most talented team in the country.  Mississippi State and Arkansas have finished at the bottom of the SEC West in recruiting every year Gus has been the coach. Yet over the last two seasons State has out performed Auburn.  Arkansas out performed us last year and so far is out performing us this year.

[TitanTiger 20,471]

42 minutes ago, Turd Ferguson said:

Right on!  On Saturday we will go from "close" to "clicking" and we will boat race LeonardSU.  Get ready to roll some trees!  AU gets this one right and runs the table to the Iron Bowl from here.  

 

Final Score on Saturday:  AU-38  LSU-20  

Pettway and Johnson will outgain Fournette and Guice.

White will do what he needs to do, and JF3 will have his moments. 

We'd be lucky if both teams combine for 38 points.

[ToomersStreet 795]

23 minutes ago, tombigbeetiger said:

i would be more sympathetic, more forgiving, if doublebubble and his crew made 40-60 grand per year.....this guy makes more in 6 months than i made in my life....he is not some poor working stiff....he makes 4.7 million dollars per year!.....the expectations and results should match the salary.....if he is let go, his family is not headed to a homeless shelter and his bmw is not going to be repossessed....some of you are just whislting past the graveyard

Amen!

[gr82be 14,402]

I believe that the majority of Auburn fans share the sentiment of this letter to Gus but sentiment does not equal reality. The results on the field  should be better than they have been. Let's hope he can get it going this week and not look back. 

[shabby 1,956]

I wrote a letter to Gus Malzahn that is equally as likely to be read by the coach.

Dear Gus,

Best wishes at your next coaching stop. Hope you end up at Bama.

Sincerely

Disgruntled fan # 3,234,657

[LKEEL75 2,566]

So all the complaining about the money to the staff and the hired gun type mentality need to step back and think just a minute and see that while his time at AU may be passing, he is still part of the family at this moment.  If your sister marries some rich guy then he is part of the family.  Doesn't matter if he is rich or not.  Doesn't matter if your sister married him for his money, his cars, his physical attributes or if she married for love.  Either way he is family.  And as long as they are married he is family.  Now when they get a divorce and he starts sleeping with her best friend, then you can go back to hating on him.  But bottom line he is in the family.  

As for the out recruiting, yes Gus has had some good recruits come in.  Yes Gus has helped orchestrate several top 10 recruiting classes.  However, other SEC schools have done the same.  Look back over the last 4 years: 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016.  AU was not #2 and in fact they were never #2 in the west.  Every year at least LSU got more "talent" (based on star rating).  I am not saying that I didn't wish this team was doing better, but we lost to #2 team in the country and we lost to a team that many had competing for the SEC West title (and based on the links that I provided above you can see why because aTm has been ranked above or just after us 3 of the last 4 years).  So next we play LSU who again has had higher recruits than us every year.

IN SUMMARY, and then I will be done posting on this thread.  All I am saying is that as long as these players are here and as long as this coaching staff is here then they are part of the family.  Yes criticism is valid as you would criticize family members.  But that doesn't mean you should be trying to push any of them out and not supporting them.  For any of us to sit here and wish some person to be out of a job is absolutely not supporting him or this family.  When someone else decides to discard that part of the family then we stand behind that decision.  Just as we would stand behind our sister when she gets her divorce from the rich guy.

WDE to all the AUFamily!   

(even those who don't agree with me or my post)

[Mims44 1,864]

The Auburn Family thing is overused. Yes he did great for us, and seems like an allright guy. But if he can't do the job then he can't do the job. He might turn this thing around, he might not. People speculating or worrying about the former doesn't mean they aren't real fans.

[AcUmen 242]

I like Gus.  I think he is a good man with a good family and I think he wants to win as much as anyone.  I also think some of the criticism of him is a bit misplaced.  No, he hasn't maintained the bar we all expect and he has lost games he shouldn't have lost.  But, it's easy for us keyboard warriors to sit here and constantly berate someone when we've never held such a high pressure, high stress job.  These guys work 60-80 hour weeks, have no private life and very little free time.  If there is any way to actually earn $4 million per year, these guys are as worthy as just about anyone out there in the business world.

I have been critical, but I try not to ever make it personal.  I am one of those type of guys that doesn't take too well to criticism from people who haven't taken a walk in the shoes of those they criticize.  I am guilty of this myself.  I think the only people really qualified to critique Gus's coaching are other coaches.  Even though I am no coach, I do know that there is much more to coaching than just X's and O's.  It's not that simple or else everyone would be a great coach.  Sure, some mistakes might be obvious to us casual observers and worthy of critique, but I can assure you these coaches (who have been doing this as a profession for many years) understand it more than us.  They aren't stupid.  They watch a lot more film than we do.

So, I am behind Gus as long as he is AU's coach.  If 2012 happens again, I probably won't be behind him anymore.  This is reasonable and I think even Gus would have to concede that point.  I think he understands the reality of modern coaching, especially in the SEC.  I am grateful we have a good man at the helm -- he is not going to embarrass AU off the field -- but I hope he understands he needs to pick it up.  If he is fired, I will feel bad for him as a man, but I wont from a pure professional perspective.  It's a rough and tumble business and there's lots of money involved.  That's just the reality. 

[autigersj 122]

1 hour ago, ToomersStreet said:

You are absolutely right!  BUT, when you have out recruited every team in the SEC over the last four years except Alabama then it becomes obvious that your coaching is the problem.  Actually the guy hiring all these flash in the pan coaches is THE problem.  But Gus is under performing with the second most talented team in the country.  Mississippi State and Arkansas have finished at the bottom of the SEC West in recruiting every year Gus has been the coach. Yet over the last two seasons State has out performed Auburn.  Arkansas out performed us last year and so far is out performing us this year.

Exactly. I feel like Auburn has done less with more than almost every team in the country. I would like to pull the last 5 recruiting class compared to record. That should be hard evidence of coaching ability. I took about ten minutes and took the last 5 years recruiting compared to W/L. I pulled recruiting ranking from 24/7 FYI.

 

 

 

[keesler 5,924]

8 minutes ago, autigersj said:

Exactly. I feel like Auburn has done less with more than almost every team in the country. I would like to pull the last 5 recruiting class compared to record. That should be hard evidence of coaching ability. I took about ten minutes and took the last 5 years recruiting compared to W/L. I pulled recruiting ranking from 24/7 FYI.

 

 

 

My God!

I hate numbers sometimes.

[ToomersStreet 795]

16 minutes ago, autigersj said:

Exactly. I feel like Auburn has done less with more than almost every team in the country. I would like to pull the last 5 recruiting class compared to record. That should be hard evidence of coaching ability. I took about ten minutes and took the last 5 years recruiting compared to W/L. I pulled recruiting ranking from 24/7 FYI.

 

 

 

OK THIS REALLY NEEDS TO BE ITS OWN THREAD!  Everyone needs to see this.  GUS needs to see this!  Painfully obvious.  I think Stat Tiger might blush.

[aubiefifty 16,705]

this sixtyone year old man that loves his tigers beyond being rational i want to say this. if we get beat i am gonna cry like a baby. this sounds like a joke but it is not. i will be so depressed and teary eyed. but i will pull like crazy for our boys............

[AUld fAUx@ 2,584]

3 hours ago, tombigbeetiger said:

i would be more sympathetic, more forgiving, if doublebubble and his crew made 40-60 grand per year.....this guy makes more in 6 months than i made in my life....he is not some poor working stiff....he makes 4.7 million dollars per year!.....the expectations and results should match the salary.....if he is let go, his family is not headed to a homeless shelter and his bmw is not going to be repossessed....some of you are just whislting past the graveyard

I have oft seen the rationale that what we pay our coaches entitles us to some minimum number of wins. I think this simplistic metric does not mean what some think it means.

Using (potentially outdated?) info from Saturday Down South (Dec. ’15), the order (highest to lowest) of 2016 HC salaries is:

UA

TAMU

Ole Miss

LSU

AU

Arky

MSU

 

By the metric that $=Wins,

a 2-4 SEC West record this year is our money’s worth. 

[ToomersStreet 795]

1 minute ago, AUinTLoosa said:

 

I have oft seen the rationale that what we pay our coaches entitles us to some minimum number of wins. I think this simplistic metric does not mean what some think it means.

Using (potentially outdated?) info from Saturday Down South (Dec. ’15), the order (highest to lowest) of 2016 HC salaries is:

UA

TAMU

Ole Miss

LSU

AU

Arky

MSU

 

 

 

By the metric that $=Wins,

a 2-4 SEC West record this year is our money’s worth. 

 

This entire time I thought Gus was over paid.  Turns out we are not paying him enough.

[tombigbeetiger 223]

1 minute ago, ToomersStreet said:

This entire time I thought Gus was over paid.  Turns out we are not paying him enough.

get outa' here

[ToomersStreet 795]

1 minute ago, tombigbeetiger said:

get outa' here

I kid I kid

[kd4au 1,145]

You know I want to believe in Gus and that he can turn things around but he makes it very hard to do so when he continues to lose games.Sometimes even a family member needs some tough love.