ESPN Preseason FPI Rankings

[GwillMac6 20,607]

21 hours ago, AU-24 said:

May want to talk to our new athletic director that gave Gus one heck of a contract.

• by Barrett Sallee
•  @BarrettSallee
• Dec 3, 2017 

After consistently reiterating that he is "planning" on staying at Auburn for the 24 hours following the 28-7 loss to Georgia in the SEC Championship Game, it appears that coach Gus Malzahn's plan is coming to fruition.

The school confirmed that Malzahn and Auburn officials agreed to the broad outlines of a new contract extending his leadership of the Tigers. Malzahn and Auburn officials expect to finalize details in the contract extension within a few days, and according to 247Sports' Brandon Marcello, who first reported the agreement, Malzahn's new contract will pay him $49 million over seven years. 

"Strength and stability go hand-in-hand, and we have both in Coach Malzahn," said Auburn President Steven Leath said in a statement to CBS Sports. "We're excited for the future of Auburn football. This means a lot to the Auburn family."

 

Malzahn had been the top target at Arkansas, which let go of former coach Bret Bielema the day after Thanksgiving. 

Malzahn, an Arkansas native, former wide receiver with the Razorbacks, legendary high school coach in the Fayetteville area and former Hogs offensive coordinator, is 45-21 in five seasons at Auburn. Under his leadership, the Tigers have won the 2013 SEC title, 2017 SEC West title and have been in the meaningful postseason discussion in November every year except 2015. 

No. 7 Auburn will face No. 12 UCF in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on New Year's Day.

[GwillMac6 20,607]

21 hours ago, AU-24 said:

May want to talk to our new athletic director that gave Gus one heck of a contract.

So Tell me again how our new AD gave Gus his new contract when he was not hired till a month later?! lol. This may be the most ridiculous thing I have heard on here and there is so many other candidates and competition!

Updated Jan 18; Posted Jan 18 ......... 

Auburn made it official with its new athletics director on Thursday, naming Allen Greene as the program's 15^th AD.

News that Auburn tabbed Greene, who held the same position at Buffalo, to succeed outgoing AD Jay Jacobs spread on Wednesdaynight.

"Allen kicks off the next exciting chapter for Auburn Athletics," Auburn president Steven Leath said in a release. "In our interviews and due diligence learning all we could about him, it became overwhelmingly clear that Allen has the right combination of leadership, enthusiasm, experience and management to lead Auburn Athletics to success well into the future."

 

Who is Allen Greene? 9 things to know about Auburn's AD

Get to know Auburn's next athletics director, Allen Greene.

Greene spent the last two years as Buffalo's AD and served as deputy AD and senior associate AD the prior three years under then-Buffalo AD Danny White, who now holds the same position at UCF. Before arriving at Buffalo, Greene worked at Ole Miss from 2009-12 with the UMAA Foundation. He began his career in athletics administration at his alma mater, Notre Dame, where he worked in athletic development and compliance from 2002-09.

Throughout his career, the 40-year-old Greene has developed a reputation as a fierce fundraiser and an up-and-comer in the athletics administration world.

The hiring of Greene ends a two-plus month search after Jacobs announced on Nov. 3 that he was stepping down from his post, which he held since 2005. Greene will be officially introduced as the Tigers' new AD on Friday morning.

Auburn enlisted Parker Search Firm as well as an in-house search committee that included Auburn trustee Gaines Lanier, former Auburn women's golf coach Kim Evans, former Auburn gymnast Adrienne Lee, former Auburn golfer Jason Dufner, Auburn finance professor Beverly Marshall and former Auburn linebacker Quentin Riggins.

"Serving Auburn University as Director of Athletics is a tremendous honor and an awesome responsibility," Greene said in a release. "Time-honored traditions have helped create a culture of success at Auburn that is incredibly rare. I am humbled that President Leath and the Search Committee entrust me to maintain all that is uniquely Auburn and utilize that foundation to forge a path to even greater heights. Whether in the classroom or on the fields and courts of play, these lofty expectations are embraced, and I am eager to get to work for the Auburn Family."

[AU-24 3,063]

10 minutes ago, GwillMac6 said:

So Tell me again how our new AD gave Gus his new contract when he was not hired till a month later?! lol. This may be the most ridiculous thing I have heard on here and there is so many other candidates and competition!

Updated Jan 18; Posted Jan 18 ......... 

Auburn made it official with its new athletics director on Thursday, naming Allen Greene as the program's 15^th AD.

News that Auburn tabbed Greene, who held the same position at Buffalo, to succeed outgoing AD Jay Jacobs spread on Wednesdaynight.

"Allen kicks off the next exciting chapter for Auburn Athletics," Auburn president Steven Leath said in a release. "In our interviews and due diligence learning all we could about him, it became overwhelmingly clear that Allen has the right combination of leadership, enthusiasm, experience and management to lead Auburn Athletics to success well into the future."

 

Who is Allen Greene? 9 things to know about Auburn's AD

Get to know Auburn's next athletics director, Allen Greene.

Greene spent the last two years as Buffalo's AD and served as deputy AD and senior associate AD the prior three years under then-Buffalo AD Danny White, who now holds the same position at UCF. Before arriving at Buffalo, Greene worked at Ole Miss from 2009-12 with the UMAA Foundation. He began his career in athletics administration at his alma mater, Notre Dame, where he worked in athletic development and compliance from 2002-09.

Throughout his career, the 40-year-old Greene has developed a reputation as a fierce fundraiser and an up-and-comer in the athletics administration world.

The hiring of Greene ends a two-plus month search after Jacobs announced on Nov. 3 that he was stepping down from his post, which he held since 2005. Greene will be officially introduced as the Tigers' new AD on Friday morning.

Auburn enlisted Parker Search Firm as well as an in-house search committee that included Auburn trustee Gaines Lanier, former Auburn women's golf coach Kim Evans, former Auburn gymnast Adrienne Lee, former Auburn golfer Jason Dufner, Auburn finance professor Beverly Marshall and former Auburn linebacker Quentin Riggins.

"Serving Auburn University as Director of Athletics is a tremendous honor and an awesome responsibility," Greene said in a release. "Time-honored traditions have helped create a culture of success at Auburn that is incredibly rare. I am humbled that President Leath and the Search Committee entrust me to maintain all that is uniquely Auburn and utilize that foundation to forge a path to even greater heights. Whether in the classroom or on the fields and courts of play, these lofty expectations are embraced, and I am eager to get to work for the Auburn Family."

Tell me who it is you know on the coaching staff and/or in the athletic department? Gus’s final deal, to include the ridiculous buyout and yearly totals, had little to nothing to do with Jay Jacobs! I know that’s not what you want to hear, but those are the facts!

[GwillMac6 20,607]

5 minutes ago, AU-24 said:

Tell me who it is you know on the coaching staff and/or in the athletic department? Gus’s final deal, to include the ridiculous buyout and yearly totals, had little to nothing to do with Jay Jacobs! I know that’s not what you want to hear, but those are the facts!

I know. I never said it did. I clearly stated it was Leath! lol. WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?! Is Ashton Kutcher around? Am I being punked?! HAAAAAYYYYYULP!!!!!!

[GwillMac6 20,607]

[gr82be 14,402]

11 minutes ago, GwillMac6 said:

I know. I never said it did. I clearly stated it was Leath! lol. WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?! Is Ashton Kutcher around? Am I being punked?! HAAAAAYYYYYULP!!!!!!

Greene ran a reverse...

[GwillMac6 20,607]

4 minutes ago, gr82be said:

Greene ran a reverse...

This is so money!!! You are MVP and officially FAM now for this!! LOVE IT! haha

[McLoofus 35,182]

 

On 2/16/2018 at 4:40 PM, lionheartkc said:

I hate arguing with you, Loof, because I really like you. Like generally you and 72 are two of my favorite guys on the board, but in answer to your question, it's been said too many times. The horse has been beat so much that it's a puddle. The season is over, why do we constantly have to rehash the bad and why do we stoop to the level of referring to our coach as things "the 7 million dollar man". I mean, if Gus was on social media talking about how awesome he was I could understand the constant need to put him down, but he's made mistakes and he's taken steps to hopefully correct those mistakes, that's it. I'm sure he doesn't even know what this site is, but I'd be mortified if I knew he was reading all of the hate that was spewed about him.

I, personally, acknowledged to you, just this morning, the points that you made about the failures that happened last season should never happen again. I know you saw it because you liked it. Still, conversation after conversation on this board somehow turns back to how bad some people think our coach is and again I'm accused of "being incapable of acknowledging it" whenever I take the said of "let's stop bashing our coach". I just don't get it. Auburn is our team and he's our coach, at least for probably a good 4 more years. Why don't we put last year to bed and move on?

Somebody pointed out that Gus has struggled on the road because it is a possible predictor of what to expect next season, which is what this thread is about. 

[NorthGATiger 1,801]

On 2/14/2018 at 7:09 PM, corchjay said:

I don't want to be any other programs.  I love the Auburn Culture.  It's a part of our DNA.  I don't like the defeatist attitudes of some, the little brother attitude, but I do like the hard work attitude and blue collar team attitude.  

Gus has struggled in bowl games.  UCF this year was just a flop and he's responsible for the teams attitude which was very poor.  We have him for a minimum of the next 5 years.  The more the fan base gets behind him as a coach the better the recruiting can get.  When your own fan base trashes their coach the harder it gets to recruit.  Players and potential players definitely have access to the internet.  

But I still stand by what I said about winning on the road.  it's very difficult against good teams and we play 3 very good and well coached teams away from home next year.  

No when you struggle to beat Mercer, GA Southern, La Monroe and Jacksonville State it gets harder to recruit.  If Gus was a great coach there would not be any detractors on this board.  

[NorthGATiger 1,801]

On 2/15/2018 at 1:30 AM, WarEagleChemE said:

It's not that Gus struggles on the road. It's that JHS is a massive home-field advantage for big games that's worth two touchdowns.

That is definitely what happened this year and everyone in the country said the same thing.

[NorthGATiger 1,801]

On 2/15/2018 at 1:06 PM, McLoofus said:

117 yards of total offense against Clemson. 20 point lead over LSU blown. 7 total points scored in the SECCG.

That was just this year. 

 

There ain't a like button big enough for this.

[gr82be 14,402]

8 minutes ago, NorthGATiger said:

No when you struggle to beat Mercer, GA Southern, La Monroe and Jacksonville State it gets harder to recruit.  If Gus was a great coach there would not be any detractors on this board.  

Sad but very true. 

[NorthGATiger 1,801]

9 hours ago, AUsince72 said:

Exactly.

These have not been teams with a dearth of talent and ability.  These have been teams that matchup better than most.  Without whirlybirds & turtle shells AU crushes Clemson the last two years.  LSU ('17) should never happen to ANY team.  ThUga well, outside of this year (Pt. I) even the staunch Gus supporters have not tried to defend that trend.  Etc.

With that said, I want to be positive.  Gus seems to have a tremendous grasp on how to hire coaches as evidenced by the Defense.  Honestly, with the reacquisition of Grimes, I like the current staff on Offense.

Just wish he'd listen to Obi Wan and "let go".

Gus hires good coaches where he does not want to stick his nose in.  I do not think Gus hires good offensive coaches.  In fact his coaching hires on the offensive side of the ball are very underwhelming and pretty pathetic.  It may have worked at ASU but it is not good enough here.

[NorthGATiger 1,801]

9 hours ago, lionheartkc said:

2017

Saban lost to Auburn on the road

Dabo lost to bama on the road

Meyer lost to Iowa on the road

Kelly hasn't coached in college football since 2012... we'll see what he can do next year.

Yeah lets look at one year.

[NorthGATiger 1,801]

6 hours ago, lionheartkc said:

but.... Iowa...
4-5 in the Big 10... and it wasn't even a close game either. 

Did Meyer play it to the wire with JSU, Mercer, and GA Southern?

[NorthGATiger 1,801]

3 hours ago, lionheartkc said:

I hate arguing with you, Loof, because I really like you. Like generally you and 72 are two of my favorite guys on the board, but in answer to your question, it's been said too many times. The horse has been beat so much that it's a puddle. The season is over, why do we constantly have to rehash the bad and why do we stoop to the level of referring to our coach as things "the 7 million dollar man". I mean, if Gus was on social media talking about how awesome he was I could understand the constant need to put him down, but he's made mistakes and he's taken steps to hopefully correct those mistakes, that's it. I'm sure he doesn't even know what this site is, but I'd be mortified if I knew he was reading all of the hate that was spewed about him.

I, personally, acknowledged to you, just this morning, the points that you made about the failures that happened last season should never happen again. I know you saw it because you liked it. Still, conversation after conversation on this board somehow turns back to how bad some people think our coach is and again I'm accused of "being incapable of acknowledging it" whenever I take the said of "let's stop bashing our coach". I just don't get it. Auburn is our team and he's our coach, at least for probably a good 4 more years. Why don't we put last year to bed and move on?

The problem is that every year we believe that Gus has found the fountain of coaching intelligence and that his complete bafoonery and dipshartary have been removed and he will never do such stupid things again.  And every year Lucy pulls that damn football out of the way and we realize we were all duped again.  And then we have these same conversations on the board about why we are so against Gus.

[NorthGATiger 1,801]

Think of it like this.  Here is Gus' away record.  

Away record: 12-10 overall, 11-9 in SEC play

Saban has owned Gus, UGA has owned Gus, a down LSU has owned Gus, and Dabo has owned Gus and Gussy is 1-4 in bowl games. Gus has a good record vs the Mississippi schools and Arkansas.  That is just a fact that can't be changed by anyone other than Gus.  You can make all the excuses in the world but I didn't make any of that up.

[corchjay 5,311]

1 hour ago, NorthGATiger said:

No when you struggle to beat Mercer, GA Southern, La Monroe and Jacksonville State it gets harder to recruit.  If Gus was a great coach there would not be any detractors on this board.  

Hasn't Saban struggled to stop Georgia State or Southern, didn't he lose to UAB at LSU, La Monroe at bama.... For fricks sake...  All that and considered the greatest coach in college football history.  Seems the same year he lost to La Monroe he finished 1st in recruiting.  Guess the struggle bit doesn't hold much water.  

 

49 minutes ago, NorthGATiger said:

Think of it like this.  Here is Gus' away record.  

Away record: 12-10 overall, 11-9 in SEC play

Saban has owned Gus, UGA has owned Gus, a down LSU has owned Gus, and Dabo has owned Gus and Gussy is 1-4 in bowl games. Gus has a good record vs the Mississippi schools and Arkansas.  That is just a fact that can't be changed by anyone other than Gus.  You can make all the excuses in the world but I didn't make any of that up.

Gus is 2-3 against Saban.  Gus is 2-4 against UGa and really one of those was a terrible loss on the road last year.  Gus' AU teams have won the West twice in 5 seasons, won the conference once.  Other then Saban who can say that?  No one...

All I have stated is facts as well but it's much more fun to bitch and moan about what we don't have then what we do have.  

You think Uga wins the west this past year... nope.  Got smoked by AU and also lost on a neutral field to bama.  

I have no beef with anyone on this board but the constant complaining about a very good coach and a good ambassador for the school is mind blowing.  I guess the expectation is to be perfect.  I coach that way but know it isn't a realistic concept.  Auburn football is fun.  Auburn's offense is fun to watch.  Do we lose some games we shouldn't?  yep.  Do we win some we shouldn't?  yep.  That's football.  Do I want to win every game every year 100-0?  Yep.  

[fredst 9,064]

2 hours ago, GwillMac6 said:

I know. I never said it did. I clearly stated it was Leath! lol. WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?! Is Ashton Kutcher around? Am I being punked?! HAAAAAYYYYYULP!!!!!!

 

[AUsince72 11,084]

2 hours ago, NorthGATiger said:

Gus hires good coaches where he does not want to stick his nose in.  I do not think Gus hires good offensive coaches.  In fact his coaching hires on the offensive side of the ball are very underwhelming and pretty pathetic.  It may have worked at ASU but it is not good enough here.

I'm not going to disagree with you about the offensive coaches because I can't.  I would like for Gus to step aside from that side of the ball and let us truly find out.   I'm not sure we're really seeing what they're fully capable of.  ....at least would like to see what CCL is really made of because this past season (minus Gus' two Hulk Smash amen corner games) looked like the same O that's been run since 2015.

Either that or just admit it and make it his mission to find the next Nick Marshall and run HIS offense the way it's MEANT to be run instead of this square peg / round hole he's been forcing the last 3 years.

[AUwent 3,747]

44 minutes ago, AUsince72 said:

I'm not going to disagree with you about the offensive coaches because I can't.  I would like for Gus to step aside from that side of the ball and let us truly find out.   .....at least what CCL is really made of.

Either that or just admit it and make it his mission to find the next Nick Marshall and run HIS offense the way it's MEANT to be run instead of this square peg / round hole he's been forcing the last 3 years.

http://www.auburntigers.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/malik_willis_1036790.html

[Zeek 16,615]

1 hour ago, corchjay said:

Hasn't Saban struggled to stop Georgia State or Southern, didn't he lose to UAB at LSU, La Monroe at bama.... For fricks sake...  All that and considered the greatest coach in college football history.  Seems the same year he lost to La Monroe he finished 1st in recruiting.  Guess the struggle bit doesn't hold much water.  

 

Gus is 2-3 against Saban.  Gus is 2-4 against UGa and really one of those was a terrible loss on the road last year.  Gus' AU teams have won the West twice in 5 seasons, won the conference once.  Other then Saban who can say that?  No one...

All I have stated is facts as well but it's much more fun to bitch and moan about what we don't have then what we do have.  

You think Uga wins the west this past year... nope.  Got smoked by AU and also lost on a neutral field to bama.  

I have no beef with anyone on this board but the constant complaining about a very good coach and a good ambassador for the school is mind blowing.  I guess the expectation is to be perfect.  I coach that way but know it isn't a realistic concept.  Auburn football is fun.  Auburn's offense is fun to watch.  Do we lose some games we shouldn't?  yep.  Do we win some we shouldn't?  yep.  That's football.  Do I want to win every game every year 100-0?  Yep.  

The problem is he chokes when it matters the most. His preparation for big games is abysmal. Let off the gas against FSU and cost us a championship. Hasn't changed his tendencies and allows Georgia to embarrass our offense routinely. Our big score against Georgia mostly came from their huge miscues with fumbles and turnovers. They cleaned up the mistakes and the points were largely gone.

See you call him a great coach and that's just not true. Good is his ceiling and that's the problem. He's had good recruiting classes but not great ones. He's had good seasons but hasn't been able to make them great.

 

Gus .672 win percentage at Auburn

Les .770 win percentage at LSU

Mark Richt .740 win percentage at Georgia

Dabo .771

Jimbo .783

Nick Saban .868

Two of those coaches with a better win percentage were fired because their fan base was tired of being good and not great.

There's a reason we're getting smoked in recruiting. Gus isn't a great coach, he's not charismatic, and his offense hasn't remotely evolved. In fact it's regressed and become painfully predictable when he's in charge.

 

Not being negative but he's not the long term answer and his contract was/is absolutely foolish. 

[AUsince72 11,084]

49 minutes ago, AUwent said:

http://www.auburntigers.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/malik_willis_1036790.html

And if Gus would go ahead, admit he's still trying to run things on Offense, then he should run his REAL offense instead of this watered down version of it, and Willis should be the starting QB.

If Stidham (or Bo Nix or Joey Gatewood) is going to be the QB, then Gus needs to step away and cut CCL loose.  They (CGM & CCL) do not run the same offenses.

And no, I don't put Gatewood in Nick Marshall's class.  *There will be no other Cam.*  Gatewood's highlights make me think of JJ which is not necessarily a bad thing, but again, is not the right QB for Gus' offense.

[Mikey 16,550]

3 hours ago, NorthGATiger said:

No when you struggle to beat Mercer, GA Southern, La Monroe and Jacksonville State it gets harder to recruit.  If Gus was a great coach there would not be any detractors on this board. 

You better re-think that one. How else would some of the detractors that post here make themselves feel superior? They'll always be finding fault, it's a tool that makes them feel better about themselves.

[corchjay 5,311]

1 hour ago, Zeek said:

The problem is he chokes when it matters the most. His preparation for big games is abysmal. Let off the gas against FSU and cost us a championship. Hasn't changed his tendencies and allows Georgia to embarrass our offense routinely. Our big score against Georgia mostly came from their huge miscues with fumbles and turnovers. They cleaned up the mistakes and the points were largely gone.

See you call him a great coach and that's just not true. Good is his ceiling and that's the problem. He's had good recruiting classes but not great ones. He's had good seasons but hasn't been able to make them great.

 

Gus .672 win percentage at Auburn

Les .770 win percentage at LSU

Mark Richt .740 win percentage at Georgia

Dabo .771

Jimbo .783

Nick Saban .868

Two of those coaches with a better win percentage were fired because their fan base was tired of being good and not great.

There's a reason we're getting smoked in recruiting. Gus isn't a great coach, he's not charismatic, and his offense hasn't remotely evolved. In fact it's regressed and become painfully predictable when he's in charge.

 

Not being negative but he's not the long term answer and his contract was/is absolutely foolish. 

Mark and Les both were head coaches for 15 years plus before getting fired.