Who would replace Malzahn (merged threads again)

[AU64 10,122]

 

1 hour ago, OnthePlains said:

We all see the writing on the wall whether it’s this year or next year or two years from now it’s only a matter of time

No disagreement here...  ..seems however than much of the discussion focused on doing it at the end of this season....or sooner...which is what I was addressing...

[OnthePlains 2,014]

3 minutes ago, AU64 said:

 

No disagreement here...  ..seems however than much of the discussion focused on doing it at the end of this season....or sooner...which is what I was addressing...

Nah you’re right it’s not happening this year

[Gowebb11 9,307]

I want the one who is inspirational when dealing with players and fans, relentless when pursuing recruits, and alpha on game day. (Alpha=poised, confident, strong)

[AU64 10,122]

1 minute ago, OnthePlains said:

Nah you’re right it’s not happening this year

Not Gus at least...but I'm expecting some big changes on the staff.  Some call it "scapegoating" but Horton has been taking about leaving for several years and Chip is probably gonna go....and who else?   

JMO but Chip had modest creds when he came here.... and was certainly not recognized as an offensive guru .   The most important attribute was apparently having worked with Gus in the past...almost Rhett II.  Not a bold or good hire and despite the calls for us to see "Chip's offense" I'm not sure there was much creative to see that we were not seeing.  . 

Might be good to have someone without the Gus link the next go around...or some better experience.. 

https://www.al.com/auburnfootball/index.ssf/2017/01/who_is_chip_lindsey_things_to.html

[Auburnfan91 1,407]

11 hours ago, Mittens said:

Eh.  Colorado has had one winning season out of the last five.  They did go bowling that season but got pounded by 30 points.  They are 5-0 this season...the combined record of their five opponents is 12-25, though.  Not saying he isn't the Man for the job...his resume of success doesn't put him above other names I've seen mentioned.

 

Then again, I could be wrong.

And Colorado won the PAC 12 South that year in 2016 and played for the PAC 12 title.

Whoever we get as the next coach, I'd prefer 2 things:

1) They've been a HC at a Power 5 program. I don't want anymore up and comer coaches who are still learning on the job.

2) We get someone who's at least been an assistant or has some experience in the SEC. Look at Miss State for example, the one knock on Joe Moorehead is that he had no SEC experience. I'd prefer someone who either has some SEC experience or has been in the Southeast part of the U.S. a good bit so they would at least be familiar with the recruiting territory. 

[Auburnfan91 1,407]

@AU64 I understand where you're coming from and I don't expect to get a big name coach to replace Gus. But this roller-coaster we've been on the last decade has to stop. I'm to the point now where as much as I like beating Bama, I'd be ok with losing to them 4-5 years(against Saban) in a row if it meant no more embarrassing losses to the likes of Miss State, Tennessee, inferior Texas A&M and inferior LSU teams.

Pro-Gus folks can rightfully crow and boast Gus's 2-3 record vs Bama/Saban but it's the rest of the schedule and the up and down results that has so many Auburn fans in angst about the direction of the program. Those in favor of keeping Gus or riding out the storm with Gus don't seem to want to go in a different direction for the sake of familiarity and for some reason are satisfied with the roller-coaster type results that Gus has given us because they don't think anyone other than a big name coach like James Franklin, Dabo, etc..... could do better than what Gus has done. And I just find that argument to be wrong. I think we can get as good or better results that aren't roller coaster like without breaking the bank for a big name coach.

I think people oversell the recruiting job Gus has done. Auburn historically has been able to recruit and get a lot of talent when we've made recruiting a top priority. As long as we get a coach and coaching staff who develop and get a lot out of players who are also decent recruiters that can keep us in the top 15-20 recruiting wise then I think we'll do better. Gus has done less with more the last 5 years. His 1st year in 2013 you can argue was a great coaching job but none of the last 5 years have been. Sure, Gus coached some great games, specifically 2017 against UGA and Bama but for the whole season no. The 2017 loss to LSU was inexcusable. 

Now comprehend this:

Gus actually got a bigger raise for beating UGA and Bama in 2017 than he got for winning the SEC title and playing for the NC in 2013.

Gus got a $1.5 million raise in his 2014 contract after winning the SEC and playing for the NC:

Quote

In addition to Malzahn's raise from $2.3 million to $3.85 million, the Tigers head coach has a new bonus structure, altered in part to fit college football's new four-team playoff. 

Malzahn's new contract will pay him $3.85 million in 2014, and he then receives a raise of $250,000 in each subsequent year of the contract, all the way up to $5.1 million in 2019.

https://www.al.com/auburnfootball/index.ssf/2014/06/gus_malzahns_new_385_million_p.html

But Gus got a $2 million raise in his 2018 contract just for beating UGA and Bama.

Quote

Gus Malzahn will earn $6.7 million next season, the first in a seven-year, $49 million contract that was previously agreed to, but wasn't released in full until Tuesday.

------------------------------

Under his old contract, which ran through 2020, Malzahn was earning $4.725 million per year and his buyout was $2,237,500 per year.

https://www.al.com/auburnfootball/index.ssf/2018/02/details_of_gus_malzahns_7-year.html

[clwn 336]

Kliff Kingsbury type. Some young offensive-minded guy, keep Steele as DC.

Quite honesty, as much as I dislike Gus, if he'd just get the hell out of his own way we'd be good. Just act like a HC and oversee everything and only jump in when necessary. Dude has it made and has the talent to get championships but for some reason can't make it up the hill.

[cammycam2 173]

Bill Brasky

[AU80cruiser 1,102]

12 hours ago, AURealist said:

I like Matt Campbell.  His offense is fun to watch.  Solid defense.  His players seem to be enjoying the game.  

He's really done more with less this year..   

He's got my vote too. He was also on the replacement list for Urban meter if he had got axed. 

[kd4au 1,145]

I think the other Stoops (the one in Kentucky) should be on the list. I mean he is winning at UK of all places the biggest basketball school in the country. He comes from a football family . There is know doubt in my mind he would beat Gus and AU if we played today. And we may could get him for a lot less money than some of the other that have been named.

[tdburger 37]

Vince Lombardi or his clone.

[Texan4Auburn 1,626]

On 10/13/2018 at 6:32 PM, LeaderKee4AU said:

Stoops is banking $350,000 a year to play golf with boosters and gets to spend time with his 3 kids that all attend OU. Two sons in the program and I believe a daughter that also attends.

Venables would be a choice, but he either doesn't want to be a HC, only wants the K State job, or there are rumors of issues that would prevent him from being hired.

I would choose Heupal. Problem is that even he comes with a 10 million dollar buy out.

 

[AUApostle 7,648]

On 10/14/2018 at 12:32 AM, SQUINT said:

The list is mostly crap and EXACTLY why we wind up in bad situations. Please remove any coordinator from it. They are not ready to coach a program at our level.

This time Auburn can't fire, and pay 32 million+, to "take a chance" on someone else. We keep who we have until an ABSOLUTE consistent winner is available and ready to take the job. 

YOU CAN HIRE WORSE THAN WHAT WE HAVE. YOU CAN DO MORE LONG TERM DAMAGE WITH A BAD HIRE. (See Tennessee & Florida)

Don't make decisions when you are angry/frustrated, it's not good. The direction forward needs to be very well thought out with the odds of consistent success high. 

Look for coaches that have had long term success. Examples would be;

Chris Petersen and Gary Patterson.

I'm not fond of the guy but Dan Mullen is an example. You can't argue his accomplishments. (I know he is not leaving Florida, like I said these are examples of what we must look for.)

Charlie Strong? There's no doubting what he did at Louisville... but then Texas. The verdict is out on him now.

Chip Kelly. If he turns around UCLA he could be great at Auburn.

Kyle Whittingham?

Scott Frost. If he can get Nebraska to a consistent 9 win team over a 3 year period, he is ready.

James Franklin and Bill Clarke are the ONLY ones on the list I would consider.

Bill Clarke intrigues me, I would be hyped/fired up to have him BUT I must ask myself is he really ready for Auburn? Has he done enough yet to be worthy of Auburn.

Please, please... moving forward, please don't throw out the "what have they done lately" coaches name.?. Let's let the other programs hire the assistants/coordinators and if the pan out over a 4 to 5 year period we go get them.

This is the best response in this thread

[NolaAuTiger 3,295]

Bill Belichick 

[Brad_ATX 13,654]

56 minutes ago, AUDevil said:

This is the best response in this thread

Not really.  The first comment of "cooridnators aren't ready to coach at a program of our level" is out of touch with reality.  Perfect example: Kirby Smart.

It's about getting the right coach, period.

[AUsince72 11,084]

Mr. Coach Klein

He's even got a nice Eagle Flight routine and everything...

 

[I_M4_AU 7,762]

2 minutes ago, AUsince72 said:

Mr. Coach Klein

He's even got a nice Eagle Flight routine and everything...

 

This is who we have right now.  Auburn needs to move in a different direction.

[ArgoEagle 1,767]

I would love to see Venables come in. We would keep our top notch D, maybe even be better, then could hire a really good OC that he could leave alone to coach the offense. It would be really interesting to see what Chip could do if he was running his own offense without any interference from the HC.

[AUApostle 7,648]

52 minutes ago, Brad_ATX said:

Not really.  The first comment of "cooridnators aren't ready to coach at a program of our level" is out of touch with reality.  Perfect example: Kirby Smart.

It's about getting the right coach, period.

Yes really.  Coordinators are a huge gamble...more risk than reward.  So far Kirby has had about as much success as Gus...so let's wait and see on him.

[Tiger 8,817]

20 minutes ago, ArgoEagle said:

I would love to see Venables come in. We would keep our top notch D, maybe even be better, then could hire a really good OC that he could leave alone to coach the offense. It would be really interesting to see what Chip could do if he was running his own offense without any interference from the HC.

I'd be careful assuming this.

Our last 2 HCs were studs as coordinators but their side of the ball once they become HC suffered/is suffering greatly.

[Brad_ATX 13,654]

17 minutes ago, AUDevil said:

Yes really.  Coordinators are a huge gamble...more risk than reward.  So far Kirby has had about as much success as Gus...so let's wait and see on him.

There aren't very many coaches in the country who wouldn't constitute a huge gamble.  There's just as many head coaches who have failed at a new job as there are coordinators.

[ArgoEagle 1,767]

8 minutes ago, Tiger said:

I'd be careful assuming this.

Our last 2 HCs were studs as coordinators but their side of the ball once they become HC suffered/is suffering greatly.

Yeah cautious, but HC's pretty much are coordinators before they get promoted to HC,  We have to get it right sooner or later with a coord. To me Gus would be better off sticking to coord. He gets about a C grade from me as a head coach, and that is nowhere good enough for the SEC.

If you are going with proven available coaches, I would go with Bryles. Don't see where we could buy Gus out and then be able to afford to pay a top notch active HC from another program.

[Tiger 8,817]

6 minutes ago, ArgoEagle said:

Yeah cautious, but HC's pretty much are coordinators before they get promoted to HC,  We have to get it right sooner or later with a coord. To me Gus would be better off sticking to coord. He gets about a C grade from me as a head coach, and that is nowhere good enough for the SEC.

If you are going with proven available coaches, I would go with Bryles. Don't see where we could buy Gus out and then be able to afford to pay a top notch active HC from another program.

Good point. My only thing with Briles is he is uber toxic and the accusations against him are not something I want following him to AU, nor would I want that type of culture to permeate at AU in the least bit.

I'd love to see what our offense would look like under him though.

The other hot name is Freeze but he was cheating like hell at Ole Miss so....

[AUEngineer2016 407]

I really only see 3 options for us here:

1. Bill Clark, HC UAB. 13-6 in the 2 years he's spent resurrecting UAB football, including a 2nd place finish in the MAC West their first year back. Not bad for a school that lost all of their top-tier players.

It'd also be interesting to see if he could convince John Grass (HC Jacksonville State) to come be his OC again- the 2 coached together at Jacksonville State in 2013:

• 35.2 ppg on offense, 23.6 ppg on defense
• 89% Red Zone scoring percentage, 64% Red Zone TD Percentage
• 4.8 YPA rushing, 7.6 YPA passing
• 49 School Records, 13 OVC Records, 3 NCAA 1-AA Records

I think the ideal scenario here is: 

• Bill Clark, HC
• John Grass, OC
• Kevin Steele, DC

2. Josh Heupel - HC UCF. You want offense? A guy who can develop quarterbacks? Heupel's your guy. Just a few of the names he's coached:

• Sam Bradford 
• Landry Jones
• Blake Bell
• Trevor Knight
• Drew Lock 
• Mackenzie Milton

He's shown he can coach a successful offense in the SEC with Mizzou. In his 2 seasons as OC, they put up video game numbers. The year before he became OC, Mizzou averaged 13.6 PPG. In the 2 years he was there, they averaged 31.4 and 37.5 PPG. His offense at UCF is averaging 45.7 PPG. His team is undefeated and in the Top 10- I don't care that Frost did it the year before, it's hard to keep that going. Just ask Major Applewhite at Houston, Mike Norvell at Memphis, and every other coach who's taken over a Top-10 G5 team only to find that it's not so easy to get those guys to buy in. 

Heupel is a QB guy, he won the Heisman at OU under the Pirate himself Mike Leach. He's coached under both Bob and Mike Stoops. He's a young guy with a lot of energy, intensity, and a proven track record of offensive success. 

I think the ideal scenario here is:

• Josh Heupel, HC/OC
• Steele or Randy Shannon, DC

3. Keep Malzahn for another year. We spend the year scouting other coaches, preparing to pay the buyout, and are ready to pull the trigger at any point. 

[auburn4ever 1,266]

So people on here don't any big name coach coming to Auburn. Why not? is Alabama the only team that can get any big name coach that they want? Auburn fans needs to start thinking that they are just as good as UAT or other team in the SEC or else where. Here's my list of coaches that could replace GM. James Franklin, David Shaw, Chris Peterson, Gary Patterson,  Mark Stoops, Lane Kiffin, Bill Clark, Bob Stoops, Mario Cristobal, Charlie Strong.