superbooster may pursue Bob Stoops

[aubiefifty 16,775]

247sports.com

Report: Auburn 'superbooster' may pursue Bob Stoops

ByBrad Crawford

3-4 minutes

Should things go south this season for Gus Malzahn at Auburn, Tigers superbooster Jimmy Rane may tap former Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops as the new leader of the program, according to Brooks Melchior and Sports By Brooks.

Through sources, Melchior tweeted on Tuesday he has learned "that the richest man in the state of Alabama, Auburn superbooster Jimmy Rane, is targeting Bob Stoops to replace Gus Malzahn if the latter fails to beat Alabama this season."

According to Forbes, Rane is worth $900 million and is the founder and CEO of Great Southern Wood Preserving, which makes decks, fences and other treated lumber products.

Stoops was asked last week by Clay Travis if there was a possibility he'd return to coaching in the college ranks. Stoops, a 10-time Big 12 champion, is the active general manager and head coach Dallas Renegades in the rebooted XFL

"Well we'll see," Stoops said. "I believe when I stepped away, if I wanted to continue to coach in college, I would've stayed at Oklahoma. I just felt I had run my course there, and, you know, just needed some time and space of my own. And I got that. Right now I'm excited about the adventure going into the XFL. Starting from scratch is really exciting as well.

"So we'll see where it leads. I know everybody loves to...they want you to define your life from year to year, and everybody always wants forever and never. And I don't know how you ever say that. You just never know what the good Lord's going to bring."

At Auburn, eight-win seasons don't cut it and four such campaigns in the five years since reaching the BCS Championship Game has left Malzahn with a warm seat on the Plains. The Tigers are 3-0 facing a pivotal showdown at Texas A&M on Saturday.

"Yeah, I’ve got a job that expects to win championships and I knew that when I took this job," Malzahn said in July. "I love the fact that is part of the job description here. In the years you don’t win championships, you hear stuff like this. I guess I’ve been the head coach six years and, what, four of those years you hear hot seat this, hot seat that. That’s just part of this job. So, I understand that.

"We weren’t happy with the way we only won eight games last year. I know our players weren’t (happy). We had guys come back and like I said earlier, they’re hungry, and our staff is hungry. That’s just part of this job description and I love that fact. We need to play our best football."

Malzahn received a sizable raise with a seven-year, $49 million contract after knocking off then-No. 1 Alabama and Georgia in the regular season in 2017, but followed that up with a losing record in the SEC and an 8-5 mark overall last fall.

2COMMENTS

AuburnUndercover's Brandon Marcello writes, "Fans grew restless with losses to LSU and Tennessee, a program that had not defeated an SEC West team in more than a decade. Some high-profile boosters worked behind the scenes to see if they could remove him as head coach, even with a $30-plus million buyout. They failed. Malzahn stuck around, but the pessimism from some fans remains."

The jury is out on Malzahn depending on how the Tigers finish this season, but a win this weekend — coupled with the season-opening victory over Oregon — are major positives.

">247Sports

can we keep this one civil without getting the thread locked?

this hacks my lily so to speak. so why would i post it you ask? i always want to see ALL news available for auburn fans regardless if i like it or not. also even tho i am not anti gus i believe in fairness the gus bashers deserve to read all that is out there as well.

     anyway we are three and nadda and yeller feller is already twisting the knife. to me this is almost as bad as jetgate. it is not a good look.

[caleb1633 1,418]

If true, he's about the only proven coach out there that's available. Who knows how true this is though. I'm not going to get my hopes up.

[AURandy56 148]

Bob Stoops would certainly be an up-grade, but, even though Jimmy Rane has a lot of money---and I do mean A LOT OF MONEY---does he on his own have the power to tap anyone to lead the Auburn football program?

[The Freak 2,527]

I'm guessing this is just belated news from last December.

[McLoofus 35,182]

1 minute ago, The Freak said:

I'm guessing this is just belated news from last December.

Twitter's non-linear timeline algorithm has gotten out of hand and Brooks Melchior is its chief victim. 

[WalkingCarpet 1,379]

SportsByBrooks!!! Where's he been hiding the last decade? 

[api1957 1,783]

I'm going to let this year play out. Hopefully Gus really finds his stride. 

But come December...

[Zeek 16,650]

Uhhh… we did this horse and pony show last time with some posters acting like it was a done deal and that Gus was out. Then, Gus had a new contract instead and everything was proven to pretty much be a "nothing burger". Believe what you want but Bob Stoops isn't the answer here and he's not likely to come out to Auburn. If the guy wanted to be coaching somewhere he would already be doing so.

Josh Heupel, Bill Clark, Mike Norvell, or some young coordinator are more likely options IF something happens. Honestly, it's looking like we might finish (9-3) and that would all but guarantee Gus another season. Now, the 2020-21 season might be the melt down season with all 5 OL graduating and a slew of defensive talent going pro or graduating.

No booster is getting Gus out of here while we're (3-0) and sitting in the top 10 nationally.

[McLoofus 35,182]

1 minute ago, Zeek said:

Uhhh… we did this horse and pony show last time with some posters acting like it was a done deal and that Gus was out. Then, Gus had a new contract instead and everything was proven to pretty much be a "nothing burger". Believe what you want but Bob Stoops isn't the answer here and he's not likely to come out to Auburn. If the guy wanted to be coaching somewhere he would already be doing so.

Josh Heupel, Bill Clark, Mike Norvell, or some young coordinator are more likely options IF something happens. Honestly, it's looking like we might finish (9-3) and that would all but guarantee Gus another season. Now, the 2020-21 season might be the melt down season with all 5 OL graduating and a slew of defensive talent going pro or graduating.

No booster is getting Gus out of here while we're (3-0) and sitting in the top 10 nationally.

Indeed. 

[gr82be 14,423]

Whether it's true or not it's embarrassing that this comes out at this point of the season. 

[Zeek 16,650]

Just now, gr82be said:

Whether it's true or not it's embarrassing that this comes out at this point of the season. 

Meh, it's par for the course with his situation. Everyone in the world knows Gus is on a hot plate of a seat. I see it as (8-4) Gus is likely the absolute floor of what is acceptable and (9-3) all but guarantees he stays; considering those three losses will be to top 10 teams and we have a true fresh qb.

He has to win at least two of these games: Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Texas A&M, LSU.

[doverstutts 1,643]

3 minutes ago, gr82be said:

Whether it's true or not it's embarrassing that this comes out at this point of the season. 

embarrassing?....more like encouraging!

[WalkingCarpet 1,379]

3 minutes ago, gr82be said:

Whether it's true or not it's embarrassing that this comes out at this point of the season. 

It's SBB digging up a nine month old rumor with no new info and a bammer "writer" running with it. It's completely meaningless. 

[Tigerpro2a 5,650]

7 minutes ago, gr82be said:

Whether it's true or not it's embarrassing that this comes out at this point of the season. 

This. I saw this late last night and refused to post anything about it. Also, I think we can do better than Bob Stoops. I think he is a good coach but I don't think he would light it up in the SEC. I don't know who I would want...because as of now WE HAVE A COACH AND WE ARE 3-0. I honestly think people from Bama are paying for this crap to come out. 

[aubiefifty 16,775]

this is on two other auburn sites i know of.  if rane is running his mouth again it is a bad look. he needs to be reeled in because the article makes it look like rane might run things. then there is the ol stabbing a coach in the back again thing which is not a good look. and how does it effect recruiting? most importantly if this is bull why does auburn uni not make a move to shut this stuff down? people can argue about how good a coach gus is but does he really deserve this? gus is a good man and should be treated with some honor. but i also understand this is mostly what football has come.

[aubiefifty 16,775]

3 minutes ago, WalkingCarpet said:

It's SBB digging up a nine month old rumor with no new info and a bammer "writer" running with it. It's completely meaningless. 

i thought 24 7 was an auburn site. i never really paid much attention.

[Tigerpro2a 5,650]

1 minute ago, aubiefifty said:

this is on two other auburn sites i know of.  if rane is running his mouth again it is a bad look. he needs to be reeled in because the article makes it look like rane might run things. then there is the ol stabbing a coach in the back again thing which is not a good look. and how does it effect recruiting? most importantly if this is bull why does auburn uni not make a move to shut this stuff down? people can argue about how good a coach gus is but does he really deserve this? gus is a good man and should be treated with some honor. but i also understand this is mostly what football has come.

Thanks. We have a win over a ranked quality opponent. We are 3-0. We have a Freshman QB and are 3-0. WTH. This BS makes me so mad. He hasn't even lost a game yet. I hope that AU nips this in the bud.  Gus is better than I am and I will just leave it at that. 

[WalkingCarpet 1,379]

1 minute ago, aubiefifty said:

i thought 24 7 was an auburn site. i never really paid much attention.

Every team has a 247 site. Again, this is nonsense. 

[ShocksMyBrain 9,364]

2 minutes ago, aubiefifty said:

i thought 24 7 was an auburn site. i never really paid much attention.

There’s multiple 247 sites for other teams 

[steeleagle 2,945]

1 minute ago, Zeek said:

Uhhh… we did this horse and pony show last time with some posters acting like it was a done deal and that Gus was out. Then, Gus had a new contract instead and everything was proven to pretty much be a "nothing burger". Believe what you want but Bob Stoops isn't the answer here and he's not likely to come out to Auburn. If the guy wanted to be coaching somewhere he would already be doing so.

Josh Heupel, Bill Clark, Mike Norvell, or some young coordinator are more likely options IF something happens. Honestly, it's looking like we might finish (9-3) and that would all but guarantee Gus another season. Now, the 2020-21 season might be the melt down season with all 5 OL graduating and a slew of defensive talent going pro or graduating.

No booster is getting Gus out of here while we're (3-0) and sitting in the top 10 nationally.

first, to take your comments from last to first:

1. This 3-0 start is nothing new for Gus. It means nothing, if you can't be competitive in your own division.  Gus has only 2 times lost less than 3 games in the SEC. Losing 3 games (4 out of 6 yrs) or more gives you no chance to get to the SECC.

2.  I agree, that unless a current HC jumps out front as a hot commodity, then anyone we hire is a unknown commodity. 

3. What makes you think we are 'looking' like we are headed to a 9-3 finish? I think we are still very shaky getting to 9 wins. Gus' track record is so inconsistent, until we have played through Oct, then we will know. 

4. Looking at Stoops requires some thinking. We would be getting a coach who will be 60 yrs old, if he comes back. And will he want to go head to head in the SEC w/ Ga, AL and LSU? I don't think so.  And how long would he stay, and then we are back to finding a new coach in 4-5 years...

 

[aubiefifty 16,775]

again to be clear when i have time to post articles i try to post the important ones so no one on the fam has to leave the site hopefully to gain access to information. personally i do not like it. i am loyal to gus but when his time is done i will be loyal to the next coach as well if they are not a complete jerk.

[Carnell 592]

Wish rane would stay out it.  He botched the deal with tubs in 2008 and now he clearly showing his ignorance about football by pursuing stoops when there is clearly better canadiates such as Dennis Allen and Josh McDaniels available.

[Zeek 16,650]

Definitely a bad look by Rane but also poor writing by a few sources. Man I'd love to write about Auburn for 247 or another source but the positions are rarely open.

[steeleagle 2,945]

And one last point. I wish we would not talk about Rane and looking at another coach.

I like Gus Malzahn and most of what he does as a HC for us. I want him to make this offense work and be a consistent one. that's why is puzzling and a struggle to see how his teams have ended their years except in 2013. Even 2017, when we got hot, there were issues that left us w/ a depleted offense going into the SEC bc of poor usage of our RBs during the year...

[aubiefifty 16,775]

3 minutes ago, WalkingCarpet said:

Every team has a 247 site. Again, this is nonsense. 

if rane said it this year he be called out. if rane did not say it he should call those guys out for lying.

    they ALL post nonsense at one time or another.