Fear

[AUght2win 6,813]

I've thought a lot recently about what makes Gus, Gus. He is, bar none, the most mystifying decision maker I have ever seen at a major sports level. So why is he the way he is? I tried to strip down his decisions, his patterns, his philosophies, his mannerisms, what he says. What is the common thread that explains it all?

It's fear.

He did not have it in 2013. What was there to be afraid of? He was hungry and under the radar. No pressure for his first year at Auburn with a team that won 3 games the season prior. He played to win with a chip on his shoulder. He rolled the dice and made gutsy play calls. He truly competed.

Then a bad half in Pasadena happened and I don't think Gus ever truly recovered. It planted irreparable seeds of doubt. Sure, there were some leftovers of the 2013 mojo the next season. But by the end of 2014, the most dangerous coach in America was gone forever.

So why did Gus clearly lose his attitude and edge?

After 2013, Gus couldn't handle the new light he was seen in. In his mind, he was a humble high school coach from Arkansas who eats at Waffle House after a win. And that works fine when you're under the radar. But what happens when you get to the top? When you are expected to stay there? 

My theory is Gus panicked. The country boy from Arkansas just flat didn't know how to handle success. He's like a dude who starts dating a girl "out of his league". He can't accept the reality that they are really together, so he just tries to hang on. Of course, ironically, this is why she leaves him.

With each loss or failure, Gus let his insecurities take hold. He became petrified of letting his doubts be proven true, and being seen as an over-his-head failure who didn't belong. So he made a change (and not just with the "look, I belong" sports car purchase).

Gus ditched playing to win and instead played not-to-lose. He just wanted to clutch to what he had. It's why he became increasingly conservative. He began to rely on field goals. He became absolutely obsessed with ball security. He oversimplified and overcomplicated gameplans (Cox Cat, for example). And he never deepened the offense or hired assistants who would challenge him, because challenge could lead to change, and change would potentially collapses the house of cards he was just trying to keep up.

After 7 years, Gus now exudes fear. He is a nervous wreck on the sideline. He calls timeouts and causes presnap confusion as he over thinks play calls. He is responsible for more media disinformation than the KGB, and his statements spin losses with "we are a work in progress, we did a lot of good things, we played a top ten team close". The fear can even be seen in the way he has coached Bo, who is much more uptight than he was in Arlington.

I remember someone (maybe Jay G Tate) saying last year during the Stoops debacle that Gus' greatest fear is being fired. That tells me so much. 

His story is going to end up being a sad one. A coach who could never find the courage to overcome his fears and insecurities. 

Auburn is about playing to win. Being "Fearless and True". These are the antithesis of Gus, and it's why he can't stay. 

[HSVWarEagle 49]

 

[tigeraddikt 1,579]

2 hours ago, AUght2win said:

I've thought a lot recently about what makes Gus, Gus. He is, bar none, the most mystifying decision maker I have ever seen at a major sports level. So why is he the way he is? I tried to strip down his decisions, his patterns, his philosophies, his mannerisms, what he says. What is the common thread that explains it all?

It's fear.

He did not have it in 2013. What was there to be afraid of? He was hungry and under the radar. No pressure for his first year at Auburn with a team that won 3 games the season prior. He played to win with a chip on his shoulder. He rolled the dice and made gutsy play calls. He truly competed.

Then a bad half in Pasadena happened and I don't think Gus ever truly recovered. It planted irreparable seeds of doubt. Sure, there were some leftovers of the 2013 mojo the next season. But by the end of 2014, the most dangerous coach in America was gone forever.

So why did Gus clearly lose his attitude and edge?

After 2013, Gus couldn't handle the new light he was seen in. In his mind, he was a humble high school coach from Arkansas who eats at Waffle House after a win. And that works fine when you're under the radar. But what happens when you get to the top? When you are expected to stay there? 

My theory is Gus panicked. The country boy from Arkansas just flat didn't know how to handle success. He's like a dude who starts dating a girl "out of his league". He can't accept the reality that they are really together, so he just tries to hang on. Of course, ironically, this is why she leaves him.

With each loss or failure, Gus let his insecurities take hold. He became petrified of letting his doubts be proven true, and being seen as an over-his-head failure who didn't belong. So he made a change (and not just with the "look, I belong" sports car purchase).

Gus ditched playing to win and instead played not-to-lose. He just wanted to clutch to what he had. It's why he became increasingly conservative. He began to rely on field goals. He became absolutely obsessed with ball security. He oversimplified and overcomplicated gameplans (Cox Cat, for example). And he never deepened the offense or hired assistants who would challenge him, because challenge could lead to change, and change would potentially collapses the house of cards he was just trying to keep up.

After 7 years, Gus now exudes fear. He is a nervous wreck on the sideline. He calls timeouts and causes presnap confusion as he over thinks play calls. He is responsible for more media disinformation than the KGB, and his statements spin losses with "we are a work in progress, we did a lot of good things, we played a top ten team close". The fear can even be seen in the way he has coached Bo, who is much more uptight than he was in Arlington.

I remember someone (maybe Jay G Tate) saying last year during the Stoops debacle that Gus' greatest fear is being fired. That tells me so much. 

His story is going to end up being a sad one. A coach who could never find the courage to overcome his fears and insecurities. 

Auburn is about playing to win. Being "Fearless and True". These are the antithesis of Gus, and it's why he can't stay. 

This is a rather intellectual post. I salute you. 

[gr82be 14,401]

11 hours ago, AUght2win said:

I've thought a lot recently about what makes Gus, Gus. He is, bar none, the most mystifying decision maker I have ever seen at a major sports level. So why is he the way he is? I tried to strip down his decisions, his patterns, his philosophies, his mannerisms, what he says. What is the common thread that explains it all?

It's fear.

He did not have it in 2013. What was there to be afraid of? He was hungry and under the radar. No pressure for his first year at Auburn with a team that won 3 games the season prior. He played to win with a chip on his shoulder. He rolled the dice and made gutsy play calls. He truly competed.

Then a bad half in Pasadena happened and I don't think Gus ever truly recovered. It planted irreparable seeds of doubt. Sure, there were some leftovers of the 2013 mojo the next season. But by the end of 2014, the most dangerous coach in America was gone forever.

So why did Gus clearly lose his attitude and edge?

After 2013, Gus couldn't handle the new light he was seen in. In his mind, he was a humble high school coach from Arkansas who eats at Waffle House after a win. And that works fine when you're under the radar. But what happens when you get to the top? When you are expected to stay there? 

My theory is Gus panicked. The country boy from Arkansas just flat didn't know how to handle success. He's like a dude who starts dating a girl "out of his league". He can't accept the reality that they are really together, so he just tries to hang on. Of course, ironically, this is why she leaves him.

With each loss or failure, Gus let his insecurities take hold. He became petrified of letting his doubts be proven true, and being seen as an over-his-head failure who didn't belong. So he made a change (and not just with the "look, I belong" sports car purchase).

Gus ditched playing to win and instead played not-to-lose. He just wanted to clutch to what he had. It's why he became increasingly conservative. He began to rely on field goals. He became absolutely obsessed with ball security. He oversimplified and overcomplicated gameplans (Cox Cat, for example). And he never deepened the offense or hired assistants who would challenge him, because challenge could lead to change, and change would potentially collapses the house of cards he was just trying to keep up.

After 7 years, Gus now exudes fear. He is a nervous wreck on the sideline. He calls timeouts and causes presnap confusion as he over thinks play calls. He is responsible for more media disinformation than the KGB, and his statements spin losses with "we are a work in progress, we did a lot of good things, we played a top ten team close". The fear can even be seen in the way he has coached Bo, who is much more uptight than he was in Arlington.

I remember someone (maybe Jay G Tate) saying last year during the Stoops debacle that Gus' greatest fear is being fired. That tells me so much. 

His story is going to end up being a sad one. A coach who could never find the courage to overcome his fears and insecurities. 

Auburn is about playing to win. Being "Fearless and True". These are the antithesis of Gus, and it's why he can't stay. 

A good analysis of Gus's Auburn career. For a long time, longer than most on here I kept the coach and the man so separate that I just kept wanting to give him another season to get it right. 2017 pretty much ended my dreams of that happening. It wasn't the overall record but the way it unfolded. So now we're all still here and my guess is 95% of the fans are just done. Gus is the opposite of the old saying about what doesn't kill you...with Gus it's what doesn't make you stronger will kill you. He should be a much better coach by now with all of the opportunities he's had to learn from his experience. He doesn't seem to have learned anything, so history repeats itself. 

[aucom96 1,611]

Good points. 
 

Gus wrote books on hurry up and we went away from it. His offense thrived on substitution advantages and those are gone. What’s left isn’t enough to overcome equal or better talent. He doesn’t evaluate need well, he doesn’t prioritize crucial things like offensive line depth, he doesn’t adapt and he surrounds himself with inexperience. 
 

He’s got a good football head, it’s just more suited for the Sunbelt or Conference USA.

[around4ever 4,139]

1 minute ago, aucom96 said:

Good points. 
 

Gus wrote books on hurry up and we went away from it. His offense thrived on substitution advantages and those are gone. What’s left isn’t enough to overcome equal or better talent. He doesn’t evaluate need well, he doesn’t prioritize crucial things like offensive line depth, he doesn’t adapt and he surrounds himself with inexperience. 
 

He’s got a good football head, it’s just more suited for the Sunbelt or Conference USA.

That’s because no self respecting experienced offensive coach will work with Gus.  He will not listen to or take advice from any of his assistant coaches and it is well known. 

[aubaseball 2,582]

4 minutes ago, around4ever said:

That’s because no self respecting experienced offensive coach will work with Gus.  He will not listen to or take advice from any of his assistant coaches and it is well known. 

I don’t think this is necessarily correct.    I think he hires the people he hires on offense because he feels the need to give the new guy a chance.   Just like he was given at Arkansas.   I truly think that he thinks there are guys in HS or new coaches getting into the business that are  better than most of the retreads (kiffin, sark, Butch from Tennessee just to name some).   It’s this mentality that will be his undoing 

[around4ever 4,139]

10 minutes ago, aubaseball said:

I don’t think this is necessarily correct.    I think he hires the people he hires on offense because he feels the need to give the new guy a chance.   Just like he was given at Arkansas.   I truly think that he thinks there are guys in HS or new coaches getting into the business that are  better than most of the retreads (kiffin, sark, Butch from Tennessee just to name some).   It’s this mentality that will be his undoing 

You bring them in as GAs.  I respect that he wants to help the new and young guys. When you are making $7M per year to coach a top ten program, you better hire experienced coaches and let them coach.   If you don’t, you’ll be on the hot seat and soon be unemployed.  

[AURealist 2,185]

27 minutes ago, aubaseball said:

I don’t think this is necessarily correct.    I think he hires the people he hires on offense because he feels the need to give the new guy a chance.   Just like he was given at Arkansas.   I truly think that he thinks there are guys in HS or new coaches getting into the business that are  better than most of the retreads (kiffin, sark, Butch from Tennessee just to name some).   It’s this mentality that will be his undoing 

Gus is being paid Top 10 Money to field a Top 10 Team.  He should be hiring, recruiting, coaching, etc... with that goal in mind.   

If he wants to run a home for disadvantaged coaches or some other form of charitable organization, he should do it somewhere else with someone else's money.  

 

 

[NoALtiger 3,849]

This is an excellent post and as good as anything I can think up on why he has not evolved. He had so much potential but he is not the same guy as when he came here as OC. He does exude fear. He is a nervous wreck. And his story will indeed end up being a sad one. Well said!

[GBAU83 212]

Good original post.  As I read it, I thought about the bowl game last year - nothing to lose, nothing to fear and we had the Gus we hired as an OC and who led the 2013 team.  He wasn't on the sideline yesterday.

[oracle79 3,569]

Yeah, you can see it in the interviews right before halftime. He's barely listening to questions, and looking around like a fugitive on the run expecting a sniper bullet at any moment.

[dyehardfanAU 2,117]

2 hours ago, AURealist said:

Gus is being paid Top 10 Money to field a Top 10 Team.  He should be hiring, recruiting, coaching, etc... with that goal in mind.   

If he wants to run a home for disadvantaged coaches or some other form of charitable organization, he should do it somewhere else with someone else's money.  

 

 

Gus and staff are making Top 5 money. 

[dyehardfanAU 2,117]

7 hours ago, AUght2win said:

I've thought a lot recently about what makes Gus, Gus. He is, bar none, the most mystifying decision maker I have ever seen at a major sports level. So why is he the way he is? I tried to strip down his decisions, his patterns, his philosophies, his mannerisms, what he says. What is the common thread that explains it all?

It's fear.

He did not have it in 2013. What was there to be afraid of? He was hungry and under the radar. No pressure for his first year at Auburn with a team that won 3 games the season prior. He played to win with a chip on his shoulder. He rolled the dice and made gutsy play calls. He truly competed.

Then a bad half in Pasadena happened and I don't think Gus ever truly recovered. It planted irreparable seeds of doubt. Sure, there were some leftovers of the 2013 mojo the next season. But by the end of 2014, the most dangerous coach in America was gone forever.

So why did Gus clearly lose his attitude and edge?

After 2013, Gus couldn't handle the new light he was seen in. In his mind, he was a humble high school coach from Arkansas who eats at Waffle House after a win. And that works fine when you're under the radar. But what happens when you get to the top? When you are expected to stay there? 

My theory is Gus panicked. The country boy from Arkansas just flat didn't know how to handle success. He's like a dude who starts dating a girl "out of his league". He can't accept the reality that they are really together, so he just tries to hang on. Of course, ironically, this is why she leaves him.

With each loss or failure, Gus let his insecurities take hold. He became petrified of letting his doubts be proven true, and being seen as an over-his-head failure who didn't belong. So he made a change (and not just with the "look, I belong" sports car purchase).

Gus ditched playing to win and instead played not-to-lose. He just wanted to clutch to what he had. It's why he became increasingly conservative. He began to rely on field goals. He became absolutely obsessed with ball security. He oversimplified and overcomplicated gameplans (Cox Cat, for example). And he never deepened the offense or hired assistants who would challenge him, because challenge could lead to change, and change would potentially collapses the house of cards he was just trying to keep up.

After 7 years, Gus now exudes fear. He is a nervous wreck on the sideline. He calls timeouts and causes presnap confusion as he over thinks play calls. He is responsible for more media disinformation than the KGB, and his statements spin losses with "we are a work in progress, we did a lot of good things, we played a top ten team close". The fear can even be seen in the way he has coached Bo, who is much more uptight than he was in Arlington.

I remember someone (maybe Jay G Tate) saying last year during the Stoops debacle that Gus' greatest fear is being fired. That tells me so much. 

His story is going to end up being a sad one. A coach who could never find the courage to overcome his fears and insecurities. 

Auburn is about playing to win. Being "Fearless and True". These are the antithesis of Gus, and it's why he can't stay. 

And his players, especially his QBs, feed off of his fear and panic.  His panic had a direct correlation to a UGA TD yesterday. 

Like I told @mikey recently:  if you're scared, say you're scared.  It's alright to be scared.

However, it's not right to lead the AU program if you're scared.

[AUBwins 10,046]

This is a well thought out OP. I can definitely see this being the case. The dating someone out of your league was a great analogy. Thank you for the post. 

[sevenlee36 1,654]

I think he still tries to be aggressive it just doesn’t work out. Like calling the timeout before half was stupid but aggressive. He goes for it on 4th he comes up short. He goes for an onside kick and a new rule is learned. Football is inches and momentum he just isn’t having anything go his way. Better oline play would have made a huge difference this season but we play have Tega and maybe Brahms who are SEC caliber players. We are too nice and not nasty enough. We need dogs.

In short we are where we are because we haven’t recruited a solid foundation of mean, nasty, talented olinemen since Gus has been here.

[AUsince72 11,084]

7 hours ago, AUght2win said:

So he made a change (and not just with the "look, I belong" sports car purchase).

Excellent OP....good stuff!

I've said before, this so-called sports car purchase was a red flag to car guys.  Money is no object and he's out to buy a "status symbol", which is EXACTLY what that purchase was and he chose an electric-hybrid car that looks like a reject from the movie Tron.

An "Offensive Guru" buys a Ferrari or Lambo or Bugatti or Porsche or ZR1 Corvette or even a 60's muscle car .... NOT a bimmer that looks like an 80's, Cindy Lauper era vehicle. 

Anyway, yes this is tongue in cheek but loaded with truth too.

[gr82be 14,401]

2 minutes ago, AUsince72 said:

NOT a bimmer that looks like an 80's, Cindy Lauper era vehicle. 

Well, his favorite band is The Cars for crying out loud so why not? I mean The Cars were okay but to say they are your favorite band, well okay Gus. 

[AUsince72 11,084]

4 minutes ago, gr82be said:

Well, his favorite band is The Cars for crying out loud so why not? I mean The Cars were okay but to say they are your favorite band, well okay Gus. 

Though I do love me some Cars, Gus should be a speed metal guy!

[doverstutts 1,643]

7 hours ago, AUght2win said:

AUght2win

This may be the most precise and factual post, as well as well-written, that I have ever read. I have believed this ever since 2014 when these traits really showed up in the  loss to the updykes. Its fear, and self-doubt that dictates GM now. Someone should email him your post, not to hurt him, but to maybe cause him re-consider his approach. Outstanding post, and so very much to the point

[homersapien 11,336]

Sounds plausable.

If so, the new  contract was only counter-productive.

[Randman5000 4,223]

[ChltteTiger 649]

5 hours ago, around4ever said:

You bring them in as GAs.  I respect that he wants to help the new and young guys. When you are making $7M per year to coach a top ten program, you better hire experienced coaches and let them coach.   If you don’t, you’ll be on the hot seat and soon be unemployed.  

He may be unemployed but he will be set for life.

[ChltteTiger 649]

2 hours ago, doverstutts said:

Someone should email him your post, not to hurt him, but to maybe cause him re-consider his approach.

Nothing would come of it. Gus has had many, many opportunities since that ill-fated BCS game to reconsider his approach. Nothing really has changed.

[Farmer Brown 2,391]

   Does this man look afraid? JUST KIDDING! Great post. OP