Who do you want as head coach?

[Auburnfan91 1,407]

5 minutes ago, TigerOne said:

The key is right now. It’s a constant moving target 

Honestly I would take Napier over Cristobal. I think Cristobal is a good coach and would be an upgrade over Gus, but I get Mark Richt vibes from Cristobal. His losses to inferior teams at Oregon is a concern to me. Yeah he can recruit but you still have to coach too and win big games. He had the best team in the PAC 12 last year and failed to make the playoffs because they tripped up and lost to an unranked Arizona State in November.

Napier's done a heck of a job at Lafayette. He's elevated their program more than anyone else. They won 11 games last year which is a school record and has them 9-1 right now which includes a win on the road at Iowa State.

[bigbird 60,371]

10 minutes ago, JBiGGiE said:

There are no diamonds out there. 

There a quite a few coaches that, at Auburn, would absolutely be diamonds. I strongly disagree with your assessment of the lack of good coaches. 

11 minutes ago, JBiGGiE said:

At this point we have to just accept that the current risk of keeping Malzahn is quickly outweighing the risk of acquiring a new coach.

I'm torn, so I'll let you pick...

 

[bigbird 60,371]

10 minutes ago, Auburnfan91 said:

His losses to inferior teams at Oregon is a concern to me. Yeah he can recruit but you still have to coach too and win big games.

And here's the rest of the story...

 

(Was shown this from another earlier)

 

Last year he won the PAC-12 and the Rose Bowl.

This year, after losing his QB to the draft (#6 pick), they were devastated by Opt-Outs, mostly due to the PAC-12 cancelling the season. Once they reversed course, many of his starters had already signed with agents. His projected Top 5 NFL Draft Pick (an OT) led that pack, as well as 3 of the 4 starters in his secondary. I believe he lost a total of 7 players that would have started or gotten considerable playing time. So, if you just look at the scoreboard, you don’t know the complete story. Disappointing season, but a win Saturday vs. Washington puts them into the PAC-12 Championship game.

Also, he didn’t get to pick the staff he wanted at Oregon, as many were holdovers that Taggart didn’t take with him, but the AD wanted to retain. Needless to say, MC will build a staff with strong SEC ties. This man knows what it takes to recruit and he will put together a staff of guys who have been in the trenches in this conference and have made names for themselves.

On 12/9/2020 at 3:06 PM, bigbird said:

Michigan St.

6-5

6-6

7-5

6-6

9-2

34-24

 

LSU

8-4

10-3

8-5

13-1

9-3

48-16

 

Losses happen to the best of them. I'd say this guy could do both and he happens to loves Cristobal and wants Mario to be his replacement when he retires. That's a pretty damn good endorsement, IMO.

[Bro Johnny Mac 1,391]

Cristobal.

 I get kind of a new school Pat Dye vibe from him..

He seems to be the right guy at the right time. I think he could be a program builder, just like Dye was.

If the PTB could all get on the same page and get behind him(like they did for Dye) the sky is the limit.

[aubaseball 2,585]

10 hours ago, Auburnfan91 said:

Napier's done a heck of a job at Lafayette. He's elevated their program more than anyone else. They won 11 games last year which is a school record and has them 9-1 right now which includes a win on the road at Iowa State.

Go back and watch the ending to Louisiana vs App State game.   Should give a lot of concern on Napier’s decision making skills.   Not saying that it couldn’t get better with time, but it’s head scratching to understand what he was thinking at that particular time.

I’ve read on here some head scratching things that Cristobol has done during games too.  I’m sure there are things that every coach has done at one point or another that would question their decision making skills, but the one that Napier did was crazy. If not for a missed field goal it would have gone to overtime.  

[ClaytonAU 4,606]

Think a lot of people here and elsewhere are looking at Mario Cristobal as a “what can he do for Auburn now?” type of guy by looking at specific instances in his coaching career. As well as recency bias. This is wrong.

 

We need to be looking at what he can do longterm for us. He is the type of coach that can build a program here. Auburn is, in my opinion, a sleeping giant. You get the right man in and it’ll take no more than 3 years to consistently be playing with the big dogs. 
 

Mario is that guy. He recruits well, he knows this area, he wants to coach in the SEC, and he won’t be learning on the job.

[WarDamnDoc 385]

14 minutes ago, ClaytonAU said:

Think a lot of people here and elsewhere are looking at Mario Cristobal as a “what can he do for Auburn now?” type of guy by looking at specific instances in his coaching career. As well as recency bias. This is wrong.

 

We need to be looking at what he can do longterm for us. He is the type of coach that can build a program here. Auburn is, in my opinion, a sleeping giant. You get the right man in and it’ll take no more than 3 years to consistently be playing with the big dogs. 
 

Mario is that guy. He recruits well, he knows this area, he wants to coach in the SEC, and he won’t be learning on the job.

I appreciate this perspective, and hope that it's correct.  I just keep getting stuck on the simple fact that he managed to lose to Gus with a brand new true freshman QB who turned out to be... not elite... despite having a future NFL starter on his team.  And I don't think he'll recruit any better at Auburn than Oregon.  I'm just not sold on him, though if he gets hired I will gladly get behind him.  I understand you're looking at the long view, and I hope you're right.  For my money, though, I'd take Napier.

[DAG 33,955]

1 hour ago, WarDamnDoc said:

I appreciate this perspective, and hope that it's correct.  I just keep getting stuck on the simple fact that he managed to lose to Gus with a brand new true freshman QB who turned out to be... not elite... despite having a future NFL starter on his team.  And I don't think he'll recruit any better at Auburn than Oregon.  I'm just not sold on him, though if he gets hired I will gladly get behind him.  I understand you're looking at the long view, and I hope you're right.  For my money, though, I'd take Napier.

I think he will. I think he will get Auburn back to that Gene Chizik recruiting. 

[bigbird 60,371]

2 hours ago, WarDamnDoc said:

And I don't think he'll recruit any better at Auburn than Oregon.

I'd take those results in a heartbeat

[AuburnTiger4Life 2,225]

15 hours ago, JBiGGiE said:

There are no diamonds out there. The kind of coach with any sort of proven track record is quite secure in their current position. The closest coach with those kind of credentials and is available would be Urban Meyer, who, if given the choice between Head Coach at Auburn or Fox Sports analyst, would choose Fox Sports...

At this point we have to just accept that the current risk of keeping Malzahn is quickly outweighing the risk of acquiring a new coach.

Sadly I think you’re right about Gus not getting fired. I think if he has a chance it’ll be done before signing day and right now I’m not hearing enough chatter to believe that’ll happen. I think South Alabama would offer quickly if he did get fired 

[McLoofus 35,182]

Compare Oregon's last 4 recruiting classes, including the current one, to our last 4 recruiting classes, including the current one, and Cristobal's worst OL class might be better than Gus's best. His current class has two 4* OTs, a 4* C, and a 4* OG. He had to go to Utah and Arizona to get these kids. Imagine what he can do when he can pick these kids off trees in the southeast. Hint: It will probably be only slightly less than what he's already done in this region, which is far more than Gus will ever be capable of.  

[Auburn Tiger 1,340]

I’ll take literally anyone with a fire to compete and win. I want someone with intensity and drive. I want someone who’ll own their garbage when they suck and fire up the players when they aren’t meeting potential. This mopey mosey crap has to end. We need someone to rally around and have need that for quite some time. 

[NoALtiger 3,849]

7 minutes ago, Auburn Tiger said:

I’ll take literally anyone with a fire to compete and win. I want someone with intensity and drive. I want someone who’ll own their garbage when they suck and fire up the players when they aren’t meeting potential. This mopey mosey crap has to end. We need someone to rally around and have need that for quite some time. 

We need the Bruce Pearl of football. 

[LKEEL75 2,566]

23 minutes ago, NoALtiger said:

We need the Bruce Pearl of football. 

Wouldn't that be Freeze?  (Good to Decent coach that is in bad standings with SEC)

[AuburnTiger4Life 2,225]

1 hour ago, McLoofus said:

Compare Oregon's last 4 recruiting classes, including the current one, to our last 4 recruiting classes, including the current one, and Cristobal's worst OL class might be better than Gus's best. His current class has two 4* OTs, a 4* C, and a 4* OG. He had to go to Utah and Arizona to get these kids. Imagine what he can do when he can pick these kids off trees in the southeast. Hint: It will probably be only slightly less than what he's already done in this region, which is far more than Gus will ever be capable of.  

Gus actually hasn’t been a bad recruiter before this season. He just could never get top Olineman to commit for some reason. Most recruiting is done by assistant coaches these days. The head coach is mainly the closer 

[McLoofus 35,182]

7 minutes ago, AuburnTiger4Life said:

He just could never get top Olineman to commit for some reason. Most recruiting is done by assistant coaches these days. The head coach is mainly the closer 

He's at least 75% of why we haven't recruited the OL better. You don't have to trust me on that but I trust the many people who have explained it to me. 

[JBiGGiE 2,488]

16 hours ago, bigbird said:

There a quite a few coaches that, at Auburn, would absolutely be diamonds. I strongly disagree with your assessment of the lack of good coaches. 

I'm torn, so I'll let you pick...

 

Yeah I see I might've worded that unclearly. Let me reiterate...

Risks of breaking in a new coach ≤ keeping Gus Malzahn

[Carnell 592]

17 hours ago, Auburnfan91 said:

Honestly I would take Napier over Cristobal. I think Cristobal is a good coach and would be an upgrade over Gus, but I get Mark Richt vibes from Cristobal. His losses to inferior teams at Oregon is a concern to me. Yeah he can recruit but you still have to coach too and win big games. He had the best team in the PAC 12 last year and failed to make the playoffs because they tripped up and lost to an unranked Arizona State in November.

Napier's done a heck of a job at Lafayette. He's elevated their program more than anyone else. They won 11 games last year which is a school record and has them 9-1 right now which includes a win on the road at Iowa State.

I agree with you on Cristobal.  His team is giving up 460 yards before last Saturday so I really question his commitment to defensive football which is a requirement to be successful in the SEC.

[AUBwins 10,064]

6 hours ago, WarDamnDoc said:

I appreciate this perspective, and hope that it's correct.  I just keep getting stuck on the simple fact that he managed to lose to Gus with a brand new true freshman QB who turned out to be... not elite... despite having a future NFL starter on his team.  And I don't think he'll recruit any better at Auburn than Oregon.  I'm just not sold on him, though if he gets hired I will gladly get behind him.  I understand you're looking at the long view, and I hope you're right.  For my money, though, I'd take Napier.

But he went against a great SEC defense that won that game in the 2nd half.  PAC 12 teams don't see that type of D front often.  Same happened in the 2010 BCS Ch game. Defense was the deciding factor.  

Yes if he is here, will go against SEC defenses every week, but he will also have SEC type of coaches, players, and schemes.  

[Auburn Tiger 1,340]

3 hours ago, LKEEL75 said:

Wouldn't that be Freeze?  (Good to Decent coach that is in bad standings with SEC)

And my source says Gus is considering Vandy and AU is in talks with Freeze. 

[AuburnTiger4Life 2,225]

5 minutes ago, Auburn Tiger said:

And my source says Gus is considering Vandy and AU is in talks with Freeze. 

You trolling or serious? 

[Auburn Tiger 1,340]

22 minutes ago, AuburnTiger4Life said:

You trolling or serious? 

Serious. 

[woodford 3,655]

Gus would be a fool to go to Vandy imo 

Unless he likes getting spanked by Kirby year in and year out. 

[AUBwins 10,064]

39 minutes ago, Auburn Tiger said:

And my source says Gus is considering Vandy and AU is in talks with Freeze. 

IIRC, Vandy was considering Gus before he bolted for Ark St.

[gr82be 14,403]

3 minutes ago, woodford said:

Gus would be a fool to go to Vandy imo 

Unless he likes getting spanked by Kirby year in and year out. 

He's familiar with it.