Chizik reflects on Malzahn’s firing

[aubiefifty 16,705]

al.com

 

Gene Chizik reflects on Gus Malzahn’s firing: ‘I thought it surprised him to a degree’

By Mark Heim | mheim@al.com

3-4 minutes

---

SEC Network analyst Gene Chizik, left, said Gus Malzahn, right, was surprised when Auburn terminated his contract in December.

Gene Chizik said former Auburn coach Gus Malzahn was a little surprised when the school fired him in December.

The SEC Network analyst - a former Auburn head coach himself - joined the SDS podcast and shared his thoughts on his former offensive coordinator getting the axe after eight seasons.

“I was shocked,” Chizik said. “I didn’t think that was really warranted to be fair with you. “It wasn’t like he went 3-7 on the year, you know? It was a 6-4 year and probably could’ve won seven games, but that’s the nature of the beast. We all live with the realities that that could happen at any time. You’ve got to pull your big-boy pants up and move forward.”

The potential seventh win could be the inexplicable loss to South Carolina, which fired head coach Will Muschamp before the season ended. However, that record included three blowout losses to ranked teams Alabama, Georgia and Texas A&M.

With that said, Chizik believes Malzahn will get a job next year.

“There’ll be several jobs open next year and like I told him, ‘You’ll have three or four to pick from next year. You just take the year off, recalibrate and figure out what you want to do next.’”

As analyst, Chizik said, he gets a much different view of the college football than he did as a coach.

But I thought it surprised him to a degree,” Chizik said. “It definitely surprised me to a degree. But, let’s be honest, the more I’m in the media side, the more I see how things unfold and I’m not so singularly focused every day on my own program, nothing surprises me anymore. It really doesn’t. Whether it’s buyouts, size of buyouts, why they fired a guy, what the strategy was to fire a guy so they don’t have to pay him, I mean I’ve seen it all. Nothing surprises me, I say that after I said I was kind of shocked, but as I really reflect from a 10,000-foot perspective, nothing surprises me anymore.

“They had to write him an $11 million check within 30 days and then he gets the rest paid out in increments. People are going to answer that, ‘In a pandemic, are you kidding me?’ My answer to that is don’t let anything shock you.”

Malzahn’s seven-year contract, which he signed in December 2017 after leading Auburn to an SEC West title, included 75 percent of the deal’s value fully guaranteed. His buyout, as of the month of his firing, was $21,450,000, with 50 percent of that owed within 30 days of his termination and the remainder paid in four equal annual installments.

H/T Saturday Down South

Mark Heim is a sports reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim.

[Hank2020 3,195]

2 minutes ago, aubiefifty said:

al.com

 

Gene Chizik reflects on Gus Malzahn’s firing: ‘I thought it surprised him to a degree’

By Mark Heim | mheim@al.com

3-4 minutes

---

SEC Network analyst Gene Chizik, left, said Gus Malzahn, right, was surprised when Auburn terminated his contract in December.

Gene Chizik said former Auburn coach Gus Malzahn was a little surprised when the school fired him in December.

The SEC Network analyst - a former Auburn head coach himself - joined the SDS podcast and shared his thoughts on his former offensive coordinator getting the axe after eight seasons.

“I was shocked,” Chizik said. “I didn’t think that was really warranted to be fair with you. “It wasn’t like he went 3-7 on the year, you know? It was a 6-4 year and probably could’ve won seven games, but that’s the nature of the beast. We all live with the realities that that could happen at any time. You’ve got to pull your big-boy pants up and move forward.”

The potential seventh win could be the inexplicable loss to South Carolina, which fired head coach Will Muschamp before the season ended. However, that record included three blowout losses to ranked teams Alabama, Georgia and Texas A&M.

With that said, Chizik believes Malzahn will get a job next year.

“There’ll be several jobs open next year and like I told him, ‘You’ll have three or four to pick from next year. You just take the year off, recalibrate and figure out what you want to do next.’”

As analyst, Chizik said, he gets a much different view of the college football than he did as a coach.

But I thought it surprised him to a degree,” Chizik said. “It definitely surprised me to a degree. But, let’s be honest, the more I’m in the media side, the more I see how things unfold and I’m not so singularly focused every day on my own program, nothing surprises me anymore. It really doesn’t. Whether it’s buyouts, size of buyouts, why they fired a guy, what the strategy was to fire a guy so they don’t have to pay him, I mean I’ve seen it all. Nothing surprises me, I say that after I said I was kind of shocked, but as I really reflect from a 10,000-foot perspective, nothing surprises me anymore.

“They had to write him an $11 million check within 30 days and then he gets the rest paid out in increments. People are going to answer that, ‘In a pandemic, are you kidding me?’ My answer to that is don’t let anything shock you.”

Malzahn’s seven-year contract, which he signed in December 2017 after leading Auburn to an SEC West title, included 75 percent of the deal’s value fully guaranteed. His buyout, as of the month of his firing, was $21,450,000, with 50 percent of that owed within 30 days of his termination and the remainder paid in four equal annual installments.

H/T Saturday Down South

Mark Heim is a sports reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim.

Who cares at this point. Old news!!

[aubiefifty 16,705]

6 minutes ago, Hank2020 said:

Who cares at this point. Old news!!

you do understand other people besides you read articles on here right? and we also have some that thought a lot of gus. aren't you the peacock............

[CoffeeTiger 5,083]

 

26 minutes ago, aubiefifty said:

"what the strategy was to fire a guy so they don’t have to pay him"

 

Not a strategy that Auburn's Athletic department is very familiar with. 

[gravejd 3,269]

Seems more and more likely that the contract Gus got after 2017 was the worst thing to happen to him. After he got that he thought he could relax and once you relax just a tad it’s over in the SECw.

[Hank2020 3,195]

44 minutes ago, aubiefifty said:

you do understand other people besides you read articles on here right? and we also have some that thought a lot of gus. aren't you the peacock............

No I am not the peacock. I thought a lot of Gus as the individual I perceive him to be ( don’t know him personally ). I am thankful that professionally he seems to have ran a clean program. I was a strong supporter up until the last year and realized in my opinion little was going to change from a competitive standpoint.  IMO we have moved past that point as a program so need to do what adds value to where we are not.

[dyehardfanAU 2,117]

1 hour ago, Hank2020 said:

No I am not the peacock. I thought a lot of Gus as the individual I perceive him to be ( don’t know him personally ). I am thankful that professionally he seems to have ran a clean program. I was a strong supporter up until the last year and realized in my opinion little was going to change from a competitive standpoint.  IMO we have moved past that point as a program so need to do what adds value to where we are not.

This is how people who don't want to win talk.  I am hoping Harsin is much more of a plausible deniability guy than a teetotaler.

Also, I am not shocked in the least bit that Gus was surprised he was fired.  The guy has no self awareness at all.  Also, lol at 7 wins.  We were lucky the refs won us the Arky game or it'd been 5-5.

[AUx 3,001]

"...to a degree." So he is saying, to another 'degree' it didn't surprise Gus (or Chizik) at all? That is somewhat condemning, if Chizik is actually saying what he means, or articulating what he was thinking, or thinking. Mox nix.

[JDUBB4AU 5,102]

Just goes to show you how much Gus didn’t care and was fine with half ass mediocrity. Surprised your on the hot seat ?? That much money has to equate to wins. It didn’t . 

[Hank2020 3,195]

5 minutes ago, dyehardfanAU said:

This is how people who don't want to win talk.  I am hoping Harsin is much more of a plausible deniability guy than a teetotaler.

Also, I am not shocked in the least bit that Gus was surprised he was fired.  The guy has no self awareness at all.  Also, lol at 7 wins.  We were lucky the refs won us the Arky game or it'd been 5-5.

I’m hoping he is a teetotaling winner.

[dyehardfanAU 2,117]

33 minutes ago, Hank2020 said:

I’m hoping he is a teetotaling winner.

Then you're too naive to take seriously as that's a fantasy.

[Hank2020 3,195]

3 minutes ago, dyehardfanAU said:

Then you're too naive to take seriously as that's a fantasy.

I’m guessing being an opposing viewpoint would mean I wouldn’t be taken seriously anyway. Not sure how being taken “seriously” in a forum post would impact anything anyway.

[dyehardfanAU 2,117]

4 minutes ago, Hank2020 said:

I’m guessing being an opposing viewpoint would mean I wouldn’t be taken seriously anyway. Not sure how being taken “seriously” in a forum post would impact anything anyway.

No, I'm fine with opposing viewpoints that are based on logic and reason.

[Hank2020 3,195]

2 minutes ago, dyehardfanAU said:

No, I'm fine with opposing viewpoints that are based on logic and reason.

I’m not sure you would find your point on a “logic tree”, but would certainly fit in an opinion grouping.

[dyehardfanAU 2,117]

9 minutes ago, Hank2020 said:

I’m not sure you would find your point on a “logic tree”, but would certainly fit in an opinion grouping.

Recruiting wins championships.  Recruiting is a dirty game for the top talent. If you're not willing to play the game you're not going to get top talent therefore not winning championships.  I'm not sure that it can be made any clearer than that so I'll bow out and assume that you'll understand something so simple now that it's been spelled out in it's most basic form.

[Hank2020 3,195]

1 minute ago, dyehardfanAU said:

Recruiting wins championships.  Recruiting is a dirty game for the top talent. Therefore if you're not willing to play the game you're not going to get top talent.  I'm not sure that it can be made any clearer than that so I'll bow out now and assume that you'll understand something so simple now that it's been spelled out in it's most basic form.

You confuse lack of agreement with the premise as lack of understanding of your point. You are correct in that we probably will not “sway” each other so best for me move on to another post.

 

[aubiefifty 16,705]

2 hours ago, Hank2020 said:

No I am not the peacock. I thought a lot of Gus as the individual I perceive him to be ( don’t know him personally ). I am thankful that professionally he seems to have ran a clean program. I was a strong supporter up until the last year and realized in my opinion little was going to change from a competitive standpoint.  IMO we have moved past that point as a program so need to do what adds value to where we are not.

 my point is there are other people here that would want to read that article and it is not a good look for you to be new and come in and try and tell people what to post or not. ok? you might be a great guy and i hope we get along but you do not get to tell me what to say or what to post. that is the mods job and they do it well. i post articles on here because a lot of people do not have the time and they appreciate someone trying to help the site. as far as getting past gus i was amazed that gus was shocked when he was fired. that is new to many of us and it sheds a different light on him. and again a lot of people love gus on this board. probably half. but i enjoyed the insight chiz brought as well.most folks liked gus and wanted him to do well and he fell short. now if i personally cross the line you are more than welcome to jump me. i was ready for gus to go after gateway but i still like the man. and i hope he does well down the road.

[aubiefifty 16,705]

if no one told you welcome to aufam hank.

[aubiefifty 16,705]

1 hour ago, JDUBB4AU said:

Just goes to show you how much Gus didn’t care and was fine with half ass mediocrity. Surprised your on the hot seat ?? That much money has to equate to wins. It didn’t . 

i believe it. but how odd is it that a man as paranoid as he was about doing things the gus way he was shocked when he was fired? i am betting money his ministry to some of those young men made him feel he was more secure. and maybe the money. but in the end i wish him well and i hope he succeeds. this is hopefully something he can learn from. i bet he never says anything bad about auburn.

[Hank2020 3,195]

5 minutes ago, aubiefifty said:

 my point is there are other people here that would want to read that article and it is not a good look for you to be new and come in and try and tell people what to post or not. ok? you might be a great guy and i hope we get along but you do not get to tell me what to say or what to post. that is the mods job and they do it well. i post articles on here because a lot of people do not have the time and they appreciate someone trying to help the site. as far as getting past gus i was amazed that gus was shocked when he was fired. that is new to many of us and it sheds a different light on him. and again a lot of people love gus on this board. probably half. but i enjoyed the insight chiz brought as well.most folks liked gus and wanted him to do well and he fell short. now if i personally cross the line you are more than welcome to jump me. i was ready for gus to go after gateway but i still like the man. and i hope he does well down the road.

My original comment was about the article itself (relative to the firing of Gus which happened awhile ago at this point) rather than the posting of the article. You are correct that no one should be trying to limit you doing that and it was not my original intention. I’m unhappy it was taken that way and probably has more to do with trying speak in short “ to the point” phrases.

[Hank2020 3,195]

8 minutes ago, aubiefifty said:

if no one told you welcome to aufam hank.

Thank you for that.

[aubiefifty 16,705]

8 minutes ago, Hank2020 said:

My original comment was about the article itself (relative to the firing of Gus which happened awhile ago at this point) rather than the posting of the article. You are correct that no one should be trying to limit you doing that and it was not my original intention. I’m unhappy it was taken that way and probably has more to do with trying speak in short “ to the point” phrases.

i am an old half senile geezer and i get things twisted. i find i do better toking on a fatty than being straight when it comes to processing info.

[cole256 17,039]

4 hours ago, Hank2020 said:

Who cares at this point. Old news!!

It's really not your fault you've seen the others so you really thought that's all you have to say and you can control what's posted on this board......But no that's not how this works at all

[Hank2020 3,195]

5 minutes ago, cole256 said:

It's really not your fault you've seen the others so you really thought that's all you have to say and you can control what's posted on this board......But no that's not how this works at all

Probably does have more to do with my relative newness to posting than anything else.

[TigerOne 1,140]

Chiz never really said anything no one else has said and really danced around the subject. He was being kind without saying it was no surprise Gus got fired.