"A chance to win a championship'

[AUld fAUx@ 2,584]

1 hour ago, McLoofus said:

I think this gives us a really good chance of winning a championship:
 

 

 

1 hour ago, McLoofus said:

I think this gives us a really good chance of winning a championship:
 

 

Competent staff req'd for "Biscuits, Collard Greens, Mac&Cheese, Cobbler"

Gotta wait and see.

 

[Gowebb11 9,352]

Regardless how,good JS is or isn't, we are one high ankle sprain away from someone not named JS being under center. If that happens, we all better hope that Gus has matured past his paranoia, and trusts CCL to do his thing. Otherwise we will be right back where we've been the past couple of years. 

Regarding the comment about a "chance to win a championship", that is more reflective of something a coach at Ole Miss or Miss St should be saying than where we should be. In the last 12 years, we've had two undefeated seasons, 3 SEC titles, won a Natty and played for another, not to mention loaded up on top recruiting classes. We should be reeling off 10 win seasons and competing for a championship most years, not fighting for third or fourth place in our division.  I hopethis season launches us to that level.  War Damn!

[jAUSon 2,836]

guess it all depends on how you define "chance". 

[CleCoTiger 1,957]

6 hours ago, lionheartkc said:

I guess I just get annoyed by the negativity. It's like everyone expects every QB to be the next Jeremy.  Some so much that they try to find failure in them. I spent last year defending Sean and now people are already starting to look for faults in Stidham.

Some folks just ain't happy unless they're miserable or predicting misery to come.  

(I used to think that adage went a little far, but as I get older I recognize that maybe it doesn't go too far after all. Doom and gloom must be the road to happiness.  )

[AUld fAUx@ 2,584]

1 hour ago, jAUSon said:

guess it all depends on how you define "chance". 

Back, I guess, to my Johnny-one-note posture, but

the prospect of at least 2 serviceable QBs (even if they only alternate injuries) would seem to about

double our chances.

Sorry - off-season, I have little more to offer.

[augolf1716 21,247]

3 hours ago, jAUSon said:

guess it all depends on how you define "chance". 

50/50

[AUbritt 611]

19 hours ago, augolf1716 said:

50/50

You're 100% right.

[aubiefifty 16,840]

al.com

 

What else would you expect Gus Malzahn to say?

Kevin Scarbinsky | kscarbinsky@al.com

It's always amazing to see how the most innocent utterance from a college football coach can spark a bonfire of discussion and dissent. It happened again the other day.

Gus Malzahn said something positive about the Auburn football program, and some fans and members of the media reached for their smelling salts.

What exactly did the head coach say?

Did he predict his fifth Auburn team will win the national championship? Did he guarantee the Tigers will win the SEC title and reach the College Football Playoff? Did he say Alabama's going down?

No. Of course not. Malzahn said nothing of the sort.

Here's what he did say during Auburn's in-house broadcast on National Signing Day, as reported by AL.com's Wesley Sinor:

"We have quality depth here, really probably quality depth in all three phases, maybe for the first time since I've been here," Malzahn said. "So there won't be the stress on these (new) guys to come in and do it immediately. Now a lot of these guys will help, and a lot of these guys will be in the mix, but just our depth -- our depth's in great shape as far as our program. Add in this group to what we've got, I mean, I think we've got a chance to really do something special in the next three or four years."

 

Malzahn: Auburn's 'got a chance to win a championship'

Malzahn signed another top 10 recruiting class last week on National Signing Day

 

Imagine that. A head coach expressed belief in the direction of his program. Stop the presses only when he tells us he's run out of ideas and has no hope.

Malzahn also said this:

"I'm ready to get back on the field with the guys, and I think our guys are, too. You can just kind of sense that excitement when you've got a chance to win a championship; you kind of sense that excitement from a coach's standpoint and a player's standpoint. We're ready to get out there."

That would be a bold prediction if those words actually were bold or a prediction. Yet the word "championship" coming out of Malzahn's mouth in any context after three seasons without one certainly rubbed some people the wrong way.

You win two SEC titles and a national championship in four years while playing for another big ring in that span, as Auburn did from 2010-13, and you create an expectation of more to come. So the distaste for public displays of optimism from the head coach is understandable in a way.

 

10 things to know about new Auburn assistant Larry Porter

Auburn hired former UNC running backs coach and special teams coordinator Larry Porter as an assistant coach on Saturday.

 

You can argue the less Malzahn says between now and the Sept. 2 opener against Georgia Southern, the better. After seasons of 8-5, 7-6 and 8-5, the fan base wants to see significant and immediate bottom-line improvement, which is a totally reasonable expectation. Malzahn's not exactly a chatterbox, but they want him to talk less and win more.

Just the same, what would you expect to hear from the head coach's appearance on an in-house broadcast on National Signing Day? Gloom, despair and agony?

What Malzahn said Feb. 1 matters little compared to what he, his staff and their players do on the field when spring practice starts Feb. 28. He could take a crash course in poor-mouthing from Pat Dye, play up the schedule and play down his team's chance to handle it, and it won't lower the bar for the 2017 season one inch.

Auburn fans know the Tigers just landed their fifth straight top-10 recruiting class under Malzahn, finishing No. 9 in the 247Sports composite rankings. They also know three SEC teams finished with better classes - No. 1 Alabama, No. 3 Georgia and No. 7 LSU - and Auburn has to play all three as usual.

That means three of the most important teams on the schedule probably aren't getting any weaker.

 

How Auburn recruits panned out in 5 years under Malzahn

When Auburn has gone outside its traditional recruiting footprint in the four-plus year tenure of coach Gus Malzahn, there have been nearly as many examples of great success as there are dramatic disappointments.

 

Is Auburn stronger with a staff now complete after the hiring of the veteran Larry Porter? Is Jarrett Stidham the answer that's been missing at quarterback? Can Kevin Steele overcome some significant losses to produce another national top-seven scoring defense?

Malzahn can't answer those questions. Only his football team can. He can't satisfy anyone with anything he says during the off-season, but consider this: If he doesn't believe in the Tigers, who will?

[PoetTiger 1,899]

On 2/9/2017 at 11:22 AM, JMassie11 said:

Just like last year this team will love and die by the qb

Exactly all the top 4 from last year got great play from the QB position and their main guy stayed healthy all season. 

[cole256 17,084]

Don't use probably or you're doom and gloom

[AUld fAUx@ 2,584]

9 minutes ago, cole256 said:

Don't use probably or you're doom and gloom

You sure?

[cole256 17,084]

7 minutes ago, AUinTLoosa said:

You sure?

Try it out. Just question Gus or sw. And then watch two guys in particular in the basketball forum.....completely different people

[AUld fAUx@ 2,584]

3 minutes ago, cole256 said:

Try it out. Just question Gus or sw. And then watch two guys in particular in the basketball forum.....completely different people

No problem

Joke I've been making across a few threads

Maybe I'm too subtle

I'm with you here.

[JMassie11 1,610]

7 hours ago, PoetTiger said:

Exactly all the top 4 from last year got great play from the QB position and their main guy stayed healthy all season. 

Why I feel really good about this team.....we all assume Stidham wins the job but a healthy White guided us to some key wins.....point is regardless who starts we will,actually have a REAL backup QB 

[AUld fAUx@ 2,584]

1 hour ago, JMassie11 said:

Why I feel really good about this team.....we all assume Stidham wins the job but a healthy White guided us to some key wins.....point is regardless who starts we will,actually have a REAL backup QB 

Like and a ^this^

 

ETA - OL might be nice too

[triangletiger 1,599]

On ‎2‎/‎10‎/‎2017 at 1:18 PM, AUMASTERS said:

You've got me - I don't know what IKR stands for.

I kan't remember...

[Randman5000 4,229]

I thought there was a boycott of al.com happening?