next Head Coach

[DyeCampAlum 335]

I'm not on the bus, but fortunately I don't make decisions. (Or maybe unfortunately, given who actually does.)

I don't believe he's done the job we need. He's built a generally good program, to all appearances. Recruiting is strong. The team passes the eye test. But I can't recall a more exasperating period in Auburn football, big games that turn into embarrassments. Not just big losing scores, but embarrassing decisions that make sense in no time-space dimension too.

Like others, I feel like we're bullies. We blow out inferior opponents, but we can't get a big win. When we have big wins, like LSU in 2016, we later find out it wasn't all that awesome. And losing to Georgia.... I respect Georgia, but they're our equal, not our superior.

As for playcalling, I think it's Gus when we get predictable in certain ways. Overreliance on the same back. Overreliance on the same play. Unsophisticated passing routes. Certain formations that tip off the play that's coming.

All that said, he's our coach, and I want him to succeed. I'd be fine with 9-3 at this point if we're competitive throughout. I'd lose my mind over 10-2, which would probably mean a shot at the playoff in the SEC Championship Game. But that doesn't mean I'm confident.

[keesler 5,924]

1 hour ago, DyeCampAlum said:

I'm not on the bus, but fortunately I don't make decisions. (Or maybe unfortunately, given who actually does.)

I don't believe he's done the job we need. He's built a generally good program, to all appearances. Recruiting is strong. The team passes the eye test. But I can't recall a more exasperating period in Auburn football, big games that turn into embarrassments. Not just big losing scores, but embarrassing decisions that make sense in no time-space dimension too.

Like others, I feel like we're bullies. We blow out inferior opponents, but we can't get a big win. When we have big wins, like LSU in 2016, we later find out it wasn't all that awesome. And losing to Georgia.... I respect Georgia, but they're our equal, not our superior.

As for playcalling, I think it's Gus when we get predictable in certain ways. Overreliance on the same back. Overreliance on the same play. Unsophisticated passing routes. Certain formations that tip off the play that's coming.

All that said, he's our coach, and I want him to succeed. I'd be fine with 9-3 at this point if we're competitive throughout. I'd lose my mind over 10-2, which would probably mean a shot at the playoff in the SEC Championship Game. But that doesn't mean I'm confident.

Good post.

I'm at the point where I feel like we know what we have with Gus at the helm.  While we all want better results, no changes can be made with the current Administration in place, period.  If the Admin gets an overhaul in 2017, I don't think a brand new President (with his plate full of athletic issues) and a brand new Athletic Director will take a huge leap and oust the current football coach right off the bat.  

[WDE0007 166]

37 minutes ago, keesler said:

If the Admin gets an overhaul in 2017, I don't think a brand new President (with his plate full of athletic issues) and a brand new Athletic Director will take a huge leap and oust the current football coach right off the bat.  

Hopefully Gus takes himself out the equation if these Gus to Arkansas rumors come true.

[PoetTiger 1,898]

3 hours ago, Beaker said:

I am not getting back on the bus...

UGA is overrated.   I know they can only play who is on their sched.   We SHOULD win that game. 

If we beat the turds, that will be his first upset since 2013.  Now, neither 2013 win (UGA and bama) were b/c of coaching in my mind.  

Do I want to keep a coach who has 1 upset during his 5 yr tenure? No  There is no litmus test for me.  With Gus, we start off every year slow and dysfunctional.  

So who u got replacing Gus? 

[Beaker 2,457]

1 hour ago, PoetTiger said:

So who u got replacing Gus? 

B Venables - check his  coaching tree, even so called experts have him as over-qualified for his job and he is right mix of dirt, grit and cheerleader.  He has seen programs built and been part of sustaining top tier programs like Oklahoma (as their DC).  

And the man knows our region.  It's not like when Arky hired Brett from Wisconsin.  

[PoetTiger 1,898]

39 minutes ago, Beaker said:

B Venables - check his  coaching tree, even so called experts have him as over-qualified for his job and he is right mix of dirt, grit and cheerleader.  He has seen programs built and been part of sustaining top tier programs like Oklahoma (as their DC).  

And the man knows our region.  It's not like when Arky hired Brett from Wisconsin.  

I like him too..as well as the NC St head coach....

[milehighfan 1,240]

12 hours ago, aubiefifty said:

i read where nebs facilities are horribly old and in need of huge upgrades. also some neb fans do not want frost because he supposedly hid in a closet while his girl or some female was dragged out by her hair? does anyone know what that is all about? i like frost so far so i am curious.

Yeah, it's true. It was Lawrence Phillips. Or, should I say, the late Lawrence Phillips? In the report there were friends of Phillips who said it was a good thing Frost didn't come out to face Phillips or he would have fared worse than the woman who had her hair pulled.

[Mikey 16,600]

9 hours ago, WDE0007 said:

Hopefully Gus takes himself out the equation if these Gus to Arkansas rumors come true.

Arkansas would first have to offer the job to Gus. That's a thing that won't happen. Just because some few AU fans day dream about the prospect of Gus leaving doesn't mean Arky has the slightest bit of interest in hiring him.

[alexava 6,973]

1 hour ago, milehighfan said:

Yeah, it's true. It was Lawrence Phillips. Or, should I say, the late Lawrence Phillips? In the report there were friends of Phillips who said it was a good thing Frost didn't come out to face Phillips or he would have fared worse than the woman who had her hair pulled.

One dude that lived longer than he should have.

[AU9377 4,931]

On ‎10‎/‎19‎/‎2017 at 5:19 PM, GwillMac6 said:

if we want him we will get him. Nebraska is not a good job anymore. He would only be going there because he played there. The recruiting base is awful.

Which is why we won't get him.  He is a legend in Nebraska at this point.  He took over a bad UCF program, I'm sure he is confident that he could do the same at his Nebraska.

[AU9377 4,931]

15 hours ago, Mikey said:

Arkansas would first have to offer the job to Gus. That's a thing that won't happen. Just because some few AU fans day dream about the prospect of Gus leaving doesn't mean Arky has the slightest bit of interest in hiring him.

There is a large segment of the Arkansas base that loves Gus.  I know a few of them.

[Eagle Eye 7 2,535]

On 10/23/2017 at 12:18 PM, keesler said:

Good post.

I'm at the point where I feel like we know what we have with Gus at the helm.  While we all want better results, no changes can be made with the current Administration in place, period.  If the Admin gets an overhaul in 2017, I don't think a brand new President (with his plate full of athletic issues) and a brand new Athletic Director will take a huge leap and oust the current football coach right off the bat.  

Things might change real fast in the next few days ?. Hopefully the first half of the problem will be eliminated.

[Eagle Eye 7 2,535]

My thought of how it goes down. Jacob relieved October 25 th. Arky fires Bret after final game. Two days later Gus is introduced as new Arky head coach . Steele is interim HC for the bowl game. President will appoint committee to recruit both AD and HC 

[Tiger 8,826]

I hope we don't even give Dave Doeren a call. I live in Raleigh, NC where NC State is located. Trust me this guy makes just about as many boneheaded HC decisions as Gus when it comes to game management. He's wildly inconsistent. He's got the Wolfpack playing really well this year but I'm not trusting it. Ironically the best HC in the Triangle is at Duke. Cutcliffe > Fedora, Doeren. And I don't want any of those guys coaching at AU even though Cutcliffe knows how to run an O and how to coach QBs.

[Eagle Eye 7 2,535]

I think with JJ gone it will be a different search. I think Chip and Gus were both about who JJ wanted before the search even began. My hope and belief is that we will look to make a home rub hire this time. One thing I want to mention is folks keep saying there is not another Nick Saben out there. What was Saben before uat. He did win one NC at LSU but other than that nothing special including a failure in the NFL. There are plenty of potential NS equals out there if they are given the right combination. That is oils be money to get the best assistant and staff available. Money to spend on upgrades to bring in recruits. Using their resources to influence media perception in favor of AU so they can bring in the Jimmy’s and the Joes needed to win championships.

[Timeslider 6 269]

Eagle i hope you are right for everyone's sake. It would be nice to be able to count on AU winning regularly without all the anxiety and heartburn. 

As far as another Saban out there, who can be flexible enough to adapt as he goes and yet strong enough to stand up against all the cow manure that goes on surrounding the PTB?

[GwillMac6 20,678]

The problem with all the guys names being flung around is none give me the warm and fuzzies that they can be elite recruiters besides maybe Frost. And even that  just guessing is because he is young and energetic. That is more than half the battle in modern college football now. No conference is recruiting more important than the cutthroat SEC. I hate to say it but we need a guy like dabo to be the face of the program who can go head to head with bama and UGA and win our fair share of recruiting battles for the elite guys.

[AUnMS 120]

I would be worried every time we faced Gus if he were at another school.

[GwillMac6 20,678]

10 minutes ago, AUnMS said:

I would be worried every time we faced Gus if he were at another school.

If that school was arkansas I would never be worried. He struggles against schools with superior talent and there is a huge talent gap with Auburn and arkansas. Plus burt has recruited for the pro style offense and it would take a bunch of recruiting classes to get the style of players he wants for his offense.

[TigerHorn 1,351]

Should Gus take the bus to Arkie, what about Matt Campbell at Iowa State? He has turned that program around in his 2nd year, and is a young guy at 37. Downside is that he's all Midwestern, grew up in Ohio, coached at Toledo and ISU. He also won't be cheap, since ISU has a pretty stiff buyout. Of course, Saban followed a similar path, coaching at Toledo (they still hate him there, BTW) and MSU prior to LSU. 

[GwillMac6 20,678]

18 minutes ago, TigerHorn said:

Should Gus take the bus to Arkie, what about Matt Campbell at Iowa State? He has turned that program around in his 2nd year, and is a young guy at 37. Downside is that he's all Midwestern, grew up in Ohio, coached at Toledo and ISU. He also won't be cheap, since ISU has a pretty stiff buyout. Of course, Saban followed a similar path, coaching at Toledo (they still hate him there, BTW) and MSU prior to LSU. 

Please God no. He has 1 good win on his resume. That should not be enough to get hired at Auburn.

[GwillMac6 20,678]

22 minutes ago, TigerHorn said:

Should Gus take the bus to Arkie, what about Matt Campbell at Iowa State? He has turned that program around in his 2nd year, and is a young guy at 37. Downside is that he's all Midwestern, grew up in Ohio, coached at Toledo and ISU. He also won't be cheap, since ISU has a pretty stiff buyout. Of course, Saban followed a similar path, coaching at Toledo (they still hate him there, BTW) and MSU prior to LSU. 

By Zach Barnett -

October 23, 2017

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Matt Campbell is the toast of college football at the moment, and with good reason. Iowa State is ranked at No. 25 in this week’s edition of the AP Top 25, the Cyclones’ first appearance in the poll since Sept. 25, 2005. In the midst of a 3-game winning streak, Iowa State is 5-2 on the year and controls its own destiny to reach the Big 12 championship game.

That seemed unthinkable upon Campbell’s hiring in Nov. 2015, and still seemed unthinkable just three weeks ago, before Iowa State and its walk-on quarterback went to Norman and beat then-No. 3 Oklahoma.

But Iowa State AD Jamie Pollard recognized Campbell’s potential and knew others could come after his still-just-37-years-old head coach, and planned ahead by protecting the school accordingly.

We’ve reviewed Campbell’s contract and found this section, outlining what Campbell would owe Iowa State should he leave for another head coaching job. In short: he would owe the school his entire remaining contract.

 

Campbell is under contract through the 2021 season with a salary of $2.1 million in 2017 that raises $100,000 a year, meaning Campbell is in line to earn $2.2 million in 2018, $2.3 million in 2019, $2.4 million in 2020 and $2.5 million in 2021.

Add it all up and you get a $9.4 million buyout should Campbell leave after this season.

It’s worth keeping in mind Campbell is still just 37 and is being paid very well right now. In addition to his $2.1 million salary, Campbell will earn a $500,000 bonus with one more victory and is a candidate (as we sit here in late October) to pick up a $50,000 check for winning the Big 12 Coach of the Year award. He’s also in line for a bonus of $250,000 for winning or sharing the Big 12 regular season championship and $100,000 for winning a bowl game. That would add up to $3 million.

Plus, being the head coach at Iowa State means something to Campbell. Or, at least he said it did when he told this story during his introductory press conference.

Still, this is college football and young, successful coaches are the sport’s hottest commodity. Campbell will have suitors this winter, and at least one connected observer believes the coach already has his bags packed to leave Ames.

Herbstreit is connected within the sport and we don’t want to discount what he’s saying, but anyone paying a $9.4 million buyout would be beyond unprecedented.

 

 

In the closest recent example we could find, Colorado State tried to fence in Jim McElwain with a $7.5 million buyout. The Gators eventually smoked McElwain out of Fort Collins thanks in large part to a public campaign run by then-AD Jeremy Foley that made the idea of McElwain returning to Colorado State impossible for both sides, but Florida wasn’t stroking a $7.5 million check to get him. Instead, Florida paid $3 million, McElwain himself covered $2 million and Florida made up the difference by paying Colorado State $2 million for a game at The Swamp in 2018.

That was Florida, a blue blood of college football, and still $7.5 million was too much for them. And Campbell’s buyout in nearly $2 million higher than that. Now add in the $4 or $5 million salary Campbell would command, a similar number he would require to pay his staff, and you’re looking at a price tag approaching $20 million in the first year alone to extract Campbell from Ames.

Nothing is impossible in college football, but paying nearly $10 million to get a coach out of a job that (he says) is very important to him — a coach that could (quite understandably) be 5-5 next week after Iowa State finishes a 3-game swing that includes No. 4 TCU, No. 22 West Virginia and No. 11 Oklahoma State — would be unheard of.

[Texan4Auburn 1,626]

8 minutes ago, GwillMac6 said:

If that school was arkansas I would never be worried. He struggles against schools with superior talent and there is a huge talent gap with Auburn and arkansas. Plus burt has recruited for the pro style offense and it would take a bunch of recruiting classes to get the style of players he wants for his offense.

I would be. Gus has had some good success when it comes to recruiting. Large number of Hog fans/alumni in the state of Texas. Stillwater is only a little over a hour further from Dallas than Fayetville is and look at the number of Texas players on Gundy's roster.

People say that Gus can't change, maybe they are right. Gundy's admitted that it took him years to fully let go of play calling, that it was like taking video games away from a kid. I am not willing to state Gus will never evolve. If you remember Gundy was so involved with the offense as a head coach that he would even ignore the defensive series and go to the benches to coach the offense.

The coming year would be a great time to sink your teeth into Texas recruiting wise. Stoops is out at Oklahoma, Sumlin is constantly on hot seat it seems, Tom Herman is begging students to show up to games against Top 10 opponents, and Baylor is just nuked.

Hell, Patterson and Gundy (two coaches that people on here mention wanting often) are at what could potentially be the coming premier Big 12 programs. They definitely have the stability.

Friend of mine here played Power 5 Division one. He has friends/teammates that are in the coaching circles now. It should be no surprise that it is known in the coaching circles that Auburn has power/control issues, and that the main rival is the SEC & NCAA's favorite son (he won't tell me who said that, but says it was from a Power 5 head coach). He could be full of it, but I don't think so.

I will state that I am not confident that at this time Auburn can land a coach that would pull the success necessary to maintain talent gaps.

 

 

[GwillMac6 20,678]

2 minutes ago, Texan4Auburn said:

I would be. Gus has had some good success when it comes to recruiting. Large number of Hog fans/alumni in the state of Texas. Stillwater is only a little over a hour further from Dallas than Fayetville is and look at the number of Texas players on Gundy's roster.

People say that Gus can't change, maybe they are right. Gundy's admitted that it took him years to fully let go of play calling, that it was like taking video games away from a kid. I am not willing to state Gus will never evolve. If you remember Gundy was so involved with the offense as a head coach that he would even ignore the defensive series and go to the benches to coach the offense.

The coming year would be a great time to sink your teeth into Texas recruiting wise. Stoops is out at Oklahoma, Sumlin is constantly on hot seat it seems, Tom Herman is begging students to show up to games against Top 10 opponents, and Baylor is just nuked.

Hell, Patterson and Gundy (two coaches that people on here mention wanting often) are at what could potentially be the coming premier Big 12 programs. They definitely have the stability.

Friend of mine here played Power 5 Division one. He has friends/teammates that are in the coaching circles now. It should be no surprise that it is known in the coaching circles that Auburn has power/control issues, and that the main rival is the SEC & NCAA's favorite son (he won't tell me who said that, but says it was from a Power 5 head coach). He could be full of it, but I don't think so.

I will state that I am not confident that at this time Auburn can land a coach that would pull the success necessary to maintain talent gaps.

 

 

Gus has recruited well at AUBURN. He is not a dynamic personality that could recruit well almost anywhere.  He would not recruit well at arkansas because no one hardly recruits well there. It is a hard place to recruit to. I would welcome him running up the middle 17 straight times on first down. Lets be honest here. If gus was calling plays on the opposing sidelines we would love the predictability of his playcalls.

[TigerHorn 1,351]

1 minute ago, GwillMac6 said:

Gus has recruited well at AUBURN. He is not a dynamic personality that could recruit well almost anywhere.  He would not recruit well at arkansas because no one hardly recruits well there. It is a hard place to recruit to. I would welcome him running up the middle 17 straight times on first down. Lets be honest here. If gus was calling plays on the opposing sidelines we would love the predictability of his playcalls.

That's a stretch. We have recruited better on paper these last few years than we have since the height of the Dye era. If he ups someone else's recruiting game the way he did ours, then he would definitely be a threat.