Who would replace Malzahn (merged threads again)

[Brad_ATX 13,654]

I'd look long and hard at someone like Drinkwitz at App State too.  He's:

1) Been at AU before

2) Has expanded upon and made Malzahn's offensive concepts better suited for today's game.  Look at NC State's offense last year vs this year with him now gone.  Big difference in the numbers.  Would be able to come right in with our current talent and make it work.

3) Young and energetic

4) Been successful as an OC and now in year one at ASU.  Beat UNC and South Carolina this year.

5) Ranks second in his conference for recruiting rankings this year.

Not sure he'd be my top choice right now, but he'd for sure get an interview if I had my way.

[Tiger 8,827]

12 minutes ago, triangletiger said:

I'm pretty sure it's just a running joke.

I get that and the recent posts joking about this isn't what I'm alluding to exactly but there is definitely is, or have been in years past, posts that discount coaches because of a singular loss and discrediting the body of work

[McLoofus 35,182]

12 minutes ago, Brad_ATX said:

4) Been successful as an OC and now in year one at ASU. 

(When you see it...)

[DAG 33,993]

Just now, McLoofus said:

(When you see it...)

Seemingly familiar 

[DAG 33,993]

2 minutes ago, Tiger said:

I get that and the recent posts joking about this isn't what I'm alluding to exactly but there is definitely is, or have been in years past, posts that discount coaches because of a singular loss and discrediting the body of work

I am pretty sure the posts I see are dead serious 

[Tiger 8,827]

12 minutes ago, Brad_ATX said:

I'd look long and hard at someone like Drinkwitz at App State too.  He's:

1) Been at AU before

2) Has expanded upon and made Malzahn's offensive concepts better suited for today's game.  Look at NC State's offense last year vs this year with him now gone.  Big difference in the numbers.  Would be able to come right in with our current talent and make it work.

3) Young and energetic

4) Been successful as an OC and now in year one at ASU.  Beat UNC and South Carolina this year.

5) Ranks second in his conference for recruiting rankings this year.

Not sure he'd be my top choice right now, but he'd for sure get an interview if I had my way.

He also doesn't utilize the middle of the field IIRC. I want a clean break from Gus and the Gus coaching tree JMO. 

Or at the very least he needs to prove himself for 3 years at least as HC. Those are big wins for App State for sure but I'm not ready for a Gus protégé to take this program over at all. 

[Brad_ATX 13,654]

5 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

(When you see it...)

Oh I fully see the similarities.  Also acutely aware that he is a Gus protege.  Again, not saying I would 100% hire him, but I'd at least listen.

[McLoofus 35,182]

4 minutes ago, Brad_ATX said:

Oh I fully see the similarities.  Also acutely aware that he is a Gus protege.  Again, not saying I would 100% hire him, but I'd at least listen.

Word. I was just being a dork. I thought the "ASU" part was funny. Go Red Wolves! Or whatever they are. 

[triangletiger 1,599]

1 minute ago, McLoofus said:

Word. I was just being a dork. I thought the "ASU" part was funny. Go Red Wolves! Or whatever they are. 

Mountaineers

[McLoofus 35,182]

Just now, triangletiger said:

Mountaineers

[triangletiger 1,599]

2 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

Is that wolf crying?

[WalkingCarpet 1,379]

43 minutes ago, DAG said:

I fought this mindset for a little bit now I am starting to succumb to thinking this is true. It is rationalized on our history or these teams recruit better than us. All could be accurate but does that mean we should just accept it? I for one do not want to accept being the whipping boy for those schools. 

I've mentioned this on another board before, but you now have a generation of Auburn grads that have not experienced wins against our rivals except for years where we were in national championship contention. The only exception that comes to mind is the '16 LSU game which looks like a bizarre fever dream when you watch it again. I'm nearly 30 and I've ticked a bunch of "life event" boxes. I'm a graduate, married, mortgage, car payment, pets, thinking about kids... and I've seen 9 total wins in 10 years over LSU, UGA, and bammer. In my mind the current status quo is so violently wrong and I feel like older people who experienced Dye and 6 in a row as students/adults don't understand how the younger generation feels. 

[Barnacle 9,064]

1 hour ago, Tiger said:

Dabo might not be undefeated with our team but his decision making is significantly more trustable and reliable than Gus'. That alone means we would be in a better spot with him, schedule be damned. Also, not to mention he owns Gus in h2h meetings.

He would've at least tried something in the LSU and UF games.

I suppose he would have. More than anything, I think he's recruited so much better than Gus that he wouldn't have ended up in the true freshman QB behind a bottom of the SEC barrel offensive line situation that Gus has us in on offense. That's my greatest frustration this season, by far - much more than play calling or whether Joey Gatewood saw the field. I'm not so much upset that we lost to Florida and LSU as much as I am that we were playing those games with one hand tied behind our back  due to starting a true freshman behind such a weak offensive line. Gus' game plans aside, his roster management headed into the season is almost an unforgivable sin in my book. 

17 hours ago, DAG said:

Just my unfounded opinion but switch Dabo at Auburn and Gus at Clemson. I highly doubt Gus would’ve gotten Clemson to their peak. As far as I am concerned Gus would make someone like Trevor Lawrence look like JS 2.0 and Ross a strictly go route guy. Dabo to me would‘ve gotten us to the playoffs with some of the talent we had in the last seven years. The 2014, 2015 and 2017 was criminally talented teams. 

My comment about what other top teams would do with our schedule was a reply to this post - I agree it doesn't matter - it's just food for thought. That said, I think you're probably right here - and we'd also be a more talented team with Dabo IMO. I don't believe we'd be sitting with these roster management issues I pointed out above with Dabo. 

[Zeek 16,656]

18 hours ago, GwillMac6 said:

Auburn is a top 10 program with top 5 potential.  I am right there with you fam!!!  

This. People who say, "we could be the next Tennessee or FSU," highly underestimate the difference between our programs. If it weren't for Bobby Bowden, FSU's historically irrelevant with the exception of a 3 year stint in the 1940's and some years where Jimbo crushed a soft ACC for a few years. Tennessee has a little more history but let's be real they've been riding the irrelevancy train since Peyton Manning left; the last time they broke double digit wins was 2007.

All three of our most recent coaches have won the SEC and if it weren't for some BCS bull crap all 3 would have played in a NC game. Gus Malzahn, Gene Chizik, Tommy Tubberville, Terry Bowden, Pat Dye, Ralph Jordon all won double digit games. Only Doug Barfield failed to do so and he still had an (8-3) season.

Auburn is special. 

[Potatooooooes!! 1,375]

On 11/11/2019 at 1:42 PM, DAG said:

a Serious threat? He can’t do that consistently at Auburn, what makes you think he can do it at Arkansas? If anything maybe, maybe respectable again. 

Because that would be Auburn’s luck. 
 

And maybe actually getting fired would be enough for him to change. 
 

And sometimes I’m pessimistic about the future.

 

And it was a facetious post to begin with.

 

Should I keep going or....

[rophle 256]

1 hour ago, GwillMac6 said:

We have officially found the remaining  Gus Bus riders!!!! No doubt this dude is the one driving the dang thing!!! Lol

 

 

Is this mocking a group of auburn fans going to an auburn game? Not sure of your intent here. 

[GwillMac6 20,685]

1 minute ago, rophle said:

Is this mocking a group of auburn fans going to an auburn game? Not sure of your intent here. 

Lol no. Just having some fun fam!!! Saw a group of AU fans on a bus and took my shot. Apparently it was a swing and miss!!!! Hahaha 

[rophle 256]

11 minutes ago, GwillMac6 said:

Lol no. Just having some fun fam!!! Saw a group of AU fans on a bus and took my shot. Apparently it was a swing and miss!!!! Hahaha 

Gotcha; you need to be nice to them because they’re the ones gonna be paying the 27 mil for the buyout y’all demanding.  

[GwillMac6 20,685]

23 minutes ago, rophle said:

Gotcha; you need to be nice to them because they’re the ones gonna be paying the 27 mil for the buyout y’all demanding.  

Harbert is the one who should pony up the cash!!! Him and Leath are the main reasons we are in this mess with that anchor of a buy out.

[Win4AU 4,052]

For 100k I will run a hurry up no huddle that has been a staple of my success on NCAA 2014.  After 50+ years of coaching I have multiple conference and National Titles.  Starting as OC at Georgia State I quickly turned that program into a national powerhouse.  The expanded playbook that I will bring will undoubtably be a breath of fresh air.  I feel the current personnel will be more than sufficient to run my “run first play action” offense.  

[leglessdan 1,934]

Gus's kryptonite 

[Barnacle 9,064]

Meant to post this here: 

It all starts with recruiting. 

We won't ever reach a point where we are .500 against Alabama, Georgia, and LSU until we start recruiting like them. 

We are a top 10 recruiting school, no doubt, but the gap between us and the top one or two teams each year is ENORMOUS. 

In 2019, the difference in total points on the 247 class rankings between Alabama (317.50) and Auburn (271.94) is the same between Auburn and Purdue (224.72). 

In 2018, the difference between UGA (323.31) and Auburn (262.77) is the same between Auburn and Vanderbilt (202.04)

In 2017, the difference between LSU (287.66) and Auburn (255.92) is the same between Auburn and Mississippi State (220.22)

That's what we're dealing with before the season ever starts. 

If we want to beat those teams consistently, we are going to have to recruit at a much higher level. 

Given the current status of recruiting, winning 1/3 games vs. those opponents is a reasonable expectation for Auburn. Anything better than .333 vs the big 3 would be exceeding expectations. A .250 record in those games likely arises to the BARE MINIMUM expectation and anything less than that is just plain unacceptable, IMO. 

Currently, Gus is 6-14 vs the big 3, or .300.  If you include Clemson, whose recruiting is comparable to those teams, he's approaching .250. Meanwhile, he's batting .750 vs the rest of the SEC and I think that's a perfectly reasonable record, even including MSU. So overall, I would say that Gus has been meeting MINIMUM expectations at Auburn. 

I'm not looking for Auburn to all the sudden start batting .500 vs those teams given our recruiting. I also don't think that Gus is a bad coach, but I'd rather not get comfortable with a coach whose performance only meets minimum expectations. 

[AuburnTiger4Life 2,225]

I said I wouldn’t talk about coaching changes until this season is over but this is my last post about it. 

Has anyone considered LSU OC Joe Brady? Him and Bob Stoops are the only two that would be a step up from GUS imo. 

[leglessdan 1,934]

5 hours ago, Barnacle said:

Meant to post this here: 

It all starts with recruiting. 

We won't ever reach a point where we are .500 against Alabama, Georgia, and LSU until we start recruiting like them. 

We are a top 10 recruiting school, no doubt, but the gap between us and the top one or two teams each year is ENORMOUS. 

In 2019, the difference in total points on the 247 class rankings between Alabama (317.50) and Auburn (271.94) is the same between Auburn and Purdue (224.72). 

In 2018, the difference between UGA (323.31) and Auburn (262.77) is the same between Auburn and Vanderbilt (202.04)

In 2017, the difference between LSU (287.66) and Auburn (255.92) is the same between Auburn and Mississippi State (220.22)

That's what we're dealing with before the season ever starts. 

If we want to beat those teams consistently, we are going to have to recruit at a much higher level. 

Given the current status of recruiting, winning 1/3 games vs. those opponents is a reasonable expectation for Auburn. Anything better than .333 vs the big 3 would be exceeding expectations. A .250 record in those games likely arises to the BARE MINIMUM expectation and anything less than that is just plain unacceptable, IMO. 

Currently, Gus is 6-14 vs the big 3, or .300.  If you include Clemson, whose recruiting is comparable to those teams, he's approaching .250. Meanwhile, he's batting .750 vs the rest of the SEC and I think that's a perfectly reasonable record, even including MSU. So overall, I would say that Gus has been meeting MINIMUM expectations at Auburn. 

I'm not looking for Auburn to all the sudden start batting .500 vs those teams given our recruiting. I also don't think that Gus is a bad coach, but I'd rather not get comfortable with a coach whose performance only meets minimum expectations. 

I agree with alot of this, but what is just as lacking is development on the offensive side. Our Defense is arguably the best in the nation under the same recruiting averages, but with actual proven developers of talent in the coaching ranks. The contrast to the offense is night and day. Zero established coaching history. Add that to an offensive HC that is stuck in a system that has been figured out and we get what we've gotten,  destroying the below average teams and being exposed by the good ones. It chaps my hide to hear Gus Harp on execution,  yet we don't have real offensive position coaches to teach sound techniques to remedy the execution bugs we seem to have against the good teams.

[Barnacle 9,064]

2 minutes ago, leglessdan said:

I agree with alot of this, but what is just as lacking is development on the offensive side. Our Defense is arguably the best in the nation under the same recruiting averages, but with actual proven developers of talent in the coaching ranks. The contrast to the offense is night and day. Zero established coaching history. Add that to an offensive HC that is stuck in a system that has been figured out and we get what we've gotten,  destroying the below average teams and being exposed by the good ones. It chaps my hide to hear Gus Harp on execution,  yet we don't have real offensive position coaches to teach sound techniques to remedy the execution bugs we seem to have against the good teams.

Development is definitely key. Recruiting isn't the ultimate predictor of success - mostly because recruiting rankings are imperfect, but it's the best predictor out there. The correlation between the recruiting rankings and the on the field rankings is too obvious to ignore. 

To your point - you can develop great offense and defenses out of the recruits that we have - championship caliber teams. I'll credit Dabo, because it's only been recently that Clemson has landed in that top-5 echelon of recruiting rankings. Their recruiting has been very similar, and sometimes lower ranked than Auburn, and yet he's built an extremely competitive and consistent program. Seeing the kind of recruiting that he's accomplishing now is scary, because he's been able to develop the talent they've had extremely well. Soaring to the top of recruiting will only further solidify Clemson's position among the college football elite. 

The recipe to doing it consistently takes recruiting AND developing at a high level, but you have to have both. In my opinion, we've suffered from poor recruiting and poor coaching on offense this season. Whereas on defense, as you noted, we've recruited and developed extremely well. We absolutely could do better with the talent we have, but also imagine where we would be with a stout offensive line or a more experienced quarterback. 

My point in all of this is to say that if we do decide to move on from Gus, we need to be darn sure to find another coach who we are confident will recruit at the same level or an even higher level than our current staff. If we do that, and also bring in someone who develops that talent, there's no doubt in my mind that we can/will become a consistent 10 win program.