AU Toughest Schedule in the Nation

[aujeff11 6,243]

1 hour ago, McLoofus said:

Sonny Smith, Jeff Lebo... 

One isn’t like the other. 

 

 

[Slammer1 409]

3 hours ago, McLoofus said:

Haha, really? Wow. Okay.

So what does Gus's record in 2013- his first season, with another coach's players, and the tentpole for his 6-year win percentage- tell us about his job performance the last 4 years? What does it tell us about his ability to competently coach this football team in 2019?

What do Pat Dye's and Gene Chizik's overall records tell us about what kind of program we want Auburn to be, and how many games we should hope to win on average year-in, year-out?

Let's have a conversation! 

Well I will respond to your post. Just so you know a little about me, I am a AU grad finally . My first year was 1957, after my freshman year, API as it was known then and because of my brilliant academic record they told me to take some time off and come back when I had grown up. Well I showed them and joined the Marine Corps. Smartest move I ever made. The Marine Corps sent me to Pensacola  and I became a Marine aviator.and sent me to Hawaii for 3 years as my first duty station. Tough break huh? I then went back to Pensacola as a flight instructor and then off to Viet Nam flying medevac helicopters during the Tet Offensive. I managed to survive that and got my wish to transition to jets. That is me about to be launched off  of the USS Independence circa 1970. I was tired of being the "shootee" and wanted to fly something that I could shoot back. Since I didn't have my degree my file went to the bottom of the file when it came time to be promoted and I decided to get out and go back to AU and graduate which I did.  I got a standing ovation when I was presented my diploma in August of 1975, after all in only took me 18 years to graduate. I certainly think I deserved it. A poster on here actually called me delusional and uniformed about one of my posts. I am anything BUT delusional and uniformed.  I am going to retire from the board for the time being. I am a little done with the playground urination contests that go on here.  I might sign on to see what folks are saying but that's all. Can't wait for the Oregon game to see what we've got.  McGoofus , Semper Fi and War Damn Eagle!!  BTW, you have way too much time on your hands considering how much you post on here. Take care.

Slammer, that was my call sign BTW.

[McLoofus 35,182]

2 minutes ago, Slammer1 said:

Well I will respond to your post. Just so you know a little about me, I am a AU grad finally . My first year was 1957, after my freshman year, API as it was known then and because of my brilliant academic record they told me to take some time off and come back when I had grown up. Well I showed them and joined the Marine Corps. Smartest move I ever made. The Marine Corps sent me to Pensacola  and I became a Marine aviator.and sent me to Hawaii for 3 years as my first duty station. Tough break huh? I then went back to Pensacola as a flight instructor and then off to Viet Nam flying medevac helicopters during the Tet Offensive. I managed to survive that and got my wish to transition to jets. That is me about to be launched off  of the USS Independence circa 1970. I was tired of being the "shootee" and wanted to fly something that I could shoot back. Since I didn't have my degree my file went to the bottom of the file when it came time to be promoted and I decided to get out and go back to AU and graduate which I did.  I got a standing ovation when I was presented my diploma in August of 1975, after all in only took me 18 years to graduate. I certainly think I deserved it. A poster on here actually called me delusional and uniformed about one of my posts. I am anything BUT delusional and uniformed.  I am going to retire from the board for the time being. I am a little done with the playground urination contests that go on here.  I might sign on to see what folks are saying but that's all. Can't wait for the Oregon game to see what we've got.  McGoofus , Semper Fi and War Damn Eagle!!  BTW, you have way too much time on your hands considering how much you post on here. Take care.

Slammer, that was my call sing BTW.

Skimmed it looking for something relevant to football, didn't see anything. I'm sure your life story is interesting though. 

Not sure what I did to hurt your feelings, but I hope you find peace. 

[abw0004 10,125]

20 minutes ago, Slammer1 said:

Well I will respond to your post. Just so you know a little about me, I am a AU grad finally . My first year was 1957, after my freshman year, API as it was known then and because of my brilliant academic record they told me to take some time off and come back when I had grown up. Well I showed them and joined the Marine Corps. Smartest move I ever made. The Marine Corps sent me to Pensacola  and I became a Marine aviator.and sent me to Hawaii for 3 years as my first duty station. Tough break huh? I then went back to Pensacola as a flight instructor and then off to Viet Nam flying medevac helicopters during the Tet Offensive. I managed to survive that and got my wish to transition to jets. That is me about to be launched off  of the USS Independence circa 1970. I was tired of being the "shootee" and wanted to fly something that I could shoot back. Since I didn't have my degree my file went to the bottom of the file when it came time to be promoted and I decided to get out and go back to AU and graduate which I did.  I got a standing ovation when I was presented my diploma in August of 1975, after all in only took me 18 years to graduate. I certainly think I deserved it. A poster on here actually called me delusional and uniformed about one of my posts. I am anything BUT delusional and uniformed.  I am going to retire from the board for the time being. I am a little done with the playground urination contests that go on here.  I might sign on to see what folks are saying but that's all. Can't wait for the Oregon game to see what we've got.  McGoofus , Semper Fi and War Damn Eagle!!  BTW, you have way too much time on your hands considering how much you post on here. Take care.

Slammer, that was my call sign BTW.

I wouldn't retire from the forum.  I think someone like you can add valuable contributions.  This forum can be a little political in the sense that some people (including myself) are very entrenched in their views so it is hard to come out of them.  That is where name-calling can happen, although I do not think Loof was trying to be insulting to you.  Usually, he is a very reasonable guy and great to have conversation with.  At this time of the year the board is like this as football isn't happening, thus no new topics can be discussed.  The only real factor in changing peoples minds can be statistics (to a degree) and wins on the field.  Unfortunately we still have 60 more days of waiting!  And thank you for the bio and your service!  

[gr82b4au 5,568]

Amazed how people get so worked up on football boards. It is weird. 

Anyway -  it seems like the schedule will be brutal. We will know in the first 5 games whether or not we are going to be in the championship conversation this year. With our defense and a decent OL, we can make some noise if the QBs play well. 

I think we will take it to Oregon. They may be a top 10 team with a superstar QB, but our defense should pummel that team. At least that is my hope. 

[abw0004 10,125]

9 minutes ago, gr82b4au said:

Amazed how people get so worked up on football boards. It is weird. 

Take that back!

[bigbird 60,560]

What's the difference between this and every other year's schedule? Oregon? Florida? It looks about as difficult as it always does.

[gr82be 14,433]

2 hours ago, Slammer1 said:

I am going to retire from the board for the time being. I am a little done with the playground urination contests that go on here.  I might sign on to see what folks are saying but that's all. Can't wait for the Oregon game to see what we've got.  McGoofus , Semper Fi and War Damn Eagle!!  BTW, you have way too much time on your hands considering how much you post on here. Take care.

Slammer, that was my call sign BTW.

Slammer, first of all thank you for your service from all of us who never served for one reason or another. Your input is as welcomed here as anyone's but if you want to sign off for a while that's your call. It just struck me odd that you referred to playground activity being the cause when you called Loof "McGoofus". That was a bit playground in itself. Hope you do continue to contribute but don't forget that this forum is not only informative but it is also entertainment to many of us. It shouldn't be at the expense of others but that goes for everyone. Some folks get carried away. Just walk away and come back later. 

[Auburnfan91 1,407]

7 hours ago, Slammer1 said:

I totally agree that we have the toughest schedule of any of  the Power 5 leagues. And for all you Gus bashers out there here is a little stat that I looked up. Only two AU coaches post WWII have a better winning percentage than Gus, they are Pat Dye and Terry Bowden. Not Shug Jordan, Tommy Tuberville or Gene Chizik and as I have said in an earlier post Gus is still learning how t be a head coach. For his time at the helm he is way ahead of what the midget across the state accomplished during the same period of time. I think it has finally hit Gus that in order to keep his job he must be the play caller. But just remember he has one hell of row to hoe and let's see how the season progresses and .if he still blows it by making stupid mistakes then a search for a new coach might be warranted. Personally I think we have a great team and I know we will probably  lose a few but let's just see what happens. Ok, just my two cents worth.

WDE

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Auburn_Tigers_head_football_coaches

That link is not up to date. Gus's win percentage is through 2017 before the SEC Championship game. The 2018 season hasn't been added to that page. It says Gus's record is 45-20. That was his record through 2017 before the 2017 SEC Championship game. After 2018, Gus's current record at Auburn is 53-27. Gus's current win percentage is .662. That puts him below Tuberville and Jordan

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gus_Malzahn

 

[Shift 350]

13 hours ago, McLoofus said:

We are all aware of his overall record. We are all aware of what previous coaches did.

Neither are germane to the discussion of whether or not he should be retained. 

The GD Germans ain't got nothing to do with it!!

[AU80cruiser 1,102]

8 hours ago, Auburnfan91 said:

That link is not up to date. Gus's win percentage is through 2017 before the SEC Championship game. The 2018 season hasn't been added to that page. It says Gus's record is 45-20. That was his record through 2017 before the 2017 SEC Championship game. After 2018, Gus's current record at Auburn is 53-27. Gus's current win percentage is .662. That puts him below Tuberville and Jordan

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gus_Malzahn

 

Boom

[DAG 33,993]

13 hours ago, Auburnfan91 said:

That link is not up to date. Gus's win percentage is through 2017 before the SEC Championship game. The 2018 season hasn't been added to that page. It says Gus's record is 45-20. That was his record through 2017 before the 2017 SEC Championship game. After 2018, Gus's current record at Auburn is 53-27. Gus's current win percentage is .662. That puts him below Tuberville and Jordan

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gus_Malzahn

 

This probably won’t get a response. This man talked a lot of crap to run off all of a sudden. The marines I know have no issue handling a little difference of opinion. Maybe my generation actually is tougher lol.

[aujeff11 6,243]

38 minutes ago, DAG said:

This probably won’t get a response. This man talked a lot of crap to run off all of a sudden. The marines I know have no issue handling a little difference of opinion. Maybe my generation actually is tougher lol.

Gus may not have a better winning percentage but he has more wins, more top ten wins, more wins against ranked opponents, despite having a much harder schedule when comparing the first 6 seasons of their resumes. Gus isn’t coaching against Tuberville’s Mississippi State nor Ole Miss nor ALABAMA. Tuberville did a lot for us because he made us relevant back when the modern college football era was kicking off, but come on, he had basically only had to worry about Georgia and LSU. 

As for the rest of your post: Once you kiss your family good bye not knowing how long you will be gone and not knowing if you will ever see them again can you question his toughness. Don’t be so blissfully ignorant. 

[auburnphan 6,050]

1 hour ago, aujeff11 said:

Gus may not have a better winning percentage but he has more wins, more top ten wins, more wins against ranked opponents, despite having a much harder schedule when comparing the first 6 seasons of their resumes. Gus isn’t coaching against Tuberville’s Mississippi State nor Ole Miss nor ALABAMA. Tuberville did a lot for us because he made us relevant back when the modern college football era was kicking off, but come on, he had basically only had to worry about Georgia and LSU. 

As for the rest of your post: Once you kiss your family good bye not knowing how long you will be gone and not knowing if you will ever see them again can you question his toughness. Don’t be so blissfully ignorant. 

Jeff, you never served did you.

[aujeff11 6,243]

21 minutes ago, auburnphan said:

Jeff, you never served did you.

Bet your house on it. 

[auburnphan 6,050]

19 minutes ago, aujeff11 said:

Bet your house on it. 

Then you should know that a single act does not make you tough, but the whole experience can.  That is made clear in boot camp.   Toughness is earned not given to someone who made a choice.

[aujeff11 6,243]

14 minutes ago, auburnphan said:

Then you should know that a single act does not make you tough, but the whole experience can.  That is made clear in boot camp.   Toughness is earned not given to someone who made a choice.

I.went to boot camp and coasted through it with ease. Was already doing  12 mile “battle buddy fun runs” around Tuscaloosa in ROTC before I joined and nothing in hot, sweltering Benning came close to that during basic. 

22 minutes ago, auburnphan said:

Then you should know that a single act does not make you tough

You have everything figured out don’t you? The single act wouldn’t have been near as tough if the whole experience that followed wasn’t attached. The single act was what made you want to be tough enough in bunches so that you could come home to her. You wouldn’t say such ignorant and insensitive things if you saw how torn up my wife was when I had to go. And even though it was one of the toughest things for me to do other than kiss my mom good bye forever, it was even tougher on my wife as I bad to mentally let go of her for a while. All of this despite knowing I was only going to be gone for 9 months to a year. There was no projected come- home date in Vietnam. They were there until they were told they could come home. And when they did come home, they were spat on. Despite having a CIB, couple arcoms, and other pointless crap, I will never compare myself to someone before me. My experience didn’t make me or break me and most assuredly didn’t have to redefine me. I was blessed. Now, I pray you’ve been more than just a civilian your whole life because if not, you need to reconsider the lectures on things you’ve never experienced. 

 

 

[Auburnfan91 1,407]

6 hours ago, aujeff11 said:

Gus may not have a better winning percentage but he has more wins, more top ten wins, more wins against ranked opponents, despite having a much harder schedule when comparing the first 6 seasons of their resumes. Gus isn’t coaching against Tuberville’s Mississippi State nor Ole Miss nor ALABAMA. Tuberville did a lot for us because he made us relevant back when the modern college football era was kicking off, but come on, he had basically only had to worry about Georgia and LSU. 

Gus is also doing less with more. He's definitely recruiting consistently better than Tuberville did. You can't honestly say that we don't have more talent than Miss. State. Yet Gus is 3-3 against them. LSU won 2 NC while Tuberville was HC in 2003(Saban) and 2007(Miles). Since Gus has been HC in 2013, LSU's only had two 10 win seasons yet Gus is 2-4 against LSU. 

Outside of Alabama no team in the SEC has been that great. UGA has only been dominating since 2017. Before 2017, UGA hadn't won an SEC title since 2005.

[aujeff11 6,243]

25 minutes ago, Auburnfan91 said:

Outside of Alabama no team in the SEC has been that great. UGA has only been dominating since 2017. Before 2017, UGA hadn't won an SEC title since 2005.

Georgia had six 10 win seasons from 2001-2008 including 3 Sugar bowl appearances, a 13 win season in 2002 and two 11 win seasons. 

Also, I think you’re brushing off the OOC schedules, and in general, the toughness of the schedules compared to Tuberville or even Dye. I grew up with Tuberville and admired him a lot but let’s call a spade a spade on who had the most difficult task.

25 minutes ago, Auburnfan91 said:

Since Gus has been HC in 2013, LSU's only had two 10 win seasons

So ten win seasons mean something again I see.  Gus should definitely start winning more rivalry games. There’s no doubt about that.

25 minutes ago, Auburnfan91 said:

Gus is also doing less with more. He's definitely recruiting consistently better than Tuberville did

Gus and Tuberville both lost games they shouldn’t have. Mississippi State and Ole Miss have/ were still a long way from Sylvester Croom’s and Houston Nutt’s teams though. Most of their good years have come recently while the rest of this side of the millennium were mostly bad years. Lastly, Gus recruiting better than Tuberville is only because he actually tries to recruit. If Tuberville or Dye or Bowden had Gus’s talent there is no doubt we would have already stringed along several back to back ten win seasons by now. 

 

[Auburnfan91 1,407]

1 minute ago, aujeff11 said:

Georgia had six 10 win seasons from 2001-2008 including 3 Sugar bowl appearances, a 13 win season in 2002 and two 11 win seasons. 

Also, I think you’re brushing off the OOC schedules, and in general, the toughness of the schedules compared to Tuberville or even Dye. I grew up with Tuberville and admired him a lot but let’s call a spade a spade on who had the most difficult task.

So ten win seasons mean something again I see.  Gus should definitely start winning more rivalry games. There’s no doubt about that.

Gus and Tuberville both lost games they shouldn’t have. Mississippi State and Ole Miss have/ were still a long way from Sylvester Croom’s and Houston Nutt’s teams though. Most of their good years have come recently while the rest of this side of the millennium were mostly bad years. Lastly, Gus recruiting better than Tuberville is only because he actually tries to recruit. If Tuberville or Dye or Bowden had Gus’s talent there is no doubt we would have already stringed along several back to back ten win seasons by now. 

 

There's also more money now involved. Back when Tuberville was coaching we would schedule home and home series against non conference opponents. Since 2008, the Chick-Fil-A kickoff game has been around. So there's going to be more "neutral" site kickoff games that we're involved with and less home and home series. This isn't just a Gus having a tough schedule thing. Everyone in the SEC has been scheduling at least 1 major non-conference opponent.(in 2019 Arkansas doesn't play a major non-conference opponent) This would be the case whether Gus was HC or not.

[aujeff11 6,243]

2 minutes ago, Auburnfan91 said:

There's also more money now involved. Back when Tuberville was coaching we would schedule home and home series against non conference opponents. Since 2008, the Chick-Fil-A kickoff game has been around. So there's going to be more "neutral" site kickoff games that we're involved with and less home and home series. This isn't just a Gus having a tough schedule thing. Everyone in the SEC has been scheduling at least 1 major non-conference opponent.(in 2019 Arkansas doesn't play a major non-conference opponent) This would be the case whether Gus was HC or not.

I appreciate your conversation. Yes, Auburn is a tough job REGARDLESS of coach right now. Still, the comparison of winning percentages of our coaches doesn't tell the whole story. 

 Seems like we are still going by the BCS model which heavily factored in SOS.  There is no reason why we should schedule the likes of Clemson, Oregon, and Washington as our OOCs while knowing our rivalry games already include Bama, Georgia, and LSU. Other SEC teams (Bama) are playing Duke, and avoid amen corner altogether. South Carolina’s schedule challenges ours this year but that’s only a fresh development. 

[Auburnfan91 1,407]

3 minutes ago, aujeff11 said:

I appreciate your conversation. Yes, Auburn is a tough job REGARDLESS of coach right now. Still, the comparison of winning percentages of our coaches doesn't tell the whole story. 

 Seems like we are still going by the BCS model which heavily factored in SOS.  There is no reason why we should schedule the likes of Clemson, Oregon, and Washington as our OOCs while knowing our rivalry games already include Bama, Georgia, and LSU. Other SEC teams (Bama) are playing Duke, and avoid amen corner altogether. South Carolina’s schedule challenges ours this year but that’s only a fresh development. 

Remember these non conference games are made 3-4 years in advance. When we scheduled Oregon it was probably 2015 or 2016. In 2016 Oregon has just bottomed out under Helfrich with a 4-8 season. It's just bad timing that we have to play them when they're back on their upswing. Also Washington was mediocre in 2014 and 2015 and then made the CFP in 2016. Again I don't think some on here would be complaining as much if Oregon and Washington were mediocre 7-5 teams we were playing. It's because these teams have gotten better and improved by the time we play them is why some on here don't like it. 

[aujeff11 6,243]

10 minutes ago, Auburnfan91 said:

Remember these non conference games are made 3-4 years in advance. When we scheduled Oregon it was probably 2015 or 2016. In 2016 Oregon has just bottomed out under Helfrich with a 4-8 season. It's just bad timing that we have to play them when they're back on their upswing. Also Washington was mediocre in 2014 and 2015 and then made the CFP in 2016. Again I don't think some on here would be complaining as much if Oregon and Washington were mediocre 7-5 teams we were playing. It's because these teams have gotten better and improved by the time we play them is why some on here don't like it. 

Somehow, we keep perennially hitting and others whiffing then. The years we don’t hit, like against Louisville, we have a reprieve in SOS to 15th or so. 

[Auburn2Eugene 2,317]

You guys who question the big OOC games must be too young to remember 2004. In 2004 we still played Bama, LSU, and UGA. All that happened was we became the first and only SEC team in SEC history to EVER finish undefeated and not have a chance of playing for the national championship.

I for one am glad we are scheduling the likes of Clemson, UDub, and Oregon. I personally dont ever want a 2004 situation to EVER happen again.

Auburn has an extremely tough schedule. Its been that way all of my 40 years on this planet. Anyone who is a coach KNOWS this when they accept the job as Head Coach of Auburn University. Champions use that as proof of their championship caliber... they dont use it as an excuse. 

This this will be year 7 for Gus. The excuse of "he is still learning to be a coach" only takes you so far. Its not purely Ws and Ls that gives people their opinions on/about Gus. Its how we look in the Ls. Its about not looking unprepared. Its about not looking incompetent. Its about not being bested by first year coaches. 

We could do a lot worse than Gus...but to pretend that we should be ok with 8 wins because we are historically an 8 win team is what is wrong. 

[abw0004 10,125]

Not sure if this comment applies to the conversation or not, but I will throw it out there regardless.  Gus Malzahn, is the only coach currently in the SEC to have beaten Nick Saban.  No one in the SEC has ever beaten him more than Gus.  I believe Freeze is the only coach tied with him in wins over Saban, maybe Miles?  Not sure.