Insiders Hearing Anything? (Threads Merged)

[DAG 34,002]

Just now, Barnacle said:

That would be interesting. Do they have history together?

No but they need to start now. This is just my dream. I am thinking if he left, he would probably bring in most of the guys with him he has from Oregon. My thinking is Auburn SHOULD give him more money for coordinators, so we can at the very least upgrade from that standpoint. I think there is some false sense that since Phil Knight is over there, he has an unlimited athletic funding. That is not the case.

[eaglenest 332]

17 minutes ago, DAG said:

I 100 percent agree. I would love to have Mario here. 

leave him right where he is at do not need him gus 2.0

[Viper 3,132]

23 minutes ago, DAG said:

You seem to be big on Mario and fairly objective. I want to ask you, how do you take the recent losses among Cal and Oregon State? I am of the mindset of not breaking the bank for him, but definitely for coordinators.

I wouldn’t say I’m “big” on Mario. Out of all the realistic HCs, I like him best because of the recruiting he’s doing in the NW. He lost the QB that’s now starting in the league. Will give him a pass with a new QB. 

[aucanucktiger 1,796]

3 minutes ago, AUGunsmith said:

This stupid belief that a coaches personal life matters as far as being a quality coach is such horse s***. 

Unless the coach is aggressing upon others or hiding it like jopa or briles did, who cares if they want to be devil worshiping gay polygamist or what have you. 

Coaches should be judged by their coaching ability. 

Sounds like somebody that loves Auburn football more than Auburn University. 

[DAG 34,002]

1 minute ago, Viper said:

I wouldn’t say I’m “big” on Mario. Out of all the realistic HCs, I like him best because of the recruiting he’s doing in the NW. He lost the QB that’s now starting in the league. Will give him a pass with a new QB. 

The new QB is shaky at best. I watched some of the game and he did make a lot of Individual mistakes and bad reads. Chalk that up however you like it.

[AUApostle 7,651]

4 minutes ago, AUGunsmith said:

who cares if they want to be devil worshiping gay polygamist or what have you. 

 

As much as you may want them to, Auburn's simply not hiring a guy that has 2 out of those 3 traits. 

[DAG 34,002]

If you lower your expectations, then you can't be disappointed

 

[creed 1,642]

12 minutes ago, AUGunsmith said:

This stupid belief that a coaches personal life matters as far as being a quality coach is such horse s***. 

Unless the coach is aggressing upon others or hiding it like jopa or briles did, who cares if they want to be devil worshiping gay polygamist or what have you. 

Coaches should be judged by their coaching ability. 

What....strike everything except the last sentence and you're good.

[keesler 5,928]

1 hour ago, Barnacle said:

I'm not sure if you are misunderstanding or not, and this is a conversation with a lot of nuance that will be difficult to have in this format, but I'll try and clarify as best as I can. 

I'm interested in whether Hugh Freeze is penitent. I'm interested in whether he's actually changed, or is actually committed to changing. I'm interested in whether he is genuine about repairing his relationship with his wife and children, or if he's saying and doing the things that potential employers like Auburn would like to see, for the sake of moving up in his profession. I do understand that how she or his children choose to respond to him is their business, but his commitment to earning their forgiveness is paramount. If we think that isn't relevant, or that it isn't any of our (the University's) business, then I don't think we need to interview him. It would be a mistake to hire a man like Hugh Freeze without vetting his home life. 

For better or worse, the University has chosen to embrace and sell the "Auburn Family." We sell family to our alumni and fans. We sell it to our coaches. The coaches sell it to our recruits. Here's the thing about Hugh Freeze - he is a salesman. He is a damn good salesman. He is going to sell the s*** out of the Auburn Family. He's going to bring kids and coaches over to his house. He's going to introduce them to his wife. He's going to introduce them to his children. He's going to prop all of that up to sell the program. 

I want to know if he's selling the truth, or if he's selling a lie. If he's selling the truth - that is, that he really is repentant, and he really is committed to his wife and kids, and he's really committed to changing, then he may be a risk worth taking - even if his wife and kids are still understandably in the process of forgiving him. It just needs to be genuine. 

Everyone on the staff at Ole Miss knew what was going on with Hugh and his escorts. It was not a big secret. Hugh was calling up girls on Friday night, and preaching to the team on Sunday morning. He lost the respect of many on his coaching staff for being such a blatant hypocrite. There were a lot of really angry people on that staff when the scandal came out. If he's not committed to the things that he's going to preach, and Tiger he's going to preach, then he will lose the respect of the staff at Auburn. He may lose the respect of the players, and that will bleed into recruits and recruits' parents. 

Finally, being a head football coach in the SEC is hard enough with a supportive family. Freeze is a man who leans toward recklessness. He was reckless in his recruiting at Ole Miss. He was reckless in his marriage. Why would we consider hiring a man with that type of personality, without first finding out whether he's committed to his support system, and whether those relationships are being repaired. If he's not committed, and that support system falls apart, then you've got a reckless man with no support underneath him. That's dangerous. The embarrassment that Hugh Freeze caused Ole Miss would be nothing like the embarrassment he would cause Auburn if it comes out that he's been caught cheating again - either on his wife, or on the recruiting trail. 

I think the dude is a phenomenal football coach. If he's a changed man - or if he's committed to being a changed man, then he may be a risk worth taking. If he's not, and if it turns out that he's not committed to repairing his relationships at home, then the last thing we need to do is to make him the figurehead of the Auburn Family. It will end in disaster. My .02. 

IIRC Barnacle, your wife is an Ole Miss alumnus????

Did neither of you follow Hugh & Jill's "Road to Redemption Tour" in 2018 with he and Jill crying on TV (ala Jimmy Swaggert) only a few months after OM firing him?  Jill is 100% backing him and so are his kids.  They both toured at Liberty and gave their testimonies which was a boon for the couple, as Liberty ended up hiring him and Hugh took the team to levels never before seen.  

How can anyone at Auburn know what's in a man's heart anyway?  Hugh can spout off anything he wants and he could stand at the pulpit & raise his voice to heaven claiming to be forgiven and a changed man.  At the end of the day, he has a past both in his moral character and his business character which landed OM on severe sanctions they are still reeling from. 

Is Auburn willing to take that risk?  IDK

[bigbird 60,575]

25 minutes ago, Barnacle said:

100%.

Anyone have ideas as to who he would hire/bring with him if he did accept the job at Auburn? Moorhead, Avalos?

No, but I'm sure it would have a heavily southern lean though.

[tigeraddikt 1,616]

I'm late to the party. Have any insiders said that Gus is gone yet?

Really got my hopes up when I saw the thread title.

[Beaker 2,457]

2 hours ago, AUDevil said:

As much as you may want them to, Auburn's simply not hiring a guy that has 2 out of those 3 traits. 

I am out of 'likes' and this made my day.  

 

Thanks - 

And to @DAG for reminding us to lower our expectations. 

Have we vetted the UNT coach Seth Lutrell yet?  Maybe that is who we actually end up with...(not serious)

[BigBlueWDE 1,136]

1 minute ago, tigeraddikt said:

I'm late to the party. Have any insiders said that Gus is gone yet?

Really got my hopes up when I saw the thread title.

tl;dr

Seems to be some movement but nothing will be announced until after the MSU game.

[DAG 34,002]

2 minutes ago, BigBlueWDE said:

tl;dr

Seems to be some movement but nothing will be announced until after the MSU game.

The thing that scares me is if we blow out Miss state and play a perfect game on both sides of the ball, cold feet will be had and another portion of the fanbase will be like "We should wait, look at all we have coming back."

[gr82b4au 5,568]

Well someone just posted on another board that Freeze has a $13 million buyout. If so he is off the table. We can’t pay 21 million and $13 million and then pay the new salaries. Also we would have to pay off the coordinators, right? 

[DAG 34,002]

3 minutes ago, gr82b4au said:

Well someone just posted on another board that Freeze has a $13 million buyout. If so he is off the table. We can’t pay 21 million and $13 million and then pay the new salaries. Also we would have to pay off the coordinators, right? 

Yes cost effectiveness will be key and if he does have a 13 million dollar than you have to weight the cost/benefit. I am honestly starting to feel we are going to go the route of Napier and such tbh...

[ClaytonAU 4,606]

Hello all, I don’t frequent here at all anymore but I’d just like to say that my #1 choice is Mario Cristobal and if we have the chance we should do it ASAP. Thanks and War Damn Eagle. 

[fredst 9,064]

9 minutes ago, DAG said:

The thing that scares me is if we blow out Miss state and play a perfect game on both sides of the ball, cold feet will be had and another portion of the fanbase will be like "We should wait, look at all we have coming back."

.00001% chance of this. Similar chance that you will contract smallpox and this all won’t matter to you

[Barnacle 9,064]

1 minute ago, keesler said:

IIRC Barnacle, your wife is an Ole Miss alumnus????

Did neither of you follow Hugh & Jill's "Road to Redemption Tour" in 2018 with he and Jill crying on TV (ala Jimmy Swaggert) only a few months after OM firing him?  Jill is 100% backing him and so are his kids.  They both toured at Liberty and gave their testimonies which was a boon for the couple, as Liberty ended up hiring him and Hugh took the team to levels never before seen.  

How can anyone at Auburn know what's in a man's heart anyway?  Hugh can spout off anything he wants and he could stand at the pulpit & raise his voice to heaven claiming to be forgiven and a changed man.  At the end of the day, he has a past both in his moral character and his business character which landed OM on severe sanctions they are still reeling from. 

Is Auburn willing to take that risk?  IDK

I'm an Ole Miss alum. Wife went to Auburn. I saw the videos.

The hookers and recruiting violations notwithstanding, I think he's the best coaching prospect available right now. In my mind, he's the clear choice in terms of my confidence in his ability to come here and win. 

All I'm saying is that Auburn needs to vet him. They need to do their own due diligence - not relying on what Hugh and Jill said on a stage at Liberty - and certainly not delegating that duty to Liberty University. They need to reasonably satisfy themselves that this guy is stable, and that he's not going to go embarrass the University with another moral scandal. 

Banging hookers on the recruiting trail isn't the same as some coach getting "trim" on the side. While I find both to be morally reprehensible, engaging sex workers is a much risker behavior that in my mind warrants more scrutiny than someone who had an affair with a co-worker, friend, etc. If Auburn is reasonably satisfied that he has addressed those issues, and that we're not hiring a man who is still in the middle of a crisis, and thus not in a vulnerable position to repeat the same behaviors, then you check the box and move forward. 

That's all I'm saying. I'm not calling for a complete audit of his wife and kids. 

[ellitor 33,111]

5 hours ago, bigbird said:

Napier

Supposedly isn't on the short list.

[ellitor 33,111]

4 hours ago, AUDevil said:

Jay Tate’s Brain Drain episode on the AuburnSports podcast had a caller at the top of the segment that knew his stuff and talked at length about your top 3.  Good stuff.  Podcast was posted on Sunday.

@AUDevilThat's JHead & yes he's pretty good.

[WalkingCarpet 1,379]

9 minutes ago, DAG said:

Yes cost effectiveness will be key and if he does have a 13 million dollar than you have to weight the cost/benefit. I am honestly starting to feel we are going to go the route of Napier and such tbh...

We could do a lot worse than Napier if that's how it shakes out. I want Campbell over pretty much anyone but I understand we might not be able to afford him after we pay off Gus and the staff. 

[DAG 34,002]

2 minutes ago, ellitor said:

Supposedly isn't on the short list.

Give us the shortlist! My apologies if you already did this

[ellitor 33,111]

4 hours ago, bigbird said:

Could you post the link, please

@bigbirdSIAP but here ya go.

 

[ellitor 33,111]

4 hours ago, AuCivilEng1 said:

Gotta add Matt Campbell to that list!

Expected to take the Michigan job when Harbaugh is fired.