Coach Candidates Thread (OP Updated 12/22)

[AUFriction 1,179]

2 hours ago, Cardin Drake said:

Please not Kiffen.  I can't stand him. Anybody else. Not high on Sarkisian, but I can stand him if you put a one strike alcohol clause in his contract.

I think both would be bad choices. Sarkisian wasn't just a drunk, he was also just ineffective as a coach. 

As for Kiffin, a literal twitter troll is not the person we need as the face of Auburn. I don't think he'd fit here culturally anyway. I will literally not watch a game of Auburn football until he's gone if we hire him. 

[Maverick.AU 13,281]

Asking a guy to come to AU that has had struggles with alcohol is really not a good idea.

edit: since some people won’t see it, this is a joke.

[AuCivilEng1 11,012]

1 minute ago, AUFriction said:

I think both would be bad choices. Sarkisian wasn't just a drunk, he was also just ineffective as a coach. 

As for Kiffin, a literal twitter troll is not the person we need as the face of Auburn. I don't think he'd fit here culturally anyway. I will literally not watch a game of Auburn football until he's gone if we hire him. 

Who the hell do you want man. I think I’ve seen you crap on every coach that’s been mentioned on here?

[AuburnTiger4Life 2,225]

1 minute ago, Maverick.AU said:

Asking a guy to come to AU that has had struggles with alcohol is really not a good idea

Don’t we all during Auburn football season 

[AUFriction 1,179]

2 hours ago, aucanucktiger said:

Did something happen in the Miss State game that was a deciding factor in firing Malzahn? If not, why are we forming a search committee the day before early signing day? 

They had to know they were doing it before that game. I'm questioning why they waited. The only justification for firing Gus so late is if they had a strong reason to believe they had someone locked down. If they knew they were going to get rid of him earlier, they should've just done it. Heck, let him finish the year if he wants, but go ahead and tell him so we could get the search underway quicker. This process is being handled so poorly. 

[Maverick.AU 13,281]

1 minute ago, AuburnTiger4Life said:

Don’t we all during Auburn football season 

Exactly my point 😂. Guy does not need to be under that kind of stress lol

[AuCivilEng1 11,012]

Just now, Maverick.AU said:

Asking a guy to come to AU that has had struggles with alcohol is really not a good idea

I’m not a fan of this view. Just because the guy had an alcohol problem, doesn’t mean that he’s incapable of redemption and invaluable as a coach. Sarkisian is a good coach, that’s coached at multiple power 5 schools. And i may be mistaken, but I don’t believe he’s been fired from one for poor performance. He is good enough that the greatest college coach of all time trusted him to be a head coach against their rival with a perfect season on the line. If Auburn thinks it’s too good for a guy that has been the head play caller at Washington, USC, and Alabama, we have become delusional as a fan base.

[Maverick.AU 13,281]

Just now, AuCivilEng1 said:

I’m not a fan of this view. Just because the guy had an alcohol problem, doesn’t mean that he’s incapable of redemption and invaluable as a coach. Sarkisian is a good coach, that’s coached at multiple power 5 schools. And i may be mistaken, but I don’t believe he’s been fired from one for poor performance. He is good enough that the greatest college coach of all time trusted him to be a head coach against their rival with a perfect season on the line. If Auburn thinks it’s too good for a guy that has been the head play caller at Washington, USC, and Alabama, we have become delusional as a fan base.

It was a joke my friend, considering how auburn football drives most of us to drink more than we usually would.

[chizhead 618]

9 minutes ago, AUFriction said:

he was also just ineffective as a coach. 

Stop posting. Ignorance showing

[AuCivilEng1 11,012]

3 minutes ago, Maverick.AU said:

It was a joke my friend, considering how auburn football drives most of us to drink more than we usually would.

Ahh ok. Apologies then. There are people that have used that as an cause why we shouldn’t hire him, and then say we should hire High Freeze. It baffles me. I like Steve Sarkisian as a coach and he seems like a professional who takes pride in his job. Not to mention he’s a hell of a QB coach and god knows that Auburn needs a QB with actual fundamental skills.

[AUFriction 1,179]

13 minutes ago, AuCivilEng1 said:

Who the hell do you want man. I think I’ve seen you crap on every coach that’s been mentioned on here?

I've answered this question several times. I honestly don't see a slam dunk hire available and realistic right now. 

I really like Luke Fickell. I think he seems like a good coach. He's been around elite programs. He also really seems like a players coach. He would be a risk, but I think a relatively low risk. THAT SAID, there's no way we lure him here. He's never coached anywhere not in Ohio. I think, when he moves, it will be to a big 10 school 

Given that we are where we are, my top 2 would be Cristobal and Freeze. I think Cristobal won't get is over the hump (i.e., his records will look like Gus's), but at least we wouldn't go backwards with that hire. For Freeze, I kind of feel the same way. I think there's a little more of a chance for something bad to happen (whether it be he busts here or he gets us into trouble), but I also think there's a slightly better potential for him to actually make us better. 

Behind that, I'd say there's a high probability of us going backwards from Gus in terms of wins. But there's a few coaches that I'd call question marks. I don't know if I think they are good or not yet, and I see them as sort of unproven for success in this kind of program. I'd take a chance on someone like Bill Clark or Napier. Clark knows Alabama high school coaches really well, and I think has a decent chance at recruiting well. For Napier, I've just not seen enough to be blown away. He's had a few good records, but I haven't seen enough sustained success to trust that hire. Still he's familiar enough with the recruiting domain we have, and he at least has good records the last 2 years. 

If it isn't one of these coaches, I think we've made a terrible mistake in trying to replace Gus this year. 

[drewzums343 76]

My top candidates

Freeze- makes the most sense, who cares if he was friends with Gus? He isnt Gus. We would be taking a gamble that he would keep his act together here. His offenses havent stagnated like Gus's have.  High Risk high reward

 

Cristobal- Good recruiter, not clear he wants to leave Oregon. The vibe I got from his statement was that Auburn better be calling soon or else he is signing that extension.

 

Brent Venables- The man has never been a head coach and hes not to keen on leaving clemson but who knows.

 

Steele- If we want to pull an Ed Orgeron. Steeles first stint as a HC was disasterous but so was Orgerons

[Maverick.AU 13,281]

1 minute ago, AuCivilEng1 said:

Ahh ok. Apologies then. There are people that have used that as an cause why we shouldn’t hire him, and then say we should hire High Freeze. It baffles me. I like Steve Sarkisian as a coach and he seems like a professional who takes pride in his job. Not to mention he’s a hell of a QB coach and god knows that Auburn needs a QB with actual fundamental skills.

Definitely not against sark, you should know me better than that 😂. Only person I’m against is Steele lol. I mean we may be the only school that has a “drunk” mascot Twitter page with a. Cult following lol. Plus we all know the stress of auburn football, it was not a dismissal of sark, just a juvenile joke 😂

[IGTBAAT 2]

If a coach isn't a drinker when he arrives on The Plains, he soon will be. Best to hire someone who isn't a light weight and can handle their liquor.

[AuCivilEng1 11,012]

2 minutes ago, AUFriction said:

I've answered this question several times. I 

I really like Luke Fickell. I think he seems like a good coach. He's been around elite programs. He also really seems like a players coach. He would be a risk, but I think a relatively low risk. THAT SAID, there's no way we lure him here. He's never coached anywhere not in Ohio. I think, when he moves, it will be to a big 10 school 

Given that we are where we are, my top 2 would be Cristobal and Freeze. I think Cristobal won't get is over the hump (i.e., his records will look like Gus's), but at least we wouldn't go backwards with that hire. For Freeze, I kind of feel the same way. I think there's a little more of a chance for something bad to happen (whether it be he busts here or he gets us into trouble), but I also think there's a slightly better potential for him to actually make us better. 

Behind that, I'd say there's a high probability of us going backwards from Gus in terms of wins. But there's a few coaches that I'd call question marks. I don't know if I think they are good or not yet, and I see them as sort of unproven for success in this kind of program. I'd take a chance on someone like Bill Clark or Napier. Clark knows Alabama high school coaches really well, and I think has a decent chance at recruiting well. For Napier, I've just not seen enough to be blown away. He's had a few good records, but I haven't seen enough sustained success to trust that hire. Still he's familiar enough with the recruiting domain we have, and he at least has good records the last 2 years. 

If it isn't one of these coaches, I think we've made a terrible mistake in trying to replace Gus this year. 

Those are good reasons, but how can you think Fickell is worth a hire, but Sark isn’t. Sarks been around top programs and coached in the NFL. 

[AuCivilEng1 11,012]

2 minutes ago, Maverick.AU said:

Definitely not against sark, you should know me better than that 😂. Only person I’m against is Steele lol. I mean we may be the only school that has a “drunk” mascot Twitter page with a. Cult following lol. Plus we all know the stress of auburn football, it was not a dismissal of sark, just a juvenile joke 😂

I got what you meant now. Lol

[Farmer Brown 2,391]

5 minutes ago, AUFriction said:

I've answered this question several times. I honestly don't see a slam dunk hire available and realistic right now. 

I really like Luke Fickell. I think he seems like a good coach. He's been around elite programs. He also really seems like a players coach. He would be a risk, but I think a relatively low risk. THAT SAID, there's no way we lure him here. He's never coached anywhere not in Ohio. I think, when he moves, it will be to a big 10 school 

Given that we are where we are, my top 2 would be Cristobal and Freeze. I think Cristobal won't get is over the hump (i.e., his records will look like Gus's), but at least we wouldn't go backwards with that hire. For Freeze, I kind of feel the same way. I think there's a little more of a chance for something bad to happen (whether it be he busts here or he gets us into trouble), but I also think there's a slightly better potential for him to actually make us better. 

Behind that, I'd say there's a high probability of us going backwards from Gus in terms of wins. But there's a few coaches that I'd call question marks. I don't know if I think they are good or not yet, and I see them as sort of unproven for success in this kind of program. I'd take a chance on someone like Bill Clark or Napier. Clark knows Alabama high school coaches really well, and I think has a decent chance at recruiting well. For Napier, I've just not seen enough to be blown away. He's had a few good records, but I haven't seen enough sustained success to trust that hire. Still he's familiar enough with the recruiting domain we have, and he at least has good records the last 2 years. 

If it isn't one of these coaches, I think we've made a terrible mistake in trying to replace Gus this year. 

You have a perfect name. 

[drewzums343 76]

Allegedly Allen Greene has reservations about Freeze

[Swamp Eagle 5,144]

20 minutes ago, AUFriction said:

I think both would be bad choices. Sarkisian wasn't just a drunk, he was also just ineffective as a coach. 

As for Kiffin, a literal twitter troll is not the person we need as the face of Auburn. I don't think he'd fit here culturally anyway. I will literally not watch a game of Auburn football until he's gone if we hire him. 

Let me guess...you’re a Chairman of the Deacons...

[Maverick.AU 13,281]

1 minute ago, drewzums343 said:

Allegedly Allen Greene has reservations about Freeze

Well Jboy said that it was said to the SEC schools by the conference “you can hire freeze but the ncaa is gonna run through your program with a fine tooth comb” 

[AUFriction 1,179]

1 minute ago, drewzums343 said:

My top candidates

Freeze- makes the most sense, who cares if he was friends with Gus? He isnt Gus. We would be taking a gamble that he would keep his act together here. His offenses havent stagnated like Gus's have.  High Risk high reward

 

Cristobal- Good recruiter, not clear he wants to leave Oregon. The vibe I got from his statement was that Auburn better be calling soon or else he is signing that extension.

 

Brent Venables- The man has never been a head coach and hes not to keen on leaving clemson but who knows.

 

Steele- If we want to pull an Ed Orgeron. Steeles first stint as a HC was disasterous but so was Orgerons

This is just a hunch, but I think Venables would be a bad hire. He has been at Clemson a while, but he's interviewed for other jobs. He's just never been offered. I see it as a sign that he'd be best to stay at DC. Not every good coordinator has what it takes to be a good HC. 

I feel similarly about Steele. It was a long time ago, but he was really really bad the last time he was a head coach. Plus, why get rid of Gus just to hire someone from his staff, especially with the buyout where it was. With the Orgeron situation, there was a huge difference. Orgeron auditioned for his job (twice actually). He was interim coach for about 1/2 of the LSU season and did a good job. He had the same thing happen when he was at USC. He led a team that started off with a losing record to a decent finish. There was evidence that he'd improved as a coach. We don't have that with Steele. 

[AuCivilEng1 11,012]

Just now, drewzums343 said:

Allegedly Allen Greene has reservations about Freeze

I have a theory that Freeze, even though I’m not a huge fan of him, would possibly be the safest hire as far as NCAA violations go. That guys walking on eggshells now. He knows he ain’t getting away with anything. 
 

The problem with that, is he isn’t going to be able to pull off the mild cheating all the programs do. So we’d be the cleanest team in the country, and subsequently probably the worst, because we can’t cheat. Lol

[Auburnteacher 0]

On 12/13/2020 at 3:59 PM, tigerman1186 said:

I say...go after the following in this order.....1. Coach Saban 2. Coach Dabo S. 3. Coach Meyer 4. Coach Smart ....by then we should have our next coach out of this group...

Don’t forget about bill bellichek bill, parcels, Bobby knight,bill walsh, and Pat dye

[The Freak 2,528]

13 minutes ago, chizhead said:

Stop posting. Ignorance showing

Sark was a 7 win coach at Washington and USC.  What magic sauce does he have now that will improve on that?

[Maverick.AU 13,281]

Just now, AUFriction said:

This is just a hunch, but I think Venables would be a bad hire. He has been at Clemson a while, but he's interviewed for other jobs. He's just never been offered. I see it as a sign that he'd be best to stay at DC. Not every good coordinator has what it takes to be a good HC. 

I feel similarly about Steele. It was a long time ago, but he was really really bad the last time he was a head coach. Plus, why get rid of Gus just to hire someone from his staff, especially with the buyout where it was. With the Orgeron situation, there was a huge difference. Orgeron auditioned for his job (twice actually). He was interim coach for about 1/2 of the LSU season and did a good job. He had the same thing happen when he was at USC. He led a team that started off with a losing record to a decent finish. There was evidence that he'd improved as a coach. We don't have that with Steele. 

Venables has skeletons in the closet, and that’s been the tale for years (by people in the know)