Auburn fired Gus Malzahn too quickly

[DAG 34,034]

1 minute ago, e808 said:

The counter to that u still paying him and paying someone else with mediocre results at the moment. Hindsight is a mug but I am just saying. Maybe use the money saved to lure a better coach. If Harsin don’t get his act together might be looking at another change in 3 or 4 years. For the record I am not going down the fire him rabbit hole just gonna say he was on OJT. Now he should have a better grasp of what’s required 

Yes you are right. We should've not played it safe. However, CGM was not getting done and there was no reason to keep him here any further. His recruiting was tanking and he still was just giving us above average results for a top tier coach. Just because CBH is disappointing does not equate to keeping the prior disappointment. 

[Barnacle 9,064]

54 minutes ago, cole256 said:

I screamed we should get Kirby and I was hit with me wasn't a good coach. 

Ugh. What a miserable argument. 

[SRBautigerfan 1,040]

26 minutes ago, DAG said:

This is one of the major problems right here, respectively. 

I know..  what does even mean?  Sweater vest?  No cussing?  The gosh golly good feeling knowing at least we don't cheat while we slowly morph into Vanderbilt??  

[DAG 34,034]

1 hour ago, cole256 said:

screamed we should get Kirby and I was hit with me wasn't a good coach.

I also love the whole " He is not a good coach, he just gets great players."

Uh duh. Part of being a great coach is also have great players. Do you see Gregg Popovich winning NBA titles right now? 

[Viper 3,139]

3 minutes ago, DAG said:

I don't think AU would do that either, but that is why we are in the predicament we are in. Everyone knows I absolutely wanted Freeze as a HC here and then Napier as second tier. If that makes me a horrible fan, then so be it, but I believe I understand the tea leaves of how to be successful in this era of college football. 

Napier I was content with. Not a snowball’s chance w Freeze. As an OC, sure.

I wanted Mario. He was the only realistic candidate that 100% guaranteed would have competed with dink & kirbs for 4/5-star recruits.

Recruiting is all that matters, specifically on the OL and DL. We have been learning that the hard way for years.

[DAG 34,034]

1 minute ago, Viper said:

Napier I was content with. Not a snowball’s chance w Freeze. As an OC, sure.

I wanted Mario. He was the only realistic candidate that 100% guaranteed would have competed with dink & kirbs for 4/5-star recruits.

Recruiting is all that matters, specifically on the OL and DL. We have been learning that the hard way for years.

I gave people a hard time with Mario but at this point I really regret not getting him . I think he is very mark Richt, but at this point I would jump , hop, skip for those results 

Edited November 23, 2021 by DAG

[oracle79 3,569]

TLDR. Lock this stupid crap.

[Viper 3,139]

16 minutes ago, woodford said:

Agreed. Wish they would’ve got the snap off with a second left. Who knows who we would’ve hired for 17 (Jimbo? He was having issues at FSU by then IIRC) but it’s safe to say we might be more stable today. 

That will always be the big question. Who else was realistically available in early 2017?

Jimbo had been-there, done-that w AU. Jimbo & AU had a mutual dislike for one another. He wasn’t liked by most of us, esp after complaining about our linemen being illegally 3+ yards downfield (they were legally less than 3 yards) on the Coates TD in the 2013 IB.

Edited November 23, 2021 by Viper

[Potatooooooes!! 1,375]

59 minutes ago, bigbird said:

WHAT!!?!?!

How you could seriously type that is beyond me. That was exactly what he was and did routinely.

Gus had like three plays: screens, run it up the middle, and 30 yard bombs. And Gus usually only ran it up the middle on first and second down. With Gus we were luck if we got to 4th and 1

[auburnphan 6,050]

Dumbest thread of the year, but not surprised at all by who posted it.

[Hank2020 3,223]

36 minutes ago, SRBautigerfan said:

I know..  what does even mean?  Sweater vest?  No cussing?  The gosh golly good feeling knowing at least we don't cheat while we slowly morph into Vanderbilt??  

I applaud the no cussing and the fact he never embarrassed or got us in trouble. But have to be successful also. It’s what we hire coaches for. Surely we will not spend he next 3-4 years talking about a replacement. Give him some support.

[SumterAubie 3,033]

1 hour ago, AU9377 said:

I didn't base that on that one game.  We have 8 years worth to know that Gus ran the ball more often than not and that he would have never attempted an idiotic pass 30 yards down the field on 4th and 1 with Tank sitting on the sidelines.  He did plenty of stupid, but that isn't one of them.

 

1 hour ago, bigbird said:

WHAT!!?!?!

How you could seriously type that is beyond me. That was exactly what he was and did routinely.

Check this beauty out. From 2009. Let's don't run it on 3 and4 to set up 4th and short. Let's call this puppy in from the sidelines. LSU will never see it coming. I'm a genius.

 

[AU9377 5,134]

1 hour ago, bigbird said:

WHAT!!?!?!

How you could seriously type that is beyond me. That was exactly what he was and did routinely.

Not in that situation. Would he have thrown a screen?  Possibly, but not a home run ball like that.  There is no doubt in my mind that we would have won that game Saturday.  It would have been close, but we would have left there with the W.  He frustrated me as well at times, but you don't win 8 games or more in the SEC being a total idiot.

[AU9377 5,134]

9 minutes ago, SumterAubie said:

 

Check this beauty out. From 2009. Let's don't run it on 3 and4 to set up 4th and short. Let's call this puppy in from the sidelines. LSU will never see it coming. I'm a genius.

 

No argument from me, but at least it wasn't 4th and less than a yard. At least there were also plays like the one below.

 

Edited November 23, 2021 by AU9377

[woodford 3,677]

9 minutes ago, SumterAubie said:

 

Check this beauty out. From 2009. Let's don't run it on 3 and4 to set up 4th and short. Let's call this puppy in from the sidelines. LSU will never see it coming. I'm a genius.

 

That was an ass kicking. I hated watching that game. 

[AU9377 5,134]

Anyone claiming that Tater tot, Tubs, Chizik, or Malzahn were failures at Auburn are lost in space.  They ran out of steam, some quicker than others and for various reasons, but they each had remarkable success at Auburn during their tenure.  We don't have to act like children on a playground and huff and puff while we whine and rewrite history.

[SumterAubie 3,033]

6 minutes ago, woodford said:

That was an ass kicking. I hated watching that game. 

I was there. With my son. I told him before this play we have 2 downs here to get a first. After that play call, we looked at each like wtf call was that!

[auburnphan 6,050]

Gus would have never had the balls to go for it in that situation.

Also our recruiting momentum was horrid last year under Gus, quite frankly what Harsin's staff was able to do in the modern era of most classes being completely signed in December was nothing short of amazing.

They have been hitting the 23 class hard and going after all the elite talent, can not ask for much more than that at this point.  Just need a couple of them big ones to commit.

[AU9377 5,134]

37 minutes ago, auburnphan said:

Gus would have never had the balls to go for it in that situation.

Also our recruiting momentum was horrid last year under Gus, quite frankly what Harsin's staff was able to do in the modern era of most classes being completely signed in December was nothing short of amazing.

They have been hitting the 23 class hard and going after all the elite talent, can not ask for much more than that at this point.  Just need a couple of them big ones to commit.

Why do you think that recruiting momentum was horrid?  Could it be due to the fact that he was being undermined from within? Was the constant topic of hot seat speculation?  Is there any reason to believe that the class would have been better but for that?  YES  Why?  Because the 2020 class was ranked #7 in the nation.  We can atleast tell the truth when we discuss something.

This class is all on Harsin/Bobo etc.  It has nothing to do with other coaches.  They have been here a year.

Edited November 23, 2021 by AU9377

[bigbird 60,580]

1 hour ago, AU9377 said:

Possibly, but not a home run ball like that.

He's literally did that exact same thing many times the last 8 years. 

 

3rd and < 2 = statue of liberty, sugar huddle toss left, or wildcat off tackle rt

3rd and 10+ = draw/bubble/IZ 

 

[bigbird 60,580]

1 hour ago, Potatooooooes!! said:

Gus had like three plays: screens, run it up the middle, and 30 yard bombs. And Gus usually only ran it up the middle on first and second down. With Gus we were luck if we got to 4th and 1

[bigbird 60,580]

1 hour ago, SumterAubie said:

I was there. With my son. I told him before this play we have 2 downs here to get a first. After that play call, we looked at each like wtf call was that!

Been there so many times with mine too. 

 

Our favorite phrase..."but, Gus"

[ChristoThor 70]

I understand that we are upset with this season. It has been frustrating these past few weeks, but I don't understand why people are calling out losing a 25 point lead as if Gus would never do that. We let LSU comeback in 2017. I know that 2017 was a wild year for us with some major wins. You can't forget that even on a year we beat both Georgia and Alabama Gus still led us to lose at LSU. I understand that it is not the same exact situation. That being said he lost a 21 point lead when he had already been the head coach for at least 4 years. Harsin lost in his first year with a new offense and defense being built. This isn't to say that the loss to Miss St is acceptable, but to overlook Gus' flaws to make a judgement against Harsin is laughable to me.

Gus was clearly not going to help Auburn progress so there was no point in keeping him another year. If we kept him this year and then got rid of him we would be fighting LSU, Florida, and USC for a head coach. We will be in the same position if we try to get rid of Harsin this year. Harsin is in a position where he really needs to show us that he can help grow Auburn football and he isn't going to get a lot of leeway the next few years, but we can't make a snap judgement from a few games in his first season alone. 

[twilli13 600]

6 hours ago, DAG said:

Actually Kirby smart is one of the best defensive minds in the game. To argue otherwise just seems bias. He also is a great recruiter. He is a shark. So yes , this is what makes him special and it’s not many special coaches out there. 

I will say I freaking hate the guy, but hes an awesome defensive coach. His defensive players consistently perform at an elite level. He gets top guys, but the coaching is also top notch. Hence what you see right now with them.

[twilli13 600]

My opinion is it doesn't have to be one or the other....it could have been time to let Gus go and Harsin can still be a bad hire. Gus needed to go...the program was stale and stagnant with him. I will say you only fire a guy if you can get a better guy and Auburn almost always goes with the unproven candidate. Tuberville was probably as close to a proven candidate as we had, but even hadn't proven he could win in the SEC at an elite level. Unfortunately, there's really very little truly proven elite coaches, hence why the administration has a huge responsibility in accurately projecting success. We always have the benefit of hindsight, but based on results, our admin has seemed to consistently get it wrong to produce long-term success (mostly expressed by the fact we've only had back to back 10 win years ONCE EVER).