Very high odds Malzahn will not be Auburn’s coach in 2020

#51
#51
DiderotsGhost said:
Auburn has the weirdest luck of any football program.

The worst coach they've hired in the past 40 years is the one who won a national title (Gene Chizik). And the 2nd worst coach might've won a national title if they hadn't been on probation (Terry Bowden).

They tend to pull off miracles just when everyone thinks they'll fire their coach (see 2005 and 2017). They only coaches to not have at least 1 undefeated season since 1981 are probably their 2 best coaches in that time frame (Pat Dye and Gus Malzahn). It's a program that doesn't make any logical sense.

Though, I think the real secret to this mystery is that their 2 best coaches happened to coach at a time when Alabama was great. Pat Dye coached against Gene Stallings and Malzahn has been forced to coach against Nick Saban. And Auburn, no matter what they do, is always 2nd in the state of Alabama. When Bama is good, Auburn is never going to win the top recruits in the state.

Ultimately, this is Malzahn's real problem. I think he's a very good coach but he's never going to get Auburn above Nick Saban's Bama no matter how good he is.
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It’s also a program that has a rich history of cheating
 
#53
#53
Watching AU-Samford....I know its early...but I see no indication that AU has any chance of beating the Gumps next week. Their offense is a felony.
 
#54
#54
VOL_Lyfe said:
"90% of programs don't cheat. The other 10% are ranked."
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yeah there’s cheating. But then there’s Auburn Cheating. The Barners are Pros. You don’t think Those offering plates getting passed around on Sundays only go to the churches do you?
 
#55
#55
RDU VOL#14 said:
yeah there’s cheating. But then there’s Auburn Cheating. The Barners are Pros. You don’t think Those offering plates getting passed around on Sundays only go to the churches do you?
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I have no idea, I know nothing about Aubarn. Was just a quote I read somewhere.
 
#56
#56
Maybe they should bring in Freeze and try to keep defensive staff in place. Just throwing out ideas.
 
#57
#57
Aesius said:
Auburn would be dumb to fire him, and Gus would be dumb to stay, because eventually he WILL get fired. He's on a perpetual hot seat. He needs to reset his clock at Arkansas. A win over Bama would be the perfect way to cap his career on the Plains and start over somewhere else. He would basically be unfireable for about 5 years at Arkansas given their roster and his previous results. They would give him time to go to work.
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A lot of people have forgotten Malzahn was a good high school coach in Arkansas. He had this all world QB that everyone in college football wanted, a wonderkid by the name of ... wait for it ... Mitch Mustain. Mustain was adamant that Malzahn be on the staff of any college he attended. Houston Nutt was the Arkansas coach, he signed Mustain and Malzahn to his staff. They had success Mustain's freshman year at Arkansas. Except Malzahn was hired by Tulsa in the offseason away from Arkansas. Mitch felt some sort of way, asked Nutt for a transfer to another school and ended up at USC. The rest is history. Who has risen from that point you may ask?
 
#58
#58
DiderotsGhost said:
Auburn has the weirdest luck of any football program.

The worst coach they've hired in the past 40 years is the one who won a national title (Gene Chizik). And the 2nd worst coach might've won a national title if they hadn't been on probation (Terry Bowden).

They tend to pull off miracles just when everyone thinks they'll fire their coach (see 2005 and 2017). They only coaches to not have at least 1 undefeated season since 1981 are probably their 2 best coaches in that time frame (Pat Dye and Gus Malzahn). It's a program that doesn't make any logical sense.

Though, I think the real secret to this mystery is that their 2 best coaches happened to coach at a time when Alabama was great. Pat Dye coached against Gene Stallings and Malzahn has been forced to coach against Nick Saban. And Auburn, no matter what they do, is always 2nd in the state of Alabama. When Bama is good, Auburn is never going to win the top recruits in the state.

Ultimately, this is Malzahn's real problem. I think he's a very good coach but he's never going to get Auburn above Nick Saban's Bama no matter how good he is.
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Thing is, they don't have to. Auburn goes head to head with Georgia perhaps more than they do Alabama in terms of recruiting. There's a good, but not gigantic, amount of in-state talent in Alabama. It isn't as rich in talent as a state like Georgia, Florida, or Louisiana.
 
#59
#59
UTK said:
Auburn needs to just learn they're Auburn and accept 9 wins as a fantastic season
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You can make that same statement about Tennessee. "Y'all play Florida, Georgia, and Alabama every year...just accept 9-3/10-2 and a Citrus Bowl berth as a fantastic season." But I have a feeling as a Vol you wouldn't accept that. I'm perfectly willing to accept 9-3/10-2 as a good season for Tennessee, but not as the absolute highest high the program can ever reach.

I get why Auburn fans are frustrated, particularly this year. They have a fantastic defense, probably the best in the SEC (either them or Georgia) but it is being wasted because their offense sucks. It's doubly frustrating because Gus's calling card supposedly is offense.
 
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#60
#60
508mikey said:
left out the 2004 Tuberville undefeated team ( some Auburn fans claim the NC that year since USC vacated )
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Tubs was a da— good coach in those days. Like Fulmer, the game probably passed him by and he treaded water before he hung it up, but he was always tough at Auburn.
 
#61
#61
05_never_again said:
You can make that same statement about Tennessee. "Y'all play Florida, Georgia, and Alabama every year...just accept 9-3/10-2 and a Citrus Bowl berth as a fantastic season." But I have a feeling as a Vol you wouldn't accept that. I'm perfectly willing to accept 9-3/10-2 as a good season for Tennessee, but not as the absolute highest high the program can ever reach.

I get why Auburn fans are frustrated, particularly this year. They have a fantastic defense, probably the best in the SEC (either them or Georgia) but it is being wasted because their offense sucks. It's doubly frustrating because Gus's calling card supposedly is offense.
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You really think their offense "sucks"? I mean, they have a true freshman QB, and their 'worst loss' is by 11 to Florida, which was their lowest scoring game of the season at 13.

auburn2019.png
 
#62
#62
BeardedVol said:
You really think their offense "sucks"? I mean, they have a true freshman QB, and their 'worst loss' is by 11 to Florida, which was their lowest scoring game of the season at 13.

auburn2019.png
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Yes, their offense sucks. 24 against Tulane, 20 against to Ole Miss, and they've basically been totally shut down against any good defense they've played.
 
#63
#63
05_never_again said:
Yes, their offense sucks. 24 against Tulane, 20 against to Ole Miss, and they've basically been totally shut down against any good defense they've played.
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Auburn fumbled the ball like 4 times in that game, and it was Nix's 2nd college game of his career as a freshman. A bit ridiculous to characterize their entire 2019 offense off of the second game of the season.
 
#64
#64
BeardedVol said:
Auburn fumbled the ball like 4 times in that game, and it was Nix's 2nd college game of his career as a freshman. A bit ridiculous to characterize their entire 2019 offense off of the second game of the season.
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I'm not characterizing it off of any game in particular. The offense's entire body of work hasn't been impressive. I get that their offense (and Nix in particular) has looked the worst against the better defenses they've played, but Gus is supposedly this offensive guru. His main value-add as a coach is supposedly offense, and if Auburn had just a pretty good offense this year they very well could be undefeated right now.

"But Bo Nix is a true freshman" doesn't absolve Gus. If Gus is struggling because a true freshman is his best option at QB, then that's on him for having a lack of depth at that position. I don't really think that's an ideal situation no matter how talented or highly recruited the kid was, not in the SEC anyway. Plus we all knew that Gus has never really proven an ability to recruit and develop a QB anyway. He's gotten his best QB play from transfers who actually play worse in their second years in his offense. It's a very curious phenomenon with him.
 
#65
#65
05_never_again said:
I'm not characterizing it off of any game in particular. The offense's entire body of work hasn't been impressive. I get that their offense (and Nix in particular) has looked the worst against the better defenses they've played, but Gus is supposedly this offensive guru. His main value-add as a coach is supposedly offense, and if Auburn had just a pretty good offense this year they very well could be undefeated right now.

"But Bo Nix is a true freshman" doesn't absolve Gus. If Gus is struggling because a true freshman is his best option at QB, then that's on him for having a lack of depth at that position. I don't really think that's an ideal situation no matter how talented or highly recruited the kid was, not in the SEC anyway. Plus we all knew that Gus has never really proven an ability to recruit and develop a QB anyway. He's gotten his best QB play from transfers who actually play worse in their second years in his offense. It's a very curious phenomenon with him.
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You're not really taking into account their opponents' defenses in your assessment. They scored 27 on Oregon who is 12 in OPPG allowed, with 18. Florida's defense is only allowing 17 PPG. Georgia's defense is number one in the country in only allowing 10 PPG, and Auburn scored 14. You could argue that the offense's "worst" showing statistically was in their loss to LSU since they only scored 20 and LSU has averaged giving up 24 PPG, and Auburn was in that game with a chance to win till the very end.

It's ignorant to just say "their offense sucks" without taking the entire picture into consideration.
 
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#66
#66
BeardedVol said:
You're not really taking into account their opponents' defenses in your assessment. They scored 27 on Oregon who is 12 in OPPG allowed, with 18. Florida's defense is only allowing 17 PPG. Georgia's defense is number one in the country in only allowing 10 PPG, and Auburn scored 14. You could argue that the offense's "worst" showing statistically was in their loss to LSU since they only scored 20 and LSU has averaged giving up 24 PPG, and Auburn was in that game with a chance to win till the very end.

It's ignorant to just say "their offense sucks" without taking the entire picture into consideration.
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Ole Miss and Tulane were also pretty pitiful. I conceded that their offense struggled the most against top defenses, but it should be looked at in light of Gus's reputation as an offensive guru. If your offense is routinely shut down by quality defenses and you also have some poor showings against bad defenses, that isn't a very good offense. Their best offensive showing all year was the second half against Oregon.
 
#67
#67
05_never_again said:
Ole Miss and Tulane were also pretty pitiful. I conceded that their offense struggled the most against top defenses, but it should be looked at in light of Gus's reputation as an offensive guru. If your offense is routinely shut down by quality defenses and you also have some poor showings against bad defenses, that isn't a very good offense. Their best offensive showing all year was the second half against Oregon.
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And Memphis only managed to score 15 against terrible Ole' Miss. Does Memphis' offense "suck" because in their first game they only scored 15 against a crappy SEC team? Take a step back, and look at Auburn's situation as a whole, they have a true freshman QB, and literally 50% of their schedule is comprised of top 25 teams. Pinning their offense as a "success" or not on one or two games is ridiculous considering the reality of their schedule and their QB situation.
 
#68
#68
BeardedVol said:
And Memphis only managed to score 15 against terrible Ole' Miss. Does Memphis' offense "suck" because in their first game they only scored 15 against a crappy SEC team? Take a step back, and look at Auburn's situation as a whole, they have a true freshman QB, and literally 50% of their schedule is comprised of top 25 teams. Pinning their offense as a "success" or not on one or two games is ridiculous considering the reality of their schedule and their QB situation.
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I don't know why you keep suggesting I'm focusing on just one or two games in making this claim. Their offense didn't show up against Tulane, Florida, LSU, Ole Miss, and Georgia. Their biggest offensive outputs have been against really shi**y defenses. I get that 2 of their games were against great defenses, but Gus is supposed to be a great offensive mind to counter that. In a couple of their better offensive performances, Oregon and Texas A&M, they didn't bring it for anywhere near 60 minutes. Their offense overall, over the balance of this season, has simply been not very good. It's the difference between them being 8-3 and potentially 11-0. Their defense has played well enough to win every game.

Auburn isn't having to play a true freshman QB at random or because that's the hand they happened to be dealt. Gus is ultimately responsible for the composition and depth of that position group. That sounds like people who tried to absolve Harbaugh of blame for their offensive woes because "he didn't have a QB." He's ultimately responsible for the fact they don't have one, is he not? I think most teams, unless they are in the midst of a rebuild, don't seek out the chance to start a true freshman QB.
 
#69
#69
05_never_again said:
I don't know why you keep suggesting I'm focusing on just one or two games in making this claim. Their offense didn't show up against Tulane, Florida, LSU, Ole Miss, and Georgia. Their biggest offensive outputs have been against really shi**y defenses. I get that 2 of their games were against great defenses, but Gus is supposed to be a great offensive mind to counter that. In a couple of their better offensive performances, Oregon and Texas A&M, they didn't bring it for anywhere near 60 minutes. Their offense overall, over the balance of this season, has simply been not very good. It's the difference between them being 8-3 and potentially 11-0. Their defense has played well enough to win every game.

Auburn isn't having to play a true freshman QB at random or because that's the hand they happened to be dealt. Gus is ultimately responsible for the composition and depth of that position group. That sounds like people who tried to absolve Harbaugh of blame for their offensive woes because "he didn't have a QB." He's ultimately responsible for the fact they don't have one, is he not? I think most teams, unless they are in the midst of a rebuild, don't seek out the chance to start a true freshman QB.
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Because you keep bringing up Tulane and Ole Miss. They put up big numbers against teams with crap defenses, and less against the rest of their schedule because literally 6 of their 12 opponents are in the top 25. Georgia is #1 in points allowed, at 10.1, Florida is #10 at 17.3, Oregon is #12 at 17.6, TA&M is #27 at 21.9, and LSU is #40 at only 24.4 points a game, and of course they play Alabama Saturday who is sitting at #11. You are expecting consistent miracle play from a true freshman QB against some of the best defenses in the country, and pretending that every defense he is going against is Tulane or Ole' Miss level.
 
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