Auburn fires Gus Malzahn

Really hard to predict how a Boise coach will do elsewhere. He won a lot of games there, but so did Dan Hawkins. And as good as they've been, they've clearly declined since Peterson's tenure. The chances of us hiring him were slim to none to begin with, but I'm glad he's off the board tbh.

8 hours ago, texifornia said:

Wow there's trashy and then there's whatever that whole vibe is. Idaho trashy I guess.

5 hours ago, Alien Octopus said:

Harsin will kill it there. I do not get the negativity on this hire. His motion offense and trickeration is exactly what AU needs to deal with the superior defenses they face, he should attract superior skill players.

They already had that with Malzahn.  This move ultimately seems like a nothingburger to me.  They spent 25 million to to extend essentially what they had for 5 years.

14 minutes ago, ClubWhatever said:

They already had that with Malzahn.  This move ultimately seems like a nothingburger to me.  They spent 25 million to to extend essentially what they had for 5 years.

Even worse. They spent 25 million to hire their 5th choice after being publicly turned down by the 1st four choices and having their boosters attempt to take over the program exposed. I hope this works out for Harsin, he seems like a good dude, but this program is toxic.

21 hours ago, Huckleberry said:

As mentioned above, because they are apparently trying to control staff hires to the point that they want the new coach to keep Steele at DC.

While people around here whine all the time, what's happening at Auburn right now is a real clusterfuck. One faction was trying to basically perform a hostile takeover with Steele as head coach. The same Kevin Steele who is a laughingstock from his previous head coaching stop. Including the famous UNLV game. He was a new head coach, the team was coming off back-to-back 2-9 seasons, they had barely lost in overtime in their first game to a P5 team on the road at Boston College because their kicker missed an extra point. Coming off of all that losing and heartbreak all he had to do was kneel to give his team a win in their home opener. A 99-yard fumble return later they lost and went on to finish 1-10.

That is the guy that a booster group is trying to force into the head coach role. But another faction successfully campaigned to stop it. And so the apparent compromise now is that he has to stay as defensive coordinator. So what does that mean? It means the program is currently trying to hire head coaches while telling them that they have to keep that guy on as defensive coordinator, effectively asking them to knowingly sign up to be undermined for their entire tenure at Auburn.

That, my friends, is an actual shit show.

And, whatever you want to say about "Crystal Conte," the near-complete radio silence out of Austin is something to behold.

12 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

And, whatever you want to say about "Crystal Conte," the near-complete radio silence out of Austin is something to behold.

I fear that's because nothing's actually happening.  

14 hours ago, Beau Vine said:

Auburn boosters will eat him alive.  

Congrats to Coach Harsin on your future 20 million dollar buyout. 

6 hours ago, Alien Octopus said:

Harsin will kill it there. I do not get the negativity on this hire. His motion offense and trickeration is exactly what AU needs to deal with the superior defenses they face, he should attract superior skill players.

This is EXACTLY what they said about Malzahn before his hire.

Yea, but you've also believed that "we are going to win" going on the last decade so maybe you need a healthy dose of self-doubt with your Christmas cheer.  

I've been winning.

The football team needs to catch up.

The last few years of Texas football have been on par with most of Texas football in my lifetime...

58 minutes ago, FloridaHorn said:

Even worse. They spent 25 million to hire their 5th choice after being publicly turned down by the 1st four choices and having their boosters attempt to take over the program exposed. I hope this works out for Harsin, he seems like a good dude, but this program is toxic.

I've heard from several former players that Harsin was a huge tool.  Not sure if they just had bad relationships with him and/or it was just a toxic time at UT generally (whynotboth.gif).

37 minutes ago, bschoolprof said:

I fear that's because nothing's actually happening.  

7 hours ago, Alien Octopus said:

Harsin will kill it there. I do not get the negativity on this hire. His motion offense and trickeration is exactly what AU needs to deal with the superior defenses they face, he should attract superior skill players.

Yeah those bright athletes in the SEC are good at being disciplined and remembering that stuff.  

2 hours ago, ClubWhatever said:

They already had that with Malzahn.  This move ultimately seems like a nothingburger to me.  They spent 25 million to to extend essentially what they had for 5 years.

Everybody is thinking about this purely from a football-games-won, dollars-spent perspective. That is how the White Man sees the world.

[cue bone flute]

But in the ancient ways of the Auburn people, who were here in this land when lo the only way to get to Birmingham was the train from Opelika, a bus ticket bought at The Bottle, or the perils of driving on tiny roads all through Alex City, the coach and the team are but a small part of the whole, a single butterfly in a field of flowers.

For what really matters is not 25 million dollars. It is the 25 billion tshirts that Tiger Rags will print in the coming year with stilted jokes and rhymes of Harsin's name.

[/bone flute]

1 hour ago, RDCanecutter said:

Everybody is thinking about this purely from a football-games-won, dollars-spent perspective. That is how the White Man sees the world.

[cue bone flute]

But in the ancient ways of the Auburn people, who were here in this land when lo the only way to get to Birmingham was the train from Opelika, a bus ticket bought at The Bottle, or the perils of driving on tiny roads all through Alex City, the coach and the team are but a small part of the whole, a single butterfly in a field of flowers.

For what really matters is not 25 million dollars. It is the 25 billion tshirts that Tiger Rags will print in the coming year with stilted jokes and rhymes of Harsin's name.

[/bone flute]

fambly

1 hour ago, RDCanecutter said:

Everybody is thinking about this purely from a football-games-won, dollars-spent perspective. That is how the White Man sees the world.

[cue bone flute]

But in the ancient ways of the Auburn people, who were here in this land when lo the only way to get to Birmingham was the train from Opelika, a bus ticket bought at The Bottle, or the perils of driving on tiny roads all through Alex City, the coach and the team are but a small part of the whole, a single butterfly in a field of flowers.

For what really matters is not 25 million dollars. It is the 25 billion tshirts that Tiger Rags will print in the coming year with stilted jokes and rhymes of Harsin's name.

[/bone flute]

Alex City was easy compared to Goodwater and a few others. On the plus side you could drive thru The Narrows

Harsin will kill it there. I do not get the negativity on this hire. His motion offense and trickeration is exactly what AU needs to deal with the superior defenses they face, he should attract superior skill players.

Plug Mazahn in for Harsin in your post and everyone was saying the exact same thing about Auburn when they made their last coaching change.

And then in two years those defenses figured Gus out.

Gus’s problem was his inability to innovate and change his offense and his player development.

If Harsin is a stubborn goat and has too much of his ego tied up in running “his offense”, Auburn will be doing this again in 5-6 years.

As a Bama fan, this hire is a whatever. We’ll see how he does but I’ve heard this song and dance about these offensive geniuses before when they make the jump to big time head coach.

9 hours ago, Alien Octopus said:

Harsin will kill it there. I do not get the negativity on this hire. His motion offense and trickeration is exactly what AU needs to deal with the superior defenses they face, he should attract superior skill players.

Harsin's success will be determined by the staff he puts together.  Pressure will be ridiculous, so great assistants that both recruit and develop players well along with good in-game coaching may provide success at Auburn...

12 hours ago, bluto said:

Wtf are you blathering about, Petersen went to 3 NY6 bowls in 6 yrs at udub, won the pac twice, and had a cfp appearance.

3 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

And, whatever you want to say about "Crystal Conte," the near-complete radio silence out of Austin is something to behold.

so is the pinball machine scene in The Accused, but it's not supposed to give you an erection

5 hours ago, AUinHsv said:

Alex City was easy compared to Goodwater and a few others. On the plus side you could drive thru The Narrows

Before they bulldozed the Kellyton general store, I once received directions to Lineville from there that read "When you get to Goodwater, close your eyes and head on through."

You will be happy to know that the Narrows and quite a bit of old 280 still exist in a time-capsule state as county roads a couple of miles to the side of the current clogged artery.

11 hours ago, Bama Chick said:

Plug Mazahn in for Harsin in your post and everyone was saying the exact same thing about Auburn when they made their last coaching change.

And then in two years those defenses figured Gus out.

Gus’s problem was his inability to innovate and change his offense and his player development.

If Harsin is a stubborn goat and has too much of his ego tied up in running “his offense”, Auburn will be doing this again in 5-6 years.

As a Bama fan, this hire is a whatever. We’ll see how he does but I’ve heard this song and dance about these offensive geniuses before when they make the jump to big time head coach.

Urban Meyer may be the last offensive Genius, who did pull it off. Believe he is the only coach to beat Bama on the regular at several different schools using spread offensives. So Time will tell if Harsin is more Gus or Urban.

Saban and Meyer are 2-2 head to head.

Meyer - 2008 SECCG and 2015 Playoff Semifinal (1 @ UF, 1 @ OSU)
Saban - 2009 SECCG and 2010 regular season (2 @ UF)

Gus has actually beaten him 3 times; 2013, 2017, 2019 Iron Bowls.

The following are the only coaches to beat Saban multiple times -

Two wins -
Houston Nutt
Mark Richt
Hugh Freeze
Dabo Swinney
Urban Meyer

Three wins -
Gus Malzahn
Steve Spurrier
Les Miles

Four wins -
Tommy Tuberville

Gus’s issue wasn’t really beating Alabama and Saban - he did it more than any active coach.

Not sure if posted:

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/30518142/why-did-auburn-pay-gus-malzahn-217-million-walk-away-offensive-woes-top-list

unwillingness to cede control to coordinators, reputation of being difficult, ran a “silo” program, overly secretive and paranoid...

Sound familiar??? 

I’m gonna be pissed if we don’t do better than Harsin now. Can’t believe Auburn would get him over us if we were interested.

4 hours ago, C-Man said:

I’m gonna be pissed if we don’t do better than Harsin now. Can’t believe Auburn would get him over us if we were interested.

 

It's either Meyer or Mensa returns.  Those are it.

48 minutes ago, PilotsError said:

It's either Meyer or Mensa returns.  Those are it.

Wait...are there people who actually think there’s another option?  I thought that was all just people joking around on here.

9 hours ago, Bama Chick said:

Saban and Meyer are 2-2 head to head.

Meyer - 2008 SECCG and 2015 Playoff Semifinal (1 @ UF, 1 @ OSU)
Saban - 2009 SECCG and 2010 regular season (2 @ UF)

Gus has actually beaten him 3 times; 2013, 2017, 2019 Iron Bowls.

The following are the only coaches to beat Saban multiple times -

Two wins -
Houston Nutt
Mark Richt
Hugh Freeze
Dabo Swinney
Urban Meyer

Three wins -
Gus Malzahn
Steve Spurrier
Les Miles

Four wins -
Tommy Tuberville

Gus’s issue wasn’t really beating Alabama and Saban - he did it more than any active coach.

U r right on the record, but the spread, that Meyer brought to the SEC has been used to beat Bama, to the point that Bama has morphed.

I have deep filial ties to Alabama.My mother is a Bama alumn, both of my sisters were born in Tuscaloosa, because my grandmother was a obstetrician there.  She received Christmas Cards from the Bryants as she delivered some of their grandchildren.  
 

I have watched more of my share Bama games. Not sure if Utah was running elements of Meyer’s spread when they stomped Bama in the Fiesta Bowl in 2009?

On 12/23/2020 at 12:44 AM, ButtFumble said:

he was ranked 3 seasons out of 6 at UW only one in the top 10

he was ranked 6 seasons out of 8 at Boise with 4 in the top 10 including a #4 just like his highest ranking at UW

I think UW rightly or wrongly was expecting more all the more so with the massive instability in his division in the PAC 12 and it looked like he was fading pretty quickly

Petersen was starting to get Don James comparisons up in Seattle.  His teams weren't ranked his first two seasons because he was dealing with the rot left by Sarkisian.

I’m guess I’m showing my bias with harsin but I thought he handled himself about as well as you could possibly ask while he was here. He was always a bright spot in the middle of a dumpster fire. I don’t think he was ready for a job like Texas, but I think he’s an upgrade over Gus. I really do. Auburn can be a really good job. 

On 12/23/2020 at 8:46 AM, FloridaHorn said:

Even worse. They spent 25 million to hire their 5th choice after being publicly turned down by the 1st four choices and having their boosters attempt to take over the program exposed. I hope this works out for Harsin, he seems like a good dude, but this program is toxic.

Is this real life?

 

 

 

 

Edited December 24, 2020 by Augustus

I am actually pretty pleased with how this turned out. Gus had some flaws, but he was successful. I would not have gotten rid of him but, the alternative after the fact could have been a massive fuck up on AU's part. 

On 12/23/2020 at 8:47 AM, Keef said:

I've heard from several former players that Harsin was a huge tool.  Not sure if they just had bad relationships with him and/or it was just a toxic time at UT generally (whynotboth.gif).

But is he a bigger tool than Fuckface?

Edited December 24, 2020 by DFW Horn

5 hours ago, PilotsError said:

 

It's either Meyer or Mensa returns.  Those are That's it.

U r right on the record, but the spread, that Meyer brought to the SEC has been used to beat Bama, to the point that Bama has morphed.
I have deep filial ties to Alabama.My mother is a Bama alumn, both of my sisters were born in Tuscaloosa, because my grandmother was a obstetrician there.  She received Christmas Cards from the Bryants as she delivered some of their grandchildren.  
 
I have watched more of my share Bama games. Not sure if Utah was running elements of Meyer’s spread when they stomped Bama in the Fiesta Bowl in 2009?

Meyer's 2014 offense that beat Bama was basically pro-style. The few zone-read and QB runs were basically trick plays.

1 hour ago, Parliament said:

4 hours ago, Alien Octopus said:

U r right on the record, but the spread, that Meyer brought to the SEC has been used to beat Bama, to the point that Bama has morphed.
I have deep filial ties to Alabama.My mother is a Bama alumn, both of my sisters were born in Tuscaloosa, because my grandmother was a obstetrician there.  She received Christmas Cards from the Bryants as she delivered some of their grandchildren.  
 
I have watched more of my share Bama games. Not sure if Utah was running elements of Meyer’s spread when they stomped Bama in the Fiesta Bowl in 2009?

Meyer's 2014 offense that beat Bama was basically pro-style. The few zone-read and QB runs were basically trick plays.

Gun Zone
One of the more popular alignments in the Meyer offense is the Gators’ gun zone option, a modern day and very effective triple option. Most of the time this look features three or four wide receivers with a running back next to the quarterback and usually their best receiver parked in the slot. The slot receiver goes in motion but ends up most of the time in the backfield as the second RB to the right of the quarterback.

“You have to be prepared to treat the quarterback as one of the components of the offense as far as defending the run as well as the play action stuff,” said the defensive coordinator from a perennial Top 20 program. “What it looks like they’re trying to do to us is trying to create a one back alignment, but by shifting or motion they get back to a way in which they can make it a two-back offense.”

What the gun-zone option tries to accomplish is to see how the backside defensive end and the outside linebacker adjust to the shift. The quarterback will base his decisions on what these two players do. For example, he snaps the ball and prepares to hand it off to the running back with one eye on the defensive end. If the DE chases the running back down the line of scrimmage, the QB keeps the ball and turns his attention to the OLB with the slot receiver now his option. If the LB commits to the QB, he pitches, if not, he keeps it. “You have to be sound against the option and be solid against the dive back and the quarterback and you have to take care of the pitch,” the defensive coordinator said. “What they try to do is read the box and see how many you have to defend the run and what you are going to commit to the passing game. They are trying to locate your defenders and call the play based on your alignment.

“It’s about creating alignments and creating space and trying to take advantage of what the defense is showing.”

When he won the SEC and beat Alabama in the SEC Championship, and then beat tOSU in the championship it was the spread for more than 50% of the plays. Not sure which Pro team runs the gun zone? 

And Gus’s offensive philosophy is based on the spread but his big “genius” hype was base on HUNH more than his application of the spread.

On 12/23/2020 at 7:10 AM, Blotto said:

 

On 12/13/2020 at 1:46 PM, DFW Horn said:

Okay, the AU President. Whoever the hell he is

I think you may have gotten colder with this guess

16 hours ago, Bama Chick said:

And Gus’s offensive philosophy is based on the spread but his big “genius” hype was base on HUNH more than his application of the spread.

And, like others have said, the offense needs a mobile QB and a stable of RBs. The Cam Newton-led 2010 offense was brutally efficient. The 2013 offense with Nick Marshall was very good too. When it has a pass-first QB it's just not as effective.

2 hours ago, NoctambulantBrobdingnagian said:

I think you may have gotten colder with this guess

Well, at least AL aggy didn't end up with Keven Steele.

What a shitshow

I like Bryan Harsin. He’s one of my favorite Scientologists. But this just seems like a weird hire.

I like Bryan Harsin. He’s one of my favorite Scientologists. But this just seems like a weird hire.

Wonder if all those fire and brimstone baptists will approve once they find out their coach worships a space alien.

3 minutes ago, CooterBrown said:

Wonder if all those fire and brimstone baptists will approve once they find out their coach worships a space alien.

Auburn fans are heathens.

On 12/23/2020 at 11:43 AM, Bama Chick said:

Plug Mazahn in for Harsin in your post and everyone was saying the exact same thing about Auburn when they made their last coaching change.

And then in two years those defenses figured Gus out.

Gus’s problem was his inability to innovate and change his offense and his player development.

If Harsin is a stubborn goat and has too much of his ego tied up in running “his offense”, Auburn will be doing this again in 5-6 years.

As a Bama fan, this hire is a whatever. We’ll see how he does but I’ve heard this song and dance about these offensive geniuses before when they make the jump to big time head coach.

This is accurate.  No one is going to win big in the SEC (or any P5 conference, for that matter) as a purely system coach. I think that Gus actually kind of maxed out with what you can expect from a trickeration, wacky offense with athletes just a step behind. You’ll pull off some upsets and sometimes be really good, but not a real threat.

Urban Meyer brought his unique spread and won with it, but he also brought some of fantastic Zook era classes and added his own top three-five classes. We know how Alabama wins. We know how LSU won their championships.  We know how Clemson does it and how tOSU does it.

Top recruiters are rarely bad coaches and they are going to figure out what you’re doing, steal what works, and then put their superior athletes out there to beat you. I think that at college, more than any other level, recruiting rankings as compared to final finishes prove the old “Jimmies and Joes” adage.

Any school that wants to win big should hire a coach first and foremost for recruiting and give him the facilities and tools he needs.  
 

I just don’t see Harsin coming in and upsetting the SEC recruiting pecking order. 

 

Edited December 26, 2020 by 956 Worldwide

16 hours ago, 956 Worldwide said:

This is accurate.  No one is going to win big in the SEC (or any P5 conference, for that matter) as a purely system coach. I think that Gus actually kind of maxed out with what you can expect from a trickeration, wacky offense with athletes just a step behind. You’ll pull off some upsets and sometimes be really good, but not a real threat.

Urban Meyer brought his unique spread and won with it, but he also brought some of fantastic Zook era classes and added his own top three-five classes. We know how Alabama wins. We know how LSU won their championships.  We know how Clemson does it and how tOSU does it.

Top recruiters are rarely bad coaches and they are going to figure out what you’re doing, steal what works, and then put their superior athletes out there to beat you. I think that at college, more than any other level, recruiting rankings as compared to final finishes prove the old “Jimmies and Joes” adage.

Any school that wants to win big should hire a coach first and foremost for recruiting and give him the facilities and tools he needs.  
 

I just don’t see Harsin coming in and upsetting the SEC recruiting pecking order. 

 

I’m not necessarily disagreeing with you, But Saban too was once an outlier in the Deep South. The trick is learning who can help you, and establishing relationships. A yankee can be successful in the SEC, he simply has to understand his audience.

Wonder if all those fire and brimstone baptists will approve once they find out their coach worships a space alien.

Do you even sec, bro?

If he wins games, those fine Baptists would worship Satan for him.

 

On 12/25/2020 at 12:01 PM, South Austin said:

I like Bryan Harsin. He’s one of my favorite Scientologists. But this just seems like a weird hire.

 

On 12/25/2020 at 12:06 PM, CooterBrown said:

Wonder if all those fire and brimstone baptists will approve once they find out their coach worships a space alien.

They'll ignore the  Scientology stuff until he starts losing, then it will blow up as reason to get rid of him.  When Chizik hit the skids, people were arguing over whether his program was Christian or not.

3 minutes ago, J.R. Juniors Junior Jr. said:

 

When Chizik hit the skids, people were arguing over whether his program was Christian or not.

Well it did pay for a new roof on a church

1 hour ago, J.R. Juniors Junior Jr. said:

 

 

They'll ignore the  Scientology stuff until he starts losing, then it will blow up as reason to get rid of him.  When Chizik hit the skids, people were arguing over whether his program was Christian or not.

It's not as Christian as Clemson's from what I hear.