Just when you think Gawd doesn’t give a rat’s ass about college football, you get this as a confirmation otherwise:
Auburn’s offensive coordinator search, nearing the end of its ninth day, is hinging on a high stakes showdown over power and control between coach Gus Malzahn and those with influence over the program, a source told AL.com.
Malzahn, who enters a pivotal fifth season leading the program, had a short list of candidates to succeed Rhett Lashlee, who left for the same position at UConn on Jan. 11.
That short list included former Baylor offensive coordinator Kendal Briles and Arizona State offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey and North Carolina State offensive coordinator Eliah Drinkwitz, both of who have worked under Malzahn. AuburnSports.com also reported Lindsey and Drinkwitz were among Malzahn’s preferred candidates.
A source indicated those candidates did not receive a favorable reaction from people with influence over the program, who felt Briles, now at Florida Atlantic, lacks experience and Lindsey and Drinkwitz, while familiar with Malzahn’s offense were also too close to him.
A list of preferred candidates was provided to Malzahn by athletic director Jay Jacobs, the source said, which was composed of comparatively more experienced coaches, including the Texas A&M’s Noel Mazzone, who reportedly went from the possible lead candidate to staying in College Station in a matter of hours on Thursday.
Freakin’ awesome. The only thing missing from that story is somebody insisting Gus hire Art Briles, but who knows? There’s still time.
Though with Auburn experiencing offensive struggles in 2015 and a 1-3 finish to 2016, the program’s powerbrokers wanting the new hire to offer a different perspective is not irrational either.
With less than 12 days to national signing day, the critical hire could come down to a test of wills.
They want their offensive genius to hire a coordinator with a different perspective. Please proceed, power brokers. The last time a head coach at Auburn did that, he wound up with Tony Franklin. That ended well.
Now where the hell did I put that bag of popcorn?
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UPDATE: And just like that…
Makes you wonder if somebody dropped that leak in order to get somebody else to back off.
Sounds like they’re trying to run him off so they don’t have to pay a buyout.
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Or trying to set him up to fail so bad that the boosters will help pay for his buyout.
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I look forward to watching the Gus Bus run completely off the rails in 2017.
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Oh Auburn, you are so Barnish. Please let this be the car crash it has the potential to be!
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F the Barn
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Auburn gonna Auburn.
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AU All IN!! BWAHAHAHAH.. Move over Senator.. I’m joining you on the couch to watch this one. What kind of beverages do you like?
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How can this “school” ever be successful given how the place is? And yet they are. Amazing. Why would a quality coach ever take this job?
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Perhaps they should just acknowledge it’s a one-year gig and promote their TE coach.
Like Tennessee did.
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Do we have any Lowders that know anything about offensive coordinators? Just kidding.
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We’ve definitely got our “Lowder” – bottoms Up!
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Hilarious, but I fear we’re not to far off from that given how we chose our coach. At least we let him pick the staff (so far).
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Give Briles a year in exile for the media scrutiny to die down, then bring him in as head coach and Make Auburn Great Again.
Dare I say, “throwaway season”?
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Not sure Chaney will survive another year like last.
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Then let’s advise them Chaney is available, and certainly has a different offensive philosophy than Gus. Our two schools have a long history of exchanging personnel in the athletic field. Win/win. 🙂
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As a Georgia alumnus and fan, I can’t take too much pleasure in stories like this. Because things are no different in Athens than they are in Auburn, when it comes to a handful of deep-pocketed boosters making far-reaching football decisions.
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and until you become a Saban or that guy at Mt. Union(Div 3) and can tell these guys to go fuck themselves, it will never change. Some of the boosters always know more than the coach.
Sometimes, I wonder if this is coaches are complaining about when they make the not in the trenches comments.
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welcome to the same old Auburn.
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