AUBURN, Alabama. – After 8 seasons, two SEC West crowns, a convention name and one for the BCS National Championship game, Auburn is making a change.
Gus Malzahn was fired as the show’s head coach, athletics director Allen Greene announced Sunday.
Defensive coordinator Kevin Steele will serve as coach.
“After evaluating the status of Auburn’s football program, it was time to change direction,” Greene said in a statement. “We appreciate everything Gus has done for the show for over 8 seasons. Without delay we will start Looking for a Coach who can help the Auburn program compete constantly at the highest level.
The resolution came after the Tigers ended a normal 6-4 season with a 24-10 victory over the state of Mississippi, Malzahn celebrated dancing with his players in the Davis-Wade Stadium visitor locker room. 24 hours later.
Malzahn, 55, has just finished the third year of seven years, $49 million signed after the 2017 season and plans to re-buy more than $21 million, some of which expire within 30 days.
That’s a lot of cash to spend on a replacement coach, especially in a year when COVID-19 has had a significant effect on the athletic department’s finances. But it’s a resolution that the powers that be at Auburn obviously felt they had to be made as the frustrations surrounding the show continued to mount.
“Coach Malzahn directed Auburn’s football program with honor and integrity,” President Jay Gogue said in a statement. We thank you for yours to Auburn Athletics, Auburn University and, in particular, our student-athletes. We wish him and Kristi all the best. “
Malzahn was a successful coach in the Plains; he was Gene Chizik’s offensive coordinator when the Tigers won the 2010 BCS national championship, Heisman’s winning quarterback, Cam Newton. He returned as head coach in 2013, after a season at Arkansas State, and without Delay led Auburn to other peak seasons in the show’s history.
A 12-2 record, a dynamic offensive led by double-threat quarterback Nick Marshall and half-recorder Tre Mason. Two of the show’s incredible top wins in history against Georgia (jordan-Hare prayer) and Alabama (Kick Six). An eighth SEC championship. An appointment with the State of Florida in the BCS National Championship game.
But the Tigers lost that game, 34-31, despite leading with 79 seconds to play. Malzahn has never live up to the good fortune of this first season, either in attack or in the winning column.
Auburn, a consistent winner under Malzahn. En won at least seven games each one season from 2013 to 19, completing above Array500 in each of them. He is one of only three coaches in the show’s history to have suffered a lost season, two others being William Keinholz (6-2-1 in 1907) and Billy Bates (4-3 in 1903).
He finished as the fifth-highest hit coach in the show’s history: Ralph Jordan, Mike Donahue, Pat Dye and Tommy Tuberville, with an overall record of 68-35.
Malzahn simply did not win at the speed that enthusiasts and enthusiasts expected, as Nick Saban built a dynasty throughout the state of Alabama. He and his staff recruited well enough, signing six categories of the top 10 and none below 12 nationally, however, the offense has never been able to reflect the good fortune he had in 2013 and 2014, as Malzahn spent more than five seasons getting through 4 offensive coordinators. and a constant “will, possibly won’t be” when he got here to play.
Auburn only won once in double-digit red after that first season, in 2017, when he won sec West after the home riots in Georgia and Alabama, the most sensible qualifiers, but lost the SEC and P Bowl championship game. 5 in bowling games and 3-7 in playoff games in general. The Tigers have been ranked in season 10 most sensible but have ended up there fewer times (two) than they have finished without a qualifying (three).
Most damning: Auburn has an 8-17 record against rivals Alabama, Georgia and LSU, adding a 0-12 mark along the way. No coach in the show’s history has faced a more difficult challenge compared to those groups. combined to win six SEC titles and 3 national championships since 2014; however, those are the groups that enthusiasts need to compete with the Tigers, and under Malzahn, they don’t do it regularly.
Maybe it’s the last drop. Auburn has hit a troubled LSU team this season, but opposed the five most sensitive groups in Georgia, Alabama and Texas A
After the recent top of the ranked losses on December 5, Malzahn said a six-win season would be “solid. “He later clarified that he was referring to a normal year in which Auburn would also have played four games without a conference, but the resolution taken on his long term proved incorrect.
Auburn’s followers need more. The program will generously provide the opportunity for a new trainer who can provide it.
Follow Josh Vitale on Twitter at @JoshVitale.