re: UPDATE: Mike Irwin just said Malzahn is choice #1.

quote:

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Eh the majority of them want to him to stay and would be upset if he left right now

Thing is they flip flop a lot and could easily want him gone again next year

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For the majority of AU fans, they recognize that Gus can be a really good/great coach. What AU fans get frustrated about is that Gus seems to want to "prove people wrong" about his weaknesses

Things Gus has done extremely well at Auburn

-Overall Roster Management
This is the first time since early 2000s that Auburn's depth at nearly every position (not QB) is great. We've had injuries to multiple RB, WR, OL, LB, DBs and there has been minimal to no dropoff. Under Malzahn, Auburn's recruiting has done a great job targeting roster weaknesses

Team Chemistry
Despite some lumps + injuries over the years, Gus' teams never seem to quit during the season. Every year after a bad loss, Auburn's team usually rights the ship and is competitive next game(s)

Auburn defensive turnaround
Auburn has had 3 defensive coordinators in 5 years, so the HC deserves credit for parts of this. At the end of the day, Gus brought in Kevin Steele who was panned as a hire and deserves credit.
Unlike Muschamp at UF, Gus emphasized D recruiting which has be integral to our current defense. Also, Gus deserves credit for working with/allowing both Muschamp/Steele to do their job.

Base Offense
Gus' offense works.... when he allows it to. At its core/foundations, there are no problems with the offense. There is a reason that AU consistently is able to pound some decent teams even w/ subpar QB/OL play and w/o any real WR talent. It is when he wants to go back to HS twirlybirds or uninspired playcalling that fans get mad.

Reasons why Auburn Fans are upset

QB Evaluation/Development
Gus needs an OC pairing that can evaluate/develop QBs. Then he needs to accept that he should just run the O w/ a dual threat QB

Playcalling
Gus can get stubborn/conservative and go into a TuberShell. It's weird, some games like UGA he is brilliant while Clemson he is a moronic

Gus doesn't embrace the best version of his offense
Gus' offense works w/ guys like Sean White or J Stidham. It just isn't at its best with those guys. Gus has targeted more prototypical pocket passers and not dual threat/runners

He needs a good OC pairing
Both to address the above, talk Gus out of stubborn playcalling and to continue to innovate on the base offense