Article: The High Cost of Holding Onto a Fractured Relationship at Auburn

POSTED ON NOVEMBER 15, 2018 BY ADMIN

Marshall Column: The High Cost of Holding on to a Fractured Relationship at Auburn



Face it. This is not going to work. There’s too much division, too much timid leadership, too many people unwilling to change.

It’s time for somebody at Auburn University to admit that Gus Malzahn is the wrong coach for their school. There was a time when I thought he was the right coach. I thought he was a strong recruiter who would do what was needed to win. I thought he was an offensive innovator who was nimble enough to adapt when he needed to adapt, both during the game and during game preparation.

I was wrong. Terribly wrong.

Malzahn is going to do things his way, on his terms, with his assortment of gadgets that have become rusted and stale. That is not how coaches win at the highest levels in the Southeastern Conference.

Fads are fleeting. Personnel changes. Philosophies evolve or are trampled.

Because Malzahn’s personnel has changed and he hasn’t, his philosophy is getting trampled. Meanwhile, others are evolving and using variations of Malzahn’s offense and running it more effectively than he is, occasionally beating him.

Malzahn is held to the same standard as the best college coaches in the country. He is paid top money and competes against the top teams, so the standard is justified.

The best college coaches in the country, the ones he’s expected to beat, do whatever’s needed to win. They don’t decide to do things on their terms. The only terms that are important to them are wins, and it doesn’t matter how they do it.

Earlier this week, Malzahn said there was “no doubt’’ that he would return as head coach in 2019. Then Auburn President Steven Leath said he supported his athletic director, Allen Greene, who said after the victory over Texas A&M that Malzahn would be Auburn’s coach next season.

Do Greene and Leath believe Malzahn is Auburn’s head coach beyond 2019? Do they actually have confidence Malzahn can galvanize Auburn supporters? I can’t imagine they do, considering how this season has unfolded and the reactions of Auburn’s most influential supporters. If Malzahn is unable to restore faith in his program, he’s certain to collect that buyout long before his contract expires.

As disappointing as this season has been, as much as it’s evident that the high preseason rankings were unjustified, Auburn should likely be 9-1, no worse than 8-2. Instead, Auburn is 6-4, with 7-5 the likely final record. No loss was worse than the Tennessee loss and no play symbolized how stagnant the program has become than Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt snuffing out an Auburn trick play before the snap, resulting in an interception.

Later in the game, Pruitt recognized another play before the snap, yelling to a Tennessee defensive back that a pass was coming his way. Sure enough, it did. Pruitt, in all likelihood, is hardly the only coach who’s capable of deciphering Auburn’s plays. His display just happened to be more demonstrative.

All of this has become so predictable – the playcalling, the outcry from fans, the refusal by Malzahn to change, the university’s lack of leadership, and its decision to continue down a timid, uninspiring course. Does anyone believe the relationship between Malzahn and Auburn is going to work? It’s not, especially now that the program and its head coach have been so damaged. There appears to be no other outcome, at this point.

Someone with some leadership and vision needs to admit their mistakes and guide Auburn out of one of the biggest messes in its football history. Only Leath and Greene can do that, though, and they’ve already said Malzahn will return next season.

Leath might be the first to go if he’s trying to preserve his ego by refusing to admit he was wrong by giving Malzahn such a sizable contract. Either way, it’s obvious major changes are coming at Auburn because of what has happened this season. It’s only a matter of when and how much it will cost.

The damage is already incalculable.

By holding on to a fractured relationship, it’s likely to get even worse.