Moving forward, RE Gus

At this point, a competitive performance in the IB and a bowl win would give Gus a little bit of breathing room. What I wanted more than a good record this year was momentum and a pathway forward. I'm not sure we have that, but we have a chance at a record most of us would have taken to at the beginning of the year.

Next year seems like another crucial year for Gus, and I think my standards, unfortunately, will remain the same. Either a solid to good year (9-10 win regular season), or a 8-9 win season (bowl included) with a) preferably 2 wins over LSU/UGA/Bama and b) something we can carry forward into 2018.

If we go 7-5 next year and are once again limping to the finish, it's time to move on. Unfortunately, I think it's likely we'll go 8-4, probably sort of limping to the finish, much like this year. And at that point we'll have enjoyed 4 straight years of irrelevant mediocrity. And we'll probably sign on for a 5th.

I feel the anger when I look at the issues at QB from Clemson and ATM that left us with at least 1 more loss than necessary. It would be much easier to take the UGA loss with the injuries we have if it had not showed that same ability to lose due to coaching. I also watched Dabo lose at home because his team was not prepared, not because they were hurt. I have seen Herman go to pieces at Houston. Briles fell from grace because of scandal. No coach is perfect and the more you chase them the worse it seems to become.

Let's be fans and remain hopeful we get an IB win or at least a performance that shows we could win. Then we go on to a good bowl and win that. It could still be a 10 win season and next year we will be set up again to make a deep run maybe even all the way. Gus will either be a hero or zero next year and we will have this same conversation then, but for now chasing a coach is a very bad move. Think Tennessee bad.

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My metric for a successful season is stability. Changing QBs, DCs, etc is suppressing our progression. We need an identity, and work at perfecting it.

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That's what I mean by carryover and momentum. While I'll certainly take a surprise, out of nowhere title run with a transfer QB, what I'd most like to see is Gus and Co. develop talent where 7-5 becomes 9-3 becomes 11-1.

Unfortunately I can't see that happening this season, leaving us in the same boat we've been in recently.

So tell us who your guarantee is?

Saban
Meyer
Petrino
Miles
Richt
Briles
Fisher

Do you think those guys are available? Who is it you want? And what do you want to spend?

Or are you more on the new guarantee like these?

Herman
Fuente
Fedora

Maybe we should go after Kiffin, Sarkasian, or one of the other proven head coaches.

Power 5 coaches are paid multiple millions because they earn it at a high profile school. Compared to smaller or mid major schools they are paid much smaller % of the football revenue, and they take a much larger role in the image.

I am not saying Gus is perfect, but I think this is where we stay for a while longer unless there is a serious loss of control on or off the field.

The only scenario that I would be okay with a 9 win season is if we win @Baton Rouge and against UGA

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Why can we not hire someone that has demonstrated through time that he objectively knows how to properly manage a major division 1 program. Our athletic department should not be running a jobs program for the wholly unqualified.

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The issue is coaches who are well-established at major programs usually aren't going to make a lateral move. Saban wouldn't have left LSU for Bama had it not been his unsuccessful stint in the NFL. Meyer didn't leave UF for OSU - he was on the market due to his own choosing. I'm frankly surprised Jimbo Fisher is interested in leaving FSU for LSU.

So if you can't poach a coach from a similar program, you have to look at coaches who are successful at smaller programs. Butch Jones at Cincinnati, Jim McElwain at Colorado State are two that come to mind. In both these instances, neither one was at their previous job for more than 3 years. Jones isn't looking too hot and I know Florida fans who are unhappy with McElwain.

IMO, it takes more than 3 years for a coach to demonstrate if he can sustain success. Even then, it doesn't take into account competition week in and week out against a coach like a Saban, Miles, or Fisher.

If we finish this year 9-4 with a decent showing against Bama and bowl win, I'll be happy considering the questions we started with at the beginning of the year. Next year we have a favorable schedule and should be at least 9-4 again if not 10-3 or higher. This will demonstrate if Gus has us on the right trajectory.

Also, most people here think Tuberville was a great coach for AU. Go back and look at his seasons at AU LINK

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For our program, we need to allow him to grow as a coach. He is still early in his head coaching career, and a change would continue the loop of instability within our program. Just a post melt thought, and one we need to keep in mind. Let's focus on the IB.

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I have been as pro Gus as you can be but man that loss Saturday was a kick in the gut. He has now blown 3 of 4 games against UGA with a hail mary needed to win that other one. I don't think making a move would be wise but damnit does he make it hard to buy in all the way when he consistently loses games we have no business losing.

If he had simply won that game this season could go down a success no matter what against Bama because we would have a 9-3 regular season with plenty of momentum heading into the bowl & offsesaon. Wins against every team that beat us last year sans Bama & might shut up some of the heavy negative recruiting going against us specifically from UGA. An Iron Bowl win would be a huge save to this season but I just don't see it happening at this point.

Bottom line is next season Gus has to beat UGA & Bama. Losing 4 straight seasons to your arch rival is unacceptable. He has wasted a solid & now a great defense in back to back seasons due to inability to find a QB. He apparently has no faith in the JUCO QB he signed this past year while Jerod Evans is having a solid season at VT. No doubt injury bug has bitten us bad this season but a school like AU should have the depth to at least put out a serviceable backup if needed.

I once thought he was one of the top offensive minds in football but watching him struggle to adapt to problems (JJ busting last season & injuries this year) make it hard for me to believe that anymore. I still think he can be successful & with a bowl win a 9-4 season aint bad at all. The problem is at least 2 of those losses can be put squarely on coaching which makes that record feel hollow

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Auburn isn't the place for a coach to grow. Especially a coach making multimillion dollars

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This right here. We are not paying Gus to use toddler wheels.

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Can we all cool it with the Jerod Evans talk?... he didn't enroll until the summer... there's a very good chance he wouldn't have beaten out white if he comes here. He went to VT bc their QB situation was worse than ours.

And on top of that, he's struggled at times against some bad defenses. We might be in worse shape than we are now.

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My point was it's clear that Evans is a better QB prospect. Not saying he is a world beater but considering we don't have enough confidence to play Franklin when our starting QBs arm is falling off or to win a game vs Vandy I feel it's safe to say we picked the worse QB prospect