re: Reality check – Gus Malzahn among college football’s best

Gus has his breathing room, and this should be the final test for him. No more extensions unless they are neutral as to the buyout until he either passes or fails.

He's got his QB who is coming back for his sophomore year. 2020 should be a solid rebuilding/strengthening year. 9-10 wins should be the expectation, although I think he likely survives with 8. 2021 should see the groundwork of 2019 and 2020 materialize - no real excuse for it not to. Time for Gus to put together a 2-4 year cycle and see growth over that time.

These would be my metrics:

- 28 wins from 2019-2021 as a minimum. Winning the bowl will make this very feasible.
- 4+ wins against the big 3 from 2019-2021. Split 2020 and 2021 after going 1/3 in 2019.
- SECCG appearance and/or NY6 bowl

I think these are pretty modest expectations, really. And he's off to a decent start on them. If he accomplishes this stuff, given our positioning in the SECW and the state of other programs in this conference, I'd be more compelled to agree he's the right guy going forward.