re: Auburn could have hired Kirby after the 2012 season.

Expectations for Kirby should be higher than those for Gus. Right now they've performed about evenly early on.

I think Kirby should surpass Gus in the near term because he'll probably be able to string together 9-11 win seasons more frequently than Gus has to date (assuming UGA doesn't win the playoff, which would put him above Gus for that reason). Hopefully Gus will have better performing teams in that same span, but his recent mediocrity hurts him.

I'm not at all convinced Kirby will ultimately be the better coach, but I do think he's in a better position to bump his resume above that of Gus for the near future. Of course, if Gus can put together more 10-11 win years he may be able to keep up even in the near term.

In short, I think Kirby will be able to pull off better year to year W-L results than Gus, but I won't be surprised if Gus matches or exceeds Kirby in truly elite seasons when everything is done. In other words, a continuation of the UGA-Auburn situation in pre-Smart times. Hopefully UGA isn't about to go on some dynasty run and prove this all inaccurate.