re: Auburn extends Malzahn's contract through 2020

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It is for recruiting purposes, but will it really help? Auburn lost their best recruiter to LSU. They are facing a tough, tough schedule. They could potentially go 1-3 in September. If so, morale would be low heading into October facing a tough Mississippi State in Starkville. Losing that game would spell the end of the season and they could tank it the rest of the way....... recruits would probably lose a lot of interest in Auburn regardless if Gus is the coach or not

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AU is in a tough spot...they could have 2 losses (Clemson and LSU) going into October and Aggie may be a coin toss although I expect them to win. Gus will have his hands full trying not to lose the team if that is the case.

It won't get easier recruiting wise with Smart at UGA now, Nick at Bama, and Mac at UF not mention Jimbo down in Tallahassee.

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This is illogical. CMR got whoever he wanted whenever he wanted at uga. And the same was true of Champ down in Florida. Auburn always has the weaker hand in recruiting...it makes the accomplishments of the program significantly greater because of it.

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Auburn was able to pull so nice talent from Florida as well as Georgia. No school can get all the talent, but Auburn has gotten their fair share. Kirby will make it harder and Mac seems to be doing the same. Another horrible season and it will be harder for Auburn to sale itself to some kids

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This is illogical.

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Bama is king of the mountain, UGA has the hottest young coach in the country right now as well as an ace recruiter generating a ton of buzz and will do a better job than Richt in holding onto their talent, UF just won the East and the perception is that UF is back, FSU is well FSU and is two years removed from a title.

AU attracts talent but it is going to get tougher to compete with those four programs particularly if the wheels come of this season.

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This is illogical. CMR got whoever he wanted whenever he wanted at uga. And the same was true of Champ down in Florida. Auburn always has the weaker hand in recruiting...it makes the accomplishments of the program significantly greater because of it.

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But y'all still battle it out and land plenty of damn good talent.

AU's has only had 1 class ranked outside of the top 10 in the last 6 yrs.

2010 - 6th
2011 - 5th
2012 - 11th
2013 - 10th
2014 - 6th
2015 - 8th

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Bama is king of the mountain, UGA has the hottest young coach in the country right now as well as an ace recruiter generating a ton of buzz and will do a better job than Richt in holding onto their talent, UF just won the East and the perception is that UF is back, FSU is well FSU and is two years removed from a title.

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This is pretty much a similar cycle that has gone on for years. We will be just fine

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AU lost more than just a great recruiter in D.Craig. Muschamp took Lance Thompson and a few other really good recruiters with him as well

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Travaris Robinson hurt the worst. But Gus has replaced those guys with some pretty good recruiters, if nothing else.

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Travaris Robinson hurt the worst. But Gus has replaced those guys with some pretty good recruiters, if nothing else.

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That may be so, but Auburn would be hard to sell to any recruit if they are 2-4 after the first week in October

Not really. Auburn has barely finished outside the top 10, even in years like 2012. If nothing else you can sell the opportunity for immediate playing time. Most of these recruits are sharp enough to realize who the wins & losses are coming against.
Not to mention that September isn't a real active time for commitments for us.

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But y'all still battle it out and land plenty of damn good talent.

AU's has only had 1 class ranked outside of the top 10 in the last 6 yrs.

2010 - 6th
2011 - 5th
2012 - 11th
2013 - 10th
2014 - 6th
2015 - 8th

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Auburn is fortunate in its location. Studies have been done to show 60% of major college athletes sign with schools within 4 hours of them. Another 35% sign within 7 hours of them.

Thanks to our proximity to Atlanta and Florida and the relative strength of Alabama High School football compared to the population we have the ability to pick through the first tier of the state named schools leftovers, as well as, getting a true pick whoever he wants kid or two each year.

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This is pretty much a similar cycle that has gone on for years. We will be just fine

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Oh, AU will be fine but it could be a real rough patch.

I kind of get why Jacobs did what he did to send a signal to the market. Honestly, as long as Saban is at Bama its going to be tough sledding for AU. It's like the Bryant era all over again. Strategically, the play for AU is when Saban appears ready to pack it in much like they did when they made a play for Pat Dye when Bryant was at the end of his reign. When that happened the momentum in state shifted to AU (compounded by bad decisions on Bama's part).

Gus has his work cut out for him this year. The schedule sets up brutally for AU bookended by the #2 and #1 teams in the country. If Gus can at least get out with a winning record and make it to a reasonable bowl and get a win, I would consider that a success this year. It's better on AU's part to project stability and confidence in the program at this point.