re: Auburn fan entitlement is what makes the potential Gus firing so interesting

quote:

---

$3 million dollars is not an uncompetitive salary for an up and coming coach. For example, here at UGA inked Kirby Smart for $3.75 million, and that was for one of the hottest up and coming coaching commodities in the country at the time.

---

That is just the coach though. A competitive staff more than doubles that amount. So in one year they are looking to spend about $21 million just on coaches ($15 for Gus plus $3 for new guy plus $3 for staff).

I mean this is shite Texas can't afford and they are the richest program in the country. Hence why every other fanbase wouldn't even consider it a possibility.

Yet here we are.

quote:

---

Again, if he has lost the team, the coaches, the recruits, the boosters it does not matter.

---

I promise you EVERY fricking fan feels that way in the same situation.

I did with Sumlin in 2016.

LSU fans did with Les in 2015.

Staring down the barrel of a wasted season is basically the right of passage for every college football fanbase at some point.

Basically I see this as yall wanting a shortcut, yall wanting a way to get a mulligan that they world isn't going to let you have unless Gus starts talking about death threats.

quote:

---

I think he just loves the topic in general.

---

It is a very interesting topic.

We have a situation where coaching contracts keep getting bigger, while fans are getting more and more impatient with new coaches.

Eventually that creates a situation where programs are stuck between a rock and a hard place and that is where Auburn finds itself today.

As I said, what they are facing isn't unique. Their concept that they can get a mulligan on this whole contract thing is.

quote:

---

It is 0% that. Jimbo might still bury our program for 10 years. That isn't a sure bet.

---

Okay, fine, be sensible dammit.

quote:

---

Why this thread exists is because I used to think LSU fans were the most delusional in the SEC but then last year when Tiger Rant was faced with a $10+ million buyout following the Troy game the entire board pretty much agreed Coach O would get another year.

Meanwhile here are Auburn fans trying to convince us that a buyout three times as big, and more than twice as big as any other SEC buyout ever, won't get in their way.

---

My two cents:

This is a very tough spot for Auburn's new AD. He inherits this massive contract that the administration let themselves get bullied into giving Gus a top tier contract while in the middle of conducting the job search for the new AD. No new AD wants to inherit this mess.

But at the end of the day, it's still a business proposition. At what point is it better to cut Gus loose than to keep him? And who are they going to replace him with?

As for the size of the buyout, we better get used to huge buyouts:

LINK

Saban, Meyer, Dabo and Jimbo all have bigger buyouts. Kirby isn't far behind. I see lots of $20 million plus buyouts at non-SEC schools. While $32 million sounds crazy now, it probably won't be long before schools are shelling out $20 million easy to fire coaches.

As we all heard when Jimbo was hired by A&M, that's just the market today. The AD and administration at Auburn have to constantly assess if they are getting what they paid for and whether it's worth it to pull the trigger on a change. And if they don't pull the trigger, they better have a good explanation at the ready.

quote:

---

But most of these Aubies on here are not playing with THEIR money. They are counting on some rich hoohah who is associated with Auburn to pony up the money for the new coach. Then two years from nw they will be complaining about the fact that "outsiders or big donors" get their say in decisions and no one listens to the fans. You can't have it both ways. If those big donors throw in the money, they will get a say in how the university decides who leads the team(s). My guess is that Gus will be fired, end up in a big suit to get his money, like Mike Leach. Aubie will be able to get the current UAB coach who will do no better than Gustav and for the next five years we can all sit back and laugh at their ineptitude and the absurdity of a school in one of the poorest states in the country having to bail out a poorly formed contract for a subpar HS football coach who designed the "whirlybird". ESPN and the other pundits will have a field day with this.

---

Some of this is true. Of course, if the hire works out for Auburn (as our hires tend to do early on, lately), then ESPN will shut up quickly.

No AU fan will tell you we won't take a PR hit over this, but it's a short attention span world, and AU fans have developed pretty thick skin over bad press.

For those serious about discussing the buyout, one thing to think about is that it doesn't get THAT much better for us. That's how shitty this deal was. Next year, if Gus sucks, we pay 25m. That's still insane and not much better. The year after that, 20ish. So 2 years from now, after 2 more years of possible 5 loss (or worse seasons) and tons of apathy in the fan base, we're still paying a buyout that everyone will throw a fuss over.

So that's part of the defense of the "rip the band aid off and start over" mindset.

quote:

---

The only hope they have is Gus gets caught doing some illegal shite and they can fire him for cause.

---

You see that. I see that. Anyone not on the plains sees it.

quote:

---

Yall (actually not you but fans in this very thread) are acting like toddlers who want the toy now with out any regard for the long term consequences of getting that toy.

---

2012's disaster season caused a subsequent budget deficit the following year. Ticket sales were down $1MM, donations dropped $3MM, football related contributions dropped about $2MM. So it took about $6MM revenue hit, which is nearly a years worth of Gus Malzahn. I'm sure 2012 is being discussed quite a bit amongst the BOT.

quote:

---

Ticket sales were down $1MM, donations dropped $3MM, football related contributions dropped about $2MM. So it took about $6MM revenue hit

---

This cannot be stressed enough!

quote:

---

Real question that I really don't know: do assistant coach contracts have buyouts? If so, how much would Auburn have to pay to buyout their assistants? If not, couldn't Auburn assemble a competent staff with the money they already paying their assistant coaches? I know Kevin Steele is a highly paid assistant, and for good reason, but for what they pay him they could hire a good DC.

---

Some do. Depending on the hire, some of those coaches may be retained, especially on the defensive side of the ball. LSU didn't have a ton of turnover when O got the permanent job, did they?