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Auburn Football: Ellis Johnson Fired as Defensive Coordinator

By Nicholas Ian Allen

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Last night, we discussed the possibility. Gus Malzahn was even asked about it.

“I’m not going there right now,” Malzahn said following Auburn’s 55-44 loss to Alabama. “Right now we’re disappointed we got beat and that’s it.”

Today, according to FootballScoop.com and Phillip Marshall of 247Sports, Ellis Johnson has been fired as the defensive coordinator of the Auburn football team.

According to various reports, including AL.com’s Brandon Marcello and Alex Byington of the Opelika-Auburn News, Johnson is owed between $1.7 and $2.2 million through 2017.

“At this time I felt it was best for our program to make a change with our defensive coordinator,” Malzahn said in a statement released by the university. “Ellis is a true professional and I would like to thank him for his contributions at Auburn.”

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Johnson came to Auburn with a great track record as a defensive coordinator in the SEC, having spent 18 of his 30-plus year career in the league with four years apiece at South Carolina, Alabama and Mississippi State. The highly respected Johnson also had three stints as a head coach and came to Auburn following a one-year stint as the head coach at Southern Miss.

Unfortunately for the Tigers, Johnson’s defense just didn’t produce in his two seasons on staff.

“This is part of the business and I totally understand,” Johnson said in the same statement. “I did think we were good in several areas, but overall it wasn’t good enough. I’m disappointed for our players, but this is a results business. I want to thank Coach Malzahn and Auburn for the opportunity the last two years.”

Following Saturday’s loss, Auburn finished the 2014 regular season with the SEC’s 10th ranked scoring defense (26.1 points per game), ninth ranked total defense (388.7 yards per game), eighth ranked rushing defense (149.1 yards per game), and finished next to last in the league in pass defense (239.2 yards per game). Also, the Tigers allowed 5.6 yards per play this year.

“I did think we were good in several areas, but overall it wasn’t good enough. I’m disappointed for our players, but this is a results business. I want to thank Coach Malzahn and Auburn for the opportunity the last two years.”

Those numbers were inflated last night in Tuscaloosa when the Auburn defense allowed 538 yards of total offense to the top ranked Crimson Tide, as well as 34 second-half points (which was part of a disastrous 34-3 second half run).

Much of the damage was done by wide receiver Amari Cooper – who set an Iron Bowl record with 224 receiving yards on thirteen catches, three of which went for touchdowns – a 17-yarder, a 39-yarder and a 68-yarder. But, Cooper’s performance Saturday was not the only time the Tigers were gashed this season. The team struggled all year to consistently rush the quarterback and hold down the passing game of its opponents.

The Iron Bowl loss gives the Tigers an 8-4 record this year following a 5-0 start, including four losses in the team’s last five conference games. The Tigers allowed at least 31 points in each – a first in school history. In eight SEC games, the Auburn defense allowed an average of 32.8 points per game.

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    • Last season, the Tigers ranked ninth in scoring defense (24.7 points per game), tenth in rushing defense (162.1 yards per game), 13th in passing defense (258.6 yards per game) and 12th in total defense (420.7 yards per game).

    Because of the lack of success on the defensive side of the football, the news of Johnson’s firing does not come as a shock.

    Looking ahead to his replacement, expect plenty of big names to be listed as potential candidates, including Will Muschamp (our thoughts) and Bo Pelini (our thoughts). Another that may be involved could be UAB head coach Bill Clark, who may soon be unemployed should the Blazers’ program shut down this year as expected.

    Pure speculation here, but other names you may hear include Louisiana Tech’s Manny Diaz, Mississippi State’s Geoff Collins, Florida’s D.J. Durkin, Wisconsin’s and Dave Aranda.

    Of course, at this early hour, it’s difficult to speculate on who exactly will be offered or accept the job. However, the timing of the decision indicates head coach Gus Malzahn will move quickly to hire another DC.

    It is worth mentioning that Malzahn’s Hurry-Up No Huddle system is a turn off to some defensive coaches, which could limit the pool of applicants.

    FootballScoop also reports that Bobby Bentley has resigned – though details are murky at this time.

    We’ll have plenty of news and analysis on Johnson’s firing, the status of the rest of the staff, and possible replacements in the days and weeks to come.

    Next: Coaching Rumors: Bo Pelini Fired at Nebraska

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