Malzahn’s Seat Hotter Than Ever Ahead of 2019 Season

Head coach Gus Malzahn enters his sixth season on the hot seat as expectations are higher than ever before.

Imagine you are the head coach of the 5th winningest SEC college football program in history. Your entire program and university demands success in every aspect of your program and you’re responsible for recruiting and cultivating championship caliber talent. Expectations are not only high for you, but for all athletic programs and when any program achieves major success such as basketball or baseball, it only makes the spotlight shine even brighter on you.

Sound familiar? Let’s rewind:

This is the situation Gus Malzahn stepped into six years ago when he became the head coach of Auburn football. In his first season he completely transformed a program that had gone 3-9 the year before by taking them all the way to the national championship game. The Tigers were only a few seconds away from victory. The loss was heartbreaking but the successes of the season showed major promise for the future of Auburn football.

The Tigers entered 2014 with excitement of returning to college football’s biggest stage only to come nowhere near it finishing the season 8-5 and losing to Wisconsin in the Outback Bowl. The biggest fall from grace came the next year. Going into 2015 the Tigers’ quarterback Jeremy Johnson was a Heisman favorite and the team was the projected winner of the SEC Championship.

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The Tigers lost 32 players prior to the 2015 season and in the season opener Heisman hopeful Jeremy Johnson threw three interceptions against Louisville. The Cardinals came back from 24-0 before Auburn finally put the Cards away. It was immediately apparent to everyone that there were major issues on both sides of the ball for the Tigers. Impact players Carl Lawson, Tray Matthews, Roc Thomas and Jovon Robinson each suffered injuries sidelining them throughout the season and with little to no depth at key positions the offense and defense struggled. After losing to LSU 45-21, Gus Malzahn replaced Jeremy Johnson with freshman quarterback Sean White who would lead the Tigers to a 7-6 record including a victory over Memphis in the Birmingham Bowl.

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While the team fell incredibly short of the expectations levied against them, 2015 could only be viewed by some as a major rebuilding year. In addition to losing 32 players the Tigers replaced Ellis Johnson with Will Muschamp at defensive coordinator and suffered major tragedy prior to the season when teammate Jakell Mitchell was murdered at an off-campus apartment complex.

After a less than ideal 7-6 season all the Tigers could do was look ahead.

The defense improved tremendously in the 2016 season with the hiring of Kevin Steele as defensive coordinator, but offensive woes continued. The Tigers finished SEC play 5-3 and went on to play Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl where the Tigers lost 35-19. The burners were officially set under Malzahn’s seat.

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Jarrett Stidham transferred from Baylor at a time when Auburn quarterbacks played on a carousel system. Fans turned a deaf ear to all hype surrounding the quarterback after witnessing the downfall of Jeremy Johnson just two years prior. In the second game of the season Stidham threw for just 79 yards against Clemson and was sacked 11 times while the defense shined holding the opposing Tigers to just 14 points. This game was a turning point in the season and a wake up call for Stidham.

Stidham began to right the ship for the Tigers as they convincingly defeated Missouri, Mississippi State, and Ole Miss. Auburn was on a hot streak when they opened up to a 20-0 lead against the LSU Tigers when they gave up 27 points to go on and lose 27-23. The Tigers went undefeated the rest of the regular season by defeating number two Georgia and number one Alabama. The 10-2 Tigers headed to Atlanta to compete against Georgia in the SEC Championship game only to lose due to another inconsistent, anemic offensive performance.

Auburn’s embarrassing regular season offensive performances against Clemson and LSU came back to knock the Tigers out of playoff contention while their two biggest rivals they had defeated both advanced. Auburn lost in Atlanta again to UCF in the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl and UCF later went on to claim this victory as a national title. Auburn sat and watched their two rivals who they had defeated go on to compete against each other for the national championship. It was the last of many demoralizing blows to the Tigers’ once hopeful season.

Blissfully unaware to the potential problems that the 2017 season foreshadowed for the Tigers, then president Steven Leath and the Auburn Board of Trustees approved a 7 year $49 million contract for Gus Malzahn. It was an effort to keep Malzahn from leaving for Arkansas and obviously it worked. Malzahn, who was once known for his historical turnaround of the program, was now known as the coach who couldn’t establish an effective, consistent offense.

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Auburn fans entered the 2018 season jaded after exiting the rollercoaster ride that was the season before. The Tigers were expected to field yet another championship caliber defense under the guidance of Kevin Steele and Jarrett Stidham was a frontrunner for the Heisman. Hype for 2018 was reminiscent of the hype for 2015, and both seasons had similar outcomes. Like the 2015 season the 2018 Tigers suffered from anemic offensive woes. The Tigers finished 8-5 and broke records against Purdue in the Music City Bowl defeating the Boilermakers 63-14.

While the 63-14 win over Purdue showed major promise for the future, Tiger fans can’t help but ask, “will this next season truly be different or will we just continue seeing the same pattern?” Preparations have been made for replacements to be made. In November Malzahn met with Leath and agreed to the terms of a reduced contract buyout in order to continue coaching. In the seven months since their meeting Steven Leath has stepped down and Auburn’s basketball and baseball teams both made history by competing in the Final Four and the College World Series. The great success in basketball and baseball makes the demand for success in football even greater.

This season Malzahn’s seat has never been hotter. Malzahn faces the challenge of potentially starting a freshman quarterback against the nation’s hardest schedule and will take over the role of calling plays while Kenny Dillingham works closely with quarterbacks. Will he be able to delegate control and focus solely on playcalling? Only time will tell.