Former Auburn football head coach Gus Malzahn’s name tends to pop up when the Tigers fail spectacularly under the man that replaced him. Saturday was no different after Georgia knocked the doors off Auburn Between the Hedges during an October 8 blowout that was, at no point, winnable for AU.
The Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry has been uncompetitive for the last five years, but in 2017, Malzahn was able to get a win led by running back Kerryon Johnson’s 167 rushing yards on 32 carries.
Johnson, the highest-drafted RB during the Malzahn era of Auburn football, stuck up for his head coach following yet another lopsided Georgia win following social media slander of the current UCF HC.
The currently unsigned NFL running back out of Huntsville claimed that while there was not a perfect head coaching candidate at the time, the Tigers at least went to SEC Championship games with Malzahn at the helm:
Not a lot of coaches are gonna get you national title contentions within the same state of Saban…we had one that could…we wanted more and got less…no amount of time is long enough unless there’s a perfect candidate which is very rare and wasn’t the case for us at the time https://t.co/LZ8icsBQYe
— Kerryon Johnson (@CoachKerryon) October 8, 2022
He went on to say that there is no time for rebuilding in the SEC, making the call to remove Malzahn following the 2020 season a questionable one in hindsight — considering the lack of a worthy replacement in line:
I love Gus(obviously) and i understand wanting more from him for sure…but you can’t afford “down time” or rebuild in this conference and especially not in this day and age…it’s just extremely hard to overcome…especially with all our fantastic non football related problems https://t.co/4uYSGzZPMz
— Kerryon Johnson (@CoachKerryon) October 8, 2022
Auburn football will be in SEC purgatory until Bryan Harsin is fired
The situation on the Plains is reaching unfathomable JABA territory right now. Bryan Harsin staying on for the entire 2022 season to save buyout money is looking increasingly likely per On3’s Justin Hokanson.
Given that the fanbase has already turned their back on Harsin, the Tigers are in SEC purgatory until the Boise native is sent on a one-way flight back to the Pacific Northwest — unless of course, he wants to be sent to Colorado or Arizona State, instead. Harsin has been called a ‘good fit’ for either program.