Analyst: Nick Saban wasn’t biggest battle former Auburn HC faced on the Plains
Nick Saban wasn’t the biggest battle former Auburn football head coach Gus Malzahn faced during his eight-year tenure coaching the Tigers according to Heavy’s Jonathan Adams. Instead, it was the boosters who ultimately ousted him in an attempt to replace him with his defensive coordinator, Kevin Steele.
“Malzahn took the reverse path of Frost coming to UCF after eight years at Auburn with his tenure in the Plains being about as high a profile college football job that exists,” Adams wrote. “The coach spent close to a decade battling in the same state as Alabama’s Nick Saban, one of the best coaches in college football history. The bigger battle proved to be against Auburn boosters and administrators who determined the 103 victories were not enough before handing the coach a pink slip.”
Malzahn had a 68-35 record on the Plains, but his final season — a COVID-19-stricken campaign that wiped away AU’s home-field advantage and ability to use all recruiting resources in 2020 — saw the Tigers finish with a 6-4 regular season record. In truth, Auburn’s loss to South Carolina may have been the last straw for Malzahn, though even if the Tigers had won that game they still would’ve finished third in the SEC West behind Alabama and Texas A&M.
Auburn football has yet to recover from Gus Malzahn’s departure
As of yet, Auburn football hasn’t recovered from Malzahn’s exit from the program. Sure, Hugh Freeze has built significant recruiting momentum, but a six or even seven-win season in 2023 wouldn’t be any more of a needle-mover than the final few seasons of the Malzahn era.
Two years of Bryan Harsin broke the spirit of many fans, but the program’s regular season sellout record for the 2023 season shows that the Boise native’s damage was only temporary.
We reported yesterday it was imminent and today it's official: Auburn football has produced the largest hard sell out of season tickets in the history of the program -- +600 over previous record in 2014 and 7,000+ more season tickets sold than 2022
— Justin Hokanson (@_JHokanson) July 5, 2023
FREE https://t.co/2K0iQcpIww
Freeze may well lead the renaissance East Central Alabama is clamoring for, but until he does, Malzahn’s exit serves as the turning point for a program that is no longer considered to be a potential champion by most pundits after being one for at least half of Malzahn’s Tigers tenure.