As Auburn looks for its next head football coach after the dismissal of Hugh Freeze following two-plus seasons, many names are being thrown out to help lead the Tigers back to their winning ways.
For FOX Sports' Joel Klatt, though, Auburn athletic director John Cohen and the hiring committee should slow their roll when it comes to going after big names.
"Their expectations are over their skis," Klatt said during an appearance on The Next Round. "They aren’t even the best job in their own state. Like to be a good job, you’ve got to be a top job, top-two to four job in your conference. They’re not even the best job in their own state. And it’s not even like close.”
Klatt's rant continued.
“Yet the problem is, is that Auburn’s expectations are in line with Alabama’s expectations. And it’s just like, hey, like that ain’t it,” he said.
“You know, it’s like, it’s like the sister of the beauty queen that just ain’t quite, you know what I mean? Like, you know, she comes along a few years later, and she’s like, ‘My sister was the homecoming queen.’ It’s like, yeah, well, you ain’t your sister.”
Okay, let's sort through all of that mumble jumble. First, Alabama is, without a doubt, the best job in college football, so failing to live up to that expectation is not plausible. That's not to say that Auburn can't be great as well. There aren't many programs that can boast of a national title and a runner-up finish in the last 15 years.
Second, expectations are always going to be high at Auburn. Historically, it's a top-15 program that has seen some major wins and history in its time. To lower your expectations, as Klatt suggests, is a losing proposition. That's what historically bad programs do, not Auburn. If you want to beat the best, you have to expect to beat the best. While the Tigers have failed to do that recently, there's no question that the right hire can turn all of this around.
Finally, there will be no settling. People like Klatt may want Auburn to do that, but when expectations aren't met on the Plains, changes will be made. It doesn't take being the best program in the state to know that.