The month of September could've been worse for Auburn Tiger fans. But not by much.
The vibes from the football team's season-opening 38-24 win over the Baylor Bears in Waco, Texas, on August 29 waned every week in September -- from beating the Ball State Cardinals slightly unconvincingly, to having way too much difficulty with the South Alabama Jaguars, to losing on the final drive against the Oklahoma Sooners and Texas A&M Aggies after 60 minutes of questionable offensive play-calling.
Bruce Pearl retired from the basketball program after a transformative 11-year run. While Steven Pearl is taking over and brings familiarity and a level of continuity, losing the greatest coach in program history by a country mile is devastating.
Unfortunately, on the final day of the month, the entire athletic department, spanning back several ADs to the 2014 hiring cycle, was slighted for the Bruce (and by extension, Steven) and Hugh Freeze hirings by the national media.
And worst of all, Urban Meyer was linked to the potentially imminently vacant head football coach job.
"Hugh Freeze says the product at Auburn is unacceptable, and he’s going to evaluate everything," USA Today's Matt Hayes wrote.
"If that doesn’t make you feel good about a coach that’s wasting the best defense in the SEC and two NFL first round draft picks at wide receiver, or has three different coaches calling offensive plays during games, maybe this will.
"Auburn has historically fired coaches for less, and far more important, Auburn has no shame when hiring coaches.
"If you’ll hire stained and discredited coaches like Bruce Pearl and Freeze, surely you’ll throw unthinkable cash at Urban Meyer to see if one of the greatest coaches of our generation wants one more shot at the SEC."
Whatever stain was on Pearl is gone. However much credit he lost, he re-acquired it with two Final Four appearances and minimal recruiting infractions outside of the Sharife Cooper mess. Freeze is a different story, but for the most part, he had rehabilitated his image after a 34-15 run with the Liberty Flames from 2019-2022 by the time he arrived on the Plains.
That shot is unnecessary. As is Meyer, who wouldn't consider the Plains if he ever had the urge to return to coaching.
The Florida Gators? That's an SEC connection worth exploring for Meyer. Not taking on the Auburn rebuilding project after seven years away from college football, and four years removed from an embarrassing tenure with the Jacksonville Jaguars.