The Auburn Tigers are fresh off a big win in Saturday’s Iron Bowl, and it seems the pressure has been taken off of coach Gus Malzahn, who entered the game on the hot seat.

The Tigers are 9-3 heading into a bowl game, but the win over Alabama is what fans will remember most from this season.

On his podcast on Monday, ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit said Auburn fans need to change their narrative around Malzahn (via 247Sports):

“All the credit to Gus Malzahn and Auburn, just a gauntlet of a season,” Herbstreit said. “To finish 9-3, in an era where all we hear about is ‘are they in the four, is it all about the Playoff?,’ I love to celebrate teams like Auburn who went 9-3.

“And they’re ready to fire Gus Malzahn after they lose to Georgia. ‘He’s not the guy, what’s he doing?’ And now they wanna give him a raise after he beats Alabama. Imagine living in that world as a head coach. Every fan base (is similar) but not as loud and as real as Auburn. He just kinda blocks it all out, keeps coaching, keeps believing in his kids, keeps his kids fighting, keeps them kinda just chopping wood despite some setbacks. And he still has them in the mindset to be able to win the Iron Bowl. I think this fan base should be celebrating Gus Malzahn and be very thankful that he’s their head coach.”

Will Tiger fans still be calling for Malzahn’s job this time next year? Or, has he finally proven himself?

We’ll find out in 2020.