You know things aren’t going well when a school’s athletic director feels the need to release a statement issuing his support for the program’s football coach.

That’s where things currently stand at Auburn and considering the timing of this statement, this could have been released at any point following the Tigers’ terrible home loss to Tennessee back in mid-October, there’s an outstanding chance every program recruiting against Gus Malzahn’s Tigers are negatively recruiting against Auburn.

With the early signing period quickly approaching, it begins Wednesday, Dec. 19 and ends Friday, Dec. 21, it remains to be seen how effective those tactics will be against Auburn but with players leaving due to mishandled redshirts, and offensive coordinator hires being announced near midnight on a Sunday evening (by east coast time), things are certainly unsteady on The Plains at the moment.

Doing his best to calm the waters, Auburn AD Allen Greene has issued a statement to the Auburn community. His entire statement can be read here but we’ve gone ahead and highlighted the segment dealing with Malzahn’s football program:

Since the conclusion of the regular season, there has been speculation about the future of Auburn Football despite my previous public comments as well as statements from President Leath. Unfortunately, those rumors and speculation have not served the Auburn Family well.

Throughout the season, Coach Malzahn and I had discussions focused on placing our student-athletes in the best competitive position for the future. To confirm, Coach Malzahn is dedicated to this program and he has my support as we work together to move forward. Our discussions are ongoing, and we will focus on evolving in all facets of the program to achieve better and more consistent results. Rest assured, my commitment to overseeing and managing the effort to put Auburn football back at the level we expect and you deserve will be unrelenting.

We have the most passionate fan base in the country, who love Auburn and all it represents. You, the fans, are the driving force in our effort to make you proud. Of course, it stings when we fall short of our lofty expectations, but in true Auburn fashion, we will dust ourselves off and recommit to our goals.

Will this result in Auburn calming the nerves of its fan base and recruits, or will the message receive deaf ears?