So long Gus? Auburn fans want to hire controversial former SEC head coach
As you might expect, Gus Malzahn is not particularly popular with the Auburn fanbase after the No. 15 Tigers’ lost to unranked South Carolina 30-22 in Columbia on Saturday.
Malzahn is seemingly always linked to the “hot seat” except after wins over Alabama. While there is no indication of any changes to Malzahn’s job status, plenty of college football fans, including AU supporters, were talking about a certain controversial, offensive-minded former SEC head coach taking over for Malzahn on The Plains.
“Hugh Freeze to Auburn” is officially a thing on Twitter, as you can see in the posts below:
I bet Hugh Freeze is on Zillow as we speak looking at houses in Auburn.
— Carl Williams (@CarlMWilliams) October 17, 2020
Auburn should hire Hugh Freeze
— William Norris (@William_Norris3) October 17, 2020
Hugh Freeze to Auburn. You heard it here first
— Slimy Jack (@slimy_jack30) October 17, 2020
Hugh Freeze To Auburn
— Harrison Tyler (@HarrisonUFC) October 17, 2020
Hugh Freeze to Auburn!
— ri (@rileyzepp) October 17, 2020
Let me introduce you to the new Auburn Football Coach…Hugh Freeze !!!!
— Ron Lee (@ronlee1975) October 17, 2020
Hugh freeze to Auburn
— Derrick L. Mercer (@dmercerspeaks) October 17, 2020
Auburn better call Hugh Freeze
— Dewon (@MaQboney) October 17, 2020
Can auburn hire hugh freeze now?
— Warner Adcock (@WarnerBA) October 17, 2020
Would Hugh Freeze be a legitimate option or is he banned from SEC and too much baggage?
— The Pelham Patriot (and Auburn Tiger for Life) (@pelhampatriot) October 17, 2020
We got to bring Hugh Freeze to Auburn
— Tony Snow (@cantbeonyou) October 17, 2020
Hugh Freeze to Auburn
— WDT (@WarDamnTrump) October 17, 2020
Some people have no shame. Hugh Freeze will probably find himself back in the SEC at some point in the future, but if anyone believes he’s going to go straight from Liberty to another HC gig in the SEC they’re delusional.
Liberty has better facilities than 1/2 the SEC programs, and if he wins and promotes fairness and demonstrates it in private/public life I could see him getting a HC position at power 5 program… just maybe not SEC. LOL. But I think he would be a good hire
We shall see. Freeze was obviously all that at Ole Miss; and didn’t cheat any more than the others; (Including your boy) SAINT Nick just couldn’t stand losing to OM so he sicked the ncaa on him. And those as they say, are Just the Facts. On a level field, (Which Saban doesn’t ever want) Freeze coached the pants off little Nick. And that IS a fact.
OK BOOMER
OK MILLENNIAL…on the cliche wagon I see.
Somebody is cranky and crying since it’s only week 4 and their season has already went to sh!+
Oh how I was holding on for Arkansas….only to see the game decided by incompetent officiating. What a shame.
Swede…Looks like we’ve got another Bama-hater…Keep on hating as we keep on winning !
There’s this guy named Lane Kiffin that just left FAU n landed at SEC school N he left Bama to go to FAU. So who was u saying was delusional.
Absolutely no.
Let them hire him.
When Auburn is inevitably hit with NCAA sanctions via a typical “Hugh Freeze” controversy the rest of the SEC will have something to get a chuckle out of.
Auburn doesn’t have those problems anymore.
Exhibit 1: Cam Newton
Exhibit 2: Bruce Pearl
I think they have incriminating photos of NCAA investigators.
Sort of like Bama with the videos on the internet of players doing signings at T Town Menswear.
Pearl has been clean and was not remotely accused of the conduct Freeze was investigated for at Ole Miss.
Keep complaining about Cam but only one team was found by the NCAA to have offered money. It was on tape and yet Mullen is still in the SEC and Miss State didn’t even get a sanction.
Typical Auburn. Y’all still claim we offered money. We’re the ones that turned you smucks in. Most of you guys are delusional. I say most because fans in the know will admit the truth and say they’re just glad that the punishment fell on daddy Newton and not the team. Can’t believe I’m still smh at some of you.
Your just ticked that SC won’t get Freeze when he does take an SEC job again. Yall stuck with Will. LOL.
Call me crazy but I would like to see what PJ Fleck could do at Auburn.
My number 1 pick
Him or Napier I would take
Napier is my number 2 haha
Who’s your number 3? Christobal is my number 1 but don’t know if we could get him.
Matt Campell
I’d be okay with that one as well
Cristobal? Obviously I’m a Bama guy and I hate to be negative but there is no way Cristobal leaves to come to Auburn. Billy Napier is another former assistant Saban would drag up and down the field.
Auburn gets way too excited when they beat Bama and start giving their Head Coaches massive contracts with impossible buyouts. You’re stuck with “let’s go for 2 with a trick play after our first TD” Malzahn. You actually lost to Arkansas. Why would yall give that Goober such a massive contract and buyout?
Oh wait, I know the answer. Because he beat Bama twice in 3 years. Forget that he lost to Georgia and LSU and Minnesota…
Come on man.
Didn’t Fleck sign a long term contract with Minnesota?
Yes but to buy him out of it is only 4.5 million.
PJ Fleck would be a homerun hire for any school, Auburn, LSU, Texas or otherwise. I can only imagine what he could do with 4 and 5 star players Minnesota doesn’t get.
He would be a great hire for sure for auburn we will see next sat as minnesota faces michigan
PJ Fleck isn’t rowing any boat to Auburn.
Fleck is a good coach. It would be interesting to see how he’d do in the SEC.
I say promote Chad Morris and his hammer down left lane offense.
It’s a process and will take some time but he could get them going.
Let’s just hope he doesn’t have to play that vaulted San Jose St. team!
lol I’m crying here laughing so hard.
Its a work in progress…Chad says he only has maybe 20% of his offense installed. Just wait and…what? That’s what he said at Arky? Oh OK then…never mind.
that’s a bingo!
Lol
Yeah , wait till he gets it %100. They will lose every game. WPS !!!
There is no way in hades that Greg Sankey will allow any school to hire Hugh Freeze as a head coach.
If he stepped in to ensure Saban couldn’t hire him as a coordinator, this for sure ain’t happening.
This Bama fan was relieved when that answer was a hard “no.”
Good game yesterday; y’all had me worried for quite a while. I think both teams learned a lot from each other. The teams that come next are in for rigorous games when they play against UGA or UA. Both of our teams just improved their weakest points.
I think we learned that we are still “ Bama wannabes “. Can’t expect to hang with Saban in T town with a walk-on QB. He did his best. I could do no better, but he’s not an SEC caliber QB. Jamie Newsome used us. It’s an offensive era. I don’t expect any different outcome in Atlanta if we get by Ky and gators. Congratulations on another top 5 win!
I thought Georgia recruited 4* and 5* quarterbacks and got some great quarterbacks from transfer?
We did…we did…and we did, is there a question in there Lefty
This
If Freeze has served his Show Cause; Stinky can’t prevent any hire.
Nooooo noooooo nooooooi
But a Meg Ryan Yesssss Yesssss Yessss to canning Gus.
To beach bum;
“Now that there’s funny I don’t care who you are.”
Larry the Cable Guy
I don’t freeze wants to go to that cauldron.
Thought it was going to be Saint Urban.
I believe the “eyes of Texas” are looking straight at Urban Meyer right now. Urban chooses his jobs based upon the administration, current talent on the roster.
Auburn always wants to fire somebody.
Auburn always needs to fire somebody lol
Is Auburn fans included?
I feel like that’s almost every school.
Auburn’s had 3 HC in 20 yrs…Compare that to other top SEC programs and get back to me. Gus lost a NC he should’ve won 1st yr… since then he hasn’t sniffed the playoffs. Time to go!
I guess you forgot he beat 2 NO#1 teams in 2017 and was 1 game or 1 injury Kerryon away from the playoffs. Short memory for AU fans.
So he’s sniffed the playoffs once…..he’s still got to go.
Good luck paying his buyout. Auburn can’t afford it.
Lol you don’t know what you’re taking about. they’ve had a storage unit stacked with cash for the past 3 seasons. A lot of AU people hate Gus. Our program is in a good place. Better than Arky in terms of skill, and look how successful they are already this year. Chad built them, he is just a terrible HC
Stop playin. They won’t and you know it. Don’t know why they hate him. He’s a good guy but an average to slight above average coach which suites Auburn’s football program.
Stick to chess and academics..
Auburn is not lacking in the money department. If they want him gone they’ll do it. It’s a matter of when they want to do it.
Stick to your most relevant sport. Is it basketball now or something else?
Does Vandy even have athletics?
Yeah, we destroy your baseball and women’s bowling team every year. That’s all we got. Pretty sure we have more recent natty’s than you as well.
Women’s bowling.. enough said lol
They display it proudly in the rec center/football facility/pool/band practice facility/whatever else they can fit in there..
A Vandy fan taking shots at Auburn’s football program is pure gold. Yeah, the team that played for three SEC championships (won two) and two national championships (won one and came close to winning another) over the last ten years is “slightly above average.” lol Auburn is a good program and would be a great one with more consistency, which could be attained with a better coach.
Keep talking all the way to the Gator Bowl losing to some Big Ten or Big 12 team. Those expectations are high every year.
Replied to the wrong comment (lol), but I’m sure you can find it below.
At least we have expectations..
I’m still trying to process the fact that a Vandy is ragging on Auburn!! Lmao, seriously? Have you guys even had a winning season?
Oh yeah, Vandy has athletics. Follow baseball?
Vandy flirted with being average for a coupe years under Frankin til he left. Regress to the mean of awful I guess lol
OMG! Are you giving cover to Chaggy Morris? LOL!
What a non-answer. Auburn does have high expectations every year. Failure to meet them doesn’t mean they aren’t there. Auburn is one of the winningest college football programs of all time, one of the most successful in the last decade, is one of the most valuable brands in college football, one of the top recruiting schools in the sport, and has a long blue-blood history with some of the sport’s most legendary names (Bo Jackson, Cam Newton, etc.). You’re just not right about Auburn being slightly above average as a program, whether you’re looking in the short or the long term. It’s a dumb thing to say, even if Auburn looks bad right now and doesn’t always compete with the top of the sport. Auburn consistently plays one of the toughest schedules in the nation (Alabama, UGA, and LSU every single year, with other teams such as Washington, Oregon, Clemson, etc. coming most years). Not being Alabama/UGA/Clemson =/= “slightly above average.” Auburn winning 8-9 games a year (sometimes 10, sometimes more–two natty appearances in the last decade, remember?) against a schedule like that, regularly competing/beating tough teams is not “slightly above average.” Auburn is a good program that could be much better with leadership that can actually use the talent on the field.
When you lose 4-5 games every year while signing top classes is the definition of average. A 2-5 bowl record is below average. Beating that powerful Group of 5 team in the B’ham bowl gets washed out by losing to another Group of 5 team in the Peach Bowl. Auburn has a solid history but your program under Gus is average with some lucky highs. The prayer, kick 6 and being allowed to spike the ball backwards & still kick the “winning” FG shows luck.
I absolutely agree that Gus isn’t getting the most out of his talent, and that relative to what he’s got on the field and what we expect him to do, he’s not even average but downright awful, but I don’t think that’s the same as saying Auburn is a “slightly above average” program. Auburn is still a major college football brand that routinely blows out the truly average teams and generally only has trouble beating the upper echelon of schools like Bama, LSU, UGA, Clemson, etc. It’s easy to talk about bowl games, but Auburn playing Clemson within one score two years in a row, beating Pac-12 favorites/champions in Washington and Oregon, beating Bama two of the last three, playing down to the wire against the greatest team in college football history in last year’s LSU, generally playing to the wire against a resurgent UGA, all the while decimating average-to-lower-end SEC schools isn’t “slightly above average.” It’s good but not good enough to justify Gus’s salary or fan expectations. Of course, it appears this year the team is nosediving. lol
I agree that there has been luck involved at times, but that’s the case for all teams in a way, and it doesn’t mean that Auburn didn’t play at a high level to even get in those circumstances.
BringYourAGame, your comment isn’t even worth dignifying. lol
Let’s all take a breath and a step back and remember that Cam Newton was at Auburn for 1.5 semesters. That’s 18 weeks, with 12 of them being in the summer.
We all remember he took his classes online because Chizik deemed him “too disruptive in class because everybody wanted to talk to him.”
1.5 semesters. And he has a statue. Without the stolen laptop I assume.
what are you another disgruntled MSU fan? LMFAO!!
He also went back and got his degree, on campus.
While we’re tossing out ridiculous a** names, why not Art Briles? Same chance as czar Sankey allowing Hugh back in.
Briles is a choir boy compared to Freeze. Nobody has even proven exactly what Briles supposedly did.
This is going to really make some “bad-at-math” fans mad. But if the hiring and firing in the SEC stay on track, it’s probably inevitable that a lot of programs are going to be near .500 every year. This year could turn out to be a first example of many to come. We could still be winning 75%-100% of our bowl games even if this happens.
Ya’ll enjoy Chad Morris-he is doing a great job with Bo!
I can’t even get annoyed by the constant Morris heckling. He put y’all through a lot as head coach. lol I think both Auburn and Arkansas fans can unite around distaste for Chad’s incompetence.
Jury is still out on Chad I think but theres no doubt Bo has regressed in year 2.
No it’s not. He can’t coach.
I agree completely! Can we also unite behind prematurely blown whistle’s?
Yes, we can.
It shows a lack of sound decision making by Gus. Why would he think Chad Morris could do anything but bring criticism to the program. If he tells the truth, his offense is so complicated that in three years at Arkansas he never got it fully installed. That’s a big red flag Gus!
Right Wagdaddy!!! Sorry the replay crew gave Auburn the game last week! It was sickening to watch!Right now Auburn is showing like they did
when they bought Scam Newton that they are willing to stoop even lower than that by hiring an unfaithful Head Coach to replace an incompetent one!That’s the culture on the plains.Seeing Gus wearing Coach Dyes favorite cap is a disgrace!
Oof!
Ouch.
I want P.J. Fleck. We need someone insatiable intensity, energy, who can take a program with infinite potential to its highest levels. He is insanely motivating, would be an incredible recruiter, and has the intensity and intelligence to come in and put Auburn back up as a consistent Heavyweight. The only obvious obstacles are both buyouts
Hugh Freeze will never be hired as Auburn’s HC! Kevin Steele would be promoted to HC before they brought on that baggage!
Ken Steele for HC!
Saturday Down South you have no shame. These are the affiliations of the tweeters.
Carl Williams – Alabama
William Norris – Florida
Slimy Jack – Ole Miss
RI – Auburn
Ron Lee – Georgia
Derrick L Mercer – Georgia
Dewon – Alabama
Broken clocks are right more often. You couldn’t even be bothered to look at these peoples twitter feeds before you decided they were Auburn fans. I literally clicked on the links in your article to figure this out.
This narrative we want to fire Gus every time he sneezes has got to stop.
OK so you are into mediocrity?
Just stop that bs. That is just a word.
I dont have an identifier because I follow several teams that I have some connection to. Follow Alabama(my son), Georgia(friends), Arky(lived there and you pull for the underdog, now dont you). And its not “broken clocks are right more often”, its broken clocks are right twice each day.
He’s saying that broken clocks are right more often than those tweeting. If he said broken clocks are right twice a day that implies that those tweeting are at least twice right a day.
I agree. Nice work. Just other fan bases stirring stuff up.
I hope so. A decade of suspensions and losing.
That sanctimonious hypocrite is exactly where he belongs. He isn’t getting within 200 miles of an SEC job.
If Aw-Burn hires Freeze you can stop talking about morals, integrity and honesty. Spare us all the coach talk about hard work and preparing leaders. Freeze should be grateful and finish up at Leeburty and continue the facade of rehabilitation.
You are already there with Gus. No integrity.
Best coach AU has had in my memory is about to become junior senator from Alabama. Roll Tide!
I thought Hugh Freeze at first, but I don’t know if it would fit.
PJ Fleck would be great, but it seems like he’s working with Minnesota for now.
Where did the Bob Stoops conversation go? Not my number one choice, but he’d be an option.
Call me crazy, and I probably am, but would Jordan Palmer be a possible option at offensive coordinator? It’s far fetched, because it seems like he’s content privately training quarterbacks, but he is the best quarterbacks coach in the entire country. We need someone like that who can actually develop quarterbacks.
We really need someone like Bruce Pearl, but the football version. Someone with energy, passion, strategy, and poise.
Could we maybe bring in Dan Quinn? Wouldn’t be an awful hire.
As an NFL fan, do not hire Quinn
lol
It was amusing when Southern Miss fans were talking about Freeze last month, as Freeze makes $2mil a year at Liberty, and So Miss pays $500K and has trouble scraping that up. Auburn can obviously afford him, but I don’t know that Sankey is ready to allow him back in the conference.
The call should be “Freeze and a burner phone to Auburn”.
You guys should go full bore for Fleck. Would he move? Who knows but its clear the guy is the real deal. Talking about Freeze you might as well be calling for Petrino….school provided cell phones(stupid use by Freeze) and motorcycle babes(Stupider use of a motorcycle).
Even if Auburn wanted to go in that direction – a big if – I doubt Sankey would be on board. Freeze embarrassed the SEC immensely, and it wasn’t that long ago. He needs more time in coaching purgatory.
Hugh will freeze over before he is the next Auburn head coach. Jon Gruden will be the head coach at Tennessee before Freeze is the head coach at Auburn.
If Auburn fires Gus, the actual prospects would be people like Matt Campbell, Sonny Dykes, Bryan Harsin, Chris Kleiman, and Luke Fickell, and probably three on this list would politely decline.
Auburn could endanger their attraction in a similar way that Houston and Texas have done. It’s like being USC basketball for all those years during the John Wooden era at UCLA. It’s better to hire one excellent coach and understand that 2nd place in LA is the best you can do.
Louisville basketball has learned how to survive in the Commonwealth as the Avis team. Auburn needs to realize this and thrive as best as they can.
Gus’ huge buyout is a big nut to crack…but there are lots of problems within the Auburn program currently.
You could see Fickell in the SEC right soon. He’d be a great fit.
He has a $15 million buyout. He won’t be rowing that boat down the Chattahoochi.
@LH61, many of the posters on here are probably too young to get the “Avis” reference.
I disagree with this. We’ve won before, so there’s no reason we can’t do it consistently. The problem is college football itself. When four programs are hoarding all the players, that’s an issue. Saban and Dabo will eventually leave and that could help some. But Bama and Clemson playing for the title every year is bad for fans and the sport. Something’s gotta give.
He just needs to get Morris the right recruits for his offense and they will be just fine. /end sarcasm
Good one
Can Saban afford to throw the Iron Bowl so Gus can get another raise and extension and still get Bama to the playoffs?
Oh man…I cant wait for the Iron Bowl. Just can’t wait.
But don’t forget auburn fans…Malzahn won the IB last year. And you know the IB is auburn’s national championship gane. LOL!
Sure, go with a coach who preaches and tweets about virtues and gets caught with one hand on his knob and the other calling hookers—with his school-issued cell phone.
Nevermind that 15 of 21 NCAA violations on his watch were Level 1 — the most severe type, including staffers fixing ACT scores to qualify recruits and boosters who allowed recruits access to hunt on private land. Do not forget Ole Miss knew the NCAA caught them and self-imposed a bowl ban in 2017.
NCAA imposed an additional bowl ban in 2018, added two years to an ongoing two-year probation, assessed penalties of $179,000, and the NCAA reduced 13 scholarships in addition to the 11 the Rebels voluntarily surrendered. Plus, a large number of the coaching staff received show-cause orders from the NCAA.
Then there is the player who received $10K from a booster on the eve of national signing day. We cannot forget the Ole Miss merchandiser who provided free stuff to recruits and players, or the free food and alcohol that bars and eateries gave to players, plus the other $10K given to a player by a booster.
I will not bring up the specific controversy that came to light after leaving his high school volleyball coaching job. Yes, this sounds just like the man Auburn needs—if you do not care about the values that the young men will unlearn under his tutelage.
Is he a good coach? Who knows? NCAA level-1 violations seem to follow him. Is he an effective coach if he follows the rules and enforces NCAA policies? Maybe Auburn can find out for sure: but, does Auburn want to take a chance on bowl-bans and scholarship reductions if the tiger will not change his stripes?
Hugh Freeze??…. If you wanna go that far… HELL!!! Hire Bobby Petrino!
Bobby Petrino is not that good nowadays!
Well…it IS Missouri State he is dealing with and I suspect, like Freeze is doing, paying his rehab dues. Someone will hire Petrino as an OC which will be his last job before retiring with his millions.
It was a joke
On your is toast. See Louisville.
I am a Bama fan, but as an SEC fan I think Freeze would be a good move for Auburn. Hell, he dialed up Saban’s number at Ole’ Miss.
I think Auburn should consider a new quarterback.
They don’t have one.
Should have gotten Kelly Bryant last year! LOL
They let a very good prospect get away because Bo is “Auburn Royalty” and the young man saw the writing on the wall
Chad morris needs more time. He only has 30% of his offense installed
Chad after the game…”I dont understand. My plays look great on paper”.
Go ahead…I can recommend a cell phone carrier!
This makes for a catchy article, but that is all it is. 0% chance this happens.
Remember when there were those rumors about Gus going to Malzahn? If only that had happened instead of Morris coming to Auburn.
This is turning out to be the worst Auburn offense since 2012.
I hear Gene Chizik is available!
Whatever Lane Kiffin does at Ole Miss,Auburn should make a serious run for him.His ability with coaching QBs up is outstanding,not to mention his play calling.The level of recruits(4&5star)that he could get at Auburn exceed that at Ole Miss dramatically!Gus is not giving the players a fair shake.When your inability to coach begins to affect the players it’s time to step aside.
.
During the game at SC Gus wandered the sideline looking like…If I were calling the plays, maybe I could help the team ? Maybe or maybe not. It sure looks like the fan base has turned on Gus now…time for “GoFundMe-Fire Gus” ? Because that buyout is not small change…plus the assistants/coordinators.
Freeze might return but as an OC first.
Id take:
Freeze, of Fleck, but what about B. Stoops?
The rumors from last year had some credit. He was spotted in Montgomery. Why would he ever go there?
AU should take a play out of Bama’s book with Sabin. Hire Stoops and never bother him.
Hugh Freeze wasn’t even a bad coach he just got caught doing shady stuff probably every coach does
Hugh Freeze lost to a Brett Belima coached Arkansas team 2 year’s in a row…. are u sure he’s not a bad coach?
Auburn won’t hire Hugh Freeze. And even if it tried, he probably wouldn’t take the job because he and Gus are very close friends. My top choices, in no particular order, would be Fleck, Napier, Campbell, and Cristobal.
Would Auburn take a chance on Joe Brady? Seems like he would work well with the talent AU has, provided he can get an experienced DC.
I wondered the same thing.
All of this is moot. Nobody is gonna do anything this year. Therefore it will have to be what happens after the 2021 season. So Gus gets to make his 10th year at Auburn.
My pick would be Bob Stoops or Brent Venables. Gus has to go i don’t care what they have to do to get rid of him gus best place to go is back to high school.
Venables is not going anywhere. He has turned down opportunities in the past. **He actually realizes that he is a very, very good defensive coordinator(unlike some “D” coordinators who accept head coaching jobs, you fill in the names of those guys)… and gets paid accordingly.
There are a lot of folks that will be calling on Fleck. Better keep him on your radar screen. Then again, I vote you keep the Gus/Chad combo..for personal reasons.
We can only hope the Gus/Chad dynamic duo stays around for some more years. The odds have got to be against them at some point in officiating saves.
Just play Arkansas and the “officiating save Gods” will be on any sec teams favor!(That’s not Arkansas)
I’d rather Auburn go after P.J. Fleck from Minnesota.
Gus played us like a $2 fiddle to get his extension at Auburn.
That’s fine; it’s a business, and he has a family to look out for
Just don’t ever darken our door again.