Auburn got bad news, but not unfamiliar news, on Sunday as it lost yet another assistant under head coach Gus Malzahn.
The school has experienced a high rate of turnover during his three-tenure in the Plains, which started with an appearance in the final ever BCS National Championship Game, a narrow 34-31 loss to Florida State.
Since then, War Eagle has seen plenty of assistants flee the nest. An important got away on Sunday, and he went to a division rival. That’s when it was confirmed that receivers coach Dameyune Craig was leaving for the same position at LSU.
AL.com Auburn beat reporter Brandon Marcello spoke to Paul Finebaum on Monday about the move, one that Marcello clearly doesn’t take lightly.
"Losing Dameyune Craig was a big hit. He was solely responsible for bringing in AU's touted WR class" – @bmarcello pic.twitter.com/8CT9yzaglI
— Paul Finebaum (@finebaum) February 15, 2016
Since the end of the 2014 season, eight Auburn assistants have either left or been fired under Malzahn. Here’s a look at each of those eight assistants in a graphic courtesy of CoachingSearch.com’s Chris Vannini.
As you can see, a handful left after the end of last season, three of which left for comparable jobs. Of course, instability is something no program wants in his coaching staff, and that’s resulted in Malzahn being on shaky ground, according to Marcello.
.@bmarcello adds that Gus Malzahn is "absolutely" on the hot seat in 2016
— Paul Finebaum (@finebaum) February 15, 2016
Born and raised in Gainesville, Talal joined SDS in 2015 after spending 2 years in Bristol as an ESPN researcher. Previously, Talal worked at The Gainesville Sun.
