Gus Malzan: What They're Saying

There aren't any more excuses left for the $49-million coach. Apart from a fortunate national championship run in 2013, Malzahn simply hasn't gotten the job done. ... Six years as a head coach is more than enough time to build your program. Malzahn is in his sixth year and looks as lost as ever. ... Malzahn has shown over and over again that he will not adjust, and he will not give up on his failing offensive system. ... It's time to give up on Gus Malzahn.

This contract that Auburn signed with Gus Malzahn has the potential to be the worst contract ever signed in college football history.

His problem is self-evident: the fans don't like him. They have no faith in him. They're not eager to support him, and I really don't know where this program goes now. Gus Malzahn doesn't have a plan moving forward. The plan was exactly what we witnessed on Saturday afternoon against a run-of-the-mill SEC program in Tennessee.

Somebody at Auburn needs to insist that he make changes or leave on his own accord ... if Malzahn refuses to learn and refuses to change, then make him answer to somebody.

Any coach worthy of a $50 million contract ought to be able to devise a plan for his quarterback to be more successful.

It's clear that halfway through the 2018 season, Auburn just isn't a good football team. Gus Malzahn has serious questions to answer about why his team is 4-3. The locker room is reportedly not in a good place, and neither is the on-field product.

32 million, need I remind you, for a coach that has gone just 37-22 at Auburn with a 1-3 bowl record since he lost to Florida State in the national championship game. Getting to a national championship should get Malzahn the heaps of praise he deserves, but since then, he's been an average to below-average coach in the SEC.

The man charged with leading Auburn's program for the next seven years for $49 million has gone from knocking off a top-10 team in Week 1 to losing to a Tennessee team that was on an 11-game losing streak in the SEC.

It's Malzahn's job to get this team focused and make sure each unit has a great game plan in all three phases. The Tigers did not do that last week under Malzahn.

It's not just that the Tigers are so bad they are now the worst team in the Southeastern Conference. That would be disastrous. This is so much worse.

Auburn is stuck with a coach the fans don't want, and the players don't play for.

One thing is for sure. The fleecing of Auburn has begun. Auburn is the most disappointing team in the country this season.

The defense was one of the best in the country to begin the season. It all but quit on Malzahn in the fourth quarter.

There is something much worse than anger in Auburn these days. Anger can be channeled. Apathy can set programs back for years.

Auburn overbilled itself this season, and probably overpaid its coach, too.

Under Malzahn, Auburn finds itself stuck in a no-man's land somewhere just north of mediocrity but well south of excellence.

Auburn fans have to take a long look at this program and ponder the question, "Who is Gus Malzahn and what is this program all about? Is he a coach that caught lightning in a bottle in 2013, with two of the most miraculous come from behind wins in history or is he just an average, middle of the road coach who can get you to 10 wins every once in awhile but is most likely going to get you to eight?"

By blowing a 20-point lead at LSU, Gus Malzahn confirmed what's been strongly suspected the past three seasons - he has little chance to lead the Tigers back into an SEC contender. Auburn has two home games left in which they'll definitely be underdogs, Alabama and Georgia. Those programs have emerged as the class of the SEC, an echelon that the Tigers don't look capable of returning to under Malzahn.

Somehow, someway something has to change. There has to be vision and commitment to excellence. Anyone who isn't willing to put the well-being of the program ahead of their own desires, even their own job security, doesn't need to be part of the process.

But as we were reminded so painfully in Baton Rouge, Malzahn is long gone. "Gus Malzahn" is here instead, indistinguishable from a two dozen other spread-to-run coaches spread across the Power 5 landscape save for his remarkable defense, outstanding recruiting, and ability to bludgeon lesser teams into submission.

Those things would be more than enough at some programs. But they're not enough at Auburn. They're not why Malzahn was hired.