Auburn pays off Gus Malzahn $21million buyout, that's why big-boy programs do....
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Auburn will hire Freeze. It is a 100% character fit. He has learned his lesson and knows what got him busted last time, he will do a better job of looking the other way when boosters buy houses for people without getting older involved.... He is really the only guy on the list.
Obviously, Freeze would be their first, second, and third choices. They will work him until he says YES. And, for those folks on this site who continue to say the SEC will not allow Freeze to return to the conference this soon, well they definitely underestimate the power and pull that Auburn has within the conference.
Of course, Auburn could go the Beamer route and they could go after UAB HC Bill Clark, who was born and raised in Bama and they could get him on the cheap.
Maybe my memory is a little hazy but didn’t they win a national championship and came within one play of winning a second one this decade . This is better than well ... UGA , Ohio State , Oklahoma , LSU etc etc etc Not to mention winning multiple SEC championships . I would consider that an Elite program .
So I guess I missed it...what is Beamer's salary?
Edit/disregard. Google says 2.75M
Bobby Lowder is a big money booster down there. Former board member. Business school is named after him. If he's still around, he could write a check for it.
Auburn is one of the top 10-15 programs is College Football History. Just because we are in the SEC doesn't mean we are anywhere near their level.
The same main people that were "supposedly" on our list; the ones capable of leading an SEC program in this day in age. Freeze, Napier, Chadwell and some others. Despite what many seem to think.....not many HCs can legitimately do it. Butch Jones types are all around. Auburn has a history of making really solid hires, and are in a very similar situation to USC is, despite our checkered football program history and recent issues on top of that. They have a mountain they're dealing with, and are doing so with a more "fiscally prudent" budget than that arch rival. At least they try and are on the cutting edge when going after hires though.
Mahlzahn is an innovator and will get a HC immediatley. I would take him for a two year OC if he is tired of the pressure....would love it. I highly doubt that will happen though.
Malzahn was 77-38 at Auburn....in the same sub conference as Alabama, LSU and during the timeframe that MSU had Prescott and those (greatest teams in their respective school history) AND Freeze had 0le Miss (and those teams in categories of being one of the greater teams in their schools history).
If Malzahn goes to the ACC or B12 as a HC or OC....he will be in the playoffs in 2 years.
He and a couple other guys are basically what SOS was to the late 80s to mid 90s of the last 15-20 years in college football. Innovative, uber-frustrating to defenses, copied to death and feared.
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Auburn is #7 in the country in gross revenue at $95.2 million.
We are #23 at $65.0 million.
Proportionately, the buyouts for Muschamp and Malzahn work out to be about the same.
We are #23 at $65.0 million.
Proportionately, the buyouts for Muschamp and Malzahn work out to be about the same.
They absolutely are. They are committed to football as much as they can be. For over 50 years they've had to deal with a monster in state.....and have somehow managed to be relevant and top 15-20 (easily) nationally during that time. They are in a similar situation to us, too.
The fact that they've done it while being in the proximity and constant annual play vs. so many of the top programs in the country is crazy. THey have to be smart, aggressive and take chances.....and they have proven to do just that.
I forgot about High Freeze. If they can find the money I expect them to make a run at Lincoln Riley. (at least that is who I would target if I wanted to go big time)
One thing about Auburn is the NCAA tends to look the other way a lot (See Scam Newton). If he cheats at AU he has a better chance of getting away with it than he had at Ole Miss.
Auburn has a fine program. But the only thing that paying out 21 mil to fire your coach means is you made a big time mistake somewhere along the way. Whether its the hire itself or the contract is up for debate, but the end result is not.
The fiscal irresponsibility is what get’s me. Who cares if you can afford it? I could donate $15,000 a year for my entire adult life and it wouldn’t pay 1/20th of that buyout. You seriously want me to donate my hard earned money so that it can be pissed away like this?
It really is stunning. Malzahn could just sit back not have to work for the rest of his life if he wanted to. If someone handed me $21 million...$10.5 million up front...that's exactly what I'd do.
I know a good amount of this money comes from donor and people are free to spend their money on whatever they want. But there does seem to be a gross inequity when you pay an underperforming individual $21 million just to stop working.
The average public school teacher salary in Auburn, AL is $50k. The amount they are handing Malzahn in the next 30 days could pay 200 teacher salaries for the entire year. That's nearly half of all the teachers in the school district.
Again, I get that a lot of this is donor money and this is where they want their dollars spent, but you do have to just shake your head at the irresponsibility of it.
Makes you wonder if it’s just coincidence that Malzahn and Muschamp started tanking the year after their buyout was jacked-up?
Let's not overrate what Gus did. Auburn has had an undefeated season under Tuberville, SEC first place finish under Terry Bowden, two national titles, etc. It is a program that is set up for success and has been long before Gus got there. Gus was not a great hire and shouldn't have been extended 3 years ago.
We had one four stretch of success under SOS that resulted in zero conference championships.
Two distinctly different jobs. But we have plenty of money. No need to bitch and moan about buyouts. It looks petty when everybody (minus Vandy) does what they need to when coaches need to be fired. I love the hire Beamer and am optimistic about the future. Not sunshine pumping, I just think we finally got the hire right.
We had one four stretch of success under SOS that resulted in zero conference championships.
Two distinctly different jobs. But we have plenty of money. No need to bitch and moan about buyouts. It looks petty when everybody (minus Vandy) does what they need to when coaches need to be fired. I love the hire Beamer and am optimistic about the future. Not sunshine pumping, I just think we finally got the hire right.
I hope you will agree with me that the historical arc of our program and the arc of Auburn's are not exactly comparable. Over several decades, they would be numbered by most people as among the top 20 programs in the country.
It's a systemic issue and it's market driven. It will not change until university administrations decide as a group to go in a different direction as regards intercollegiate athletics.
I agree. I'm capitalist to the core, and then some. So I'm kind of torn here. I don't think anyone has the right to step in and tell anyone how to spend their money. But it does just seem grossly out of whack. I'd love to see a sensible salary cap for coaches. I am not in favor of players getting paid or making money while student athletes, but it DOES seem quite unfair that their coach can make upwards of $10 million/year. The only word that keeps coming to mind is: inequity.
I know it seems draconian compared to the salaries that are out there now, but you could set a $1.5 million cap for head coaches and $800k cap for assistants. You can live VERY comfortably on that anywhere in the country and it's still WAY more money than any average Joe will ever make in his lifetime.
I know there's no way for this ever happen, but the only alternative is for the arms race to keep spiraling. You have to imagine the bubble will eventually burst. I don't know what actually happens at that point, but the good times are bound to end at some point.
It's pretty hypocritical for people to argue against paying players out of one side of their mouth but support the bloated arms race out of the other side of their mouth.
Notice Clempson is way down the list. Wild how much they spend on football proportionally to their athletic budget.Auburn is #7 in the country in gross revenue at $95.2 million.
We are #23 at $65.0 million.
Proportionately, the buyouts for Muschamp and Malzahn work out to be about the same.
I've never seen regulatory manipulations do anything but harm free economies and many of the people who live within them. Even as a working man, the free economy has been very good to me. I was an industrial worker who never rose above the line manager level, but I'll never spend all that I have. Therefore, I don't support exogenous measures to throttle compensation for coaches. But that only means that the entire intercollegiate athletic structure will have to be not only reformed, but repurposed, to make it what I think it ought to be. I understand that this is only my opinion.
No, but the pro sports have self-imposed salary caps. I know this is fanciful thinking, but I mean, come on, $10 million/year to coach college football? It just seems absurd, right?
It does when you look at that number unvarnished. But when you consider how much of it is from actual athletic department salary and how much of it is paid by other entities as supplemental income - the shoe and apparel contracts, the television and radio programs, fees for certain speaking opportunities negotiated by the school but not paid by the program, a little different picture emerges. I'm not saying that to undercut your point. I just think that, when discussing an issue, it's best to bring in all the dynamics of it.
The "historical arc" of USC is irrelevant.
In the past decade, AU is not among the elite. In the past 10 seasons, they have had less Top 10 finishes than USC.
See for yourself....their best decade was the '80s.
List of Auburn Tigers football seasons - Wikipedia
Wow. He won 67% of his overall games, and 60% of SEC games...and played in the West during Saban's run (and as their arch rival), MSU and Ole Miss best runs in the last 50 years....maybe ever, and LSU's typical ultra-talented teams and NC. That is FIVE (5) National Championships out of that sub conference since 2011....not out of the SEC overall, out of their portion of the conference. Of course AU won it in 2010....but they had a great team, great player/leader and some incredible luck to get that title. Things weren't left as good for Gus as they were for Chizik.
Brings me to Tuberville....so now Tommy T is overrated too? LMAO- d#mn I hope we get some of these overrated coaches who coach and win over 60% of their SEC games.
For comparison.....SOS won 72% of his SEC. conf. games during the greatest run in our school's history....and everyone seems to be pretty good with how that went.
No, I agree. I understand a lot of this money only exists b/c of the football program.
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