Alabama football fans are trying to help the Auburn Tigers in their head coach, hiring decision.
Dear Aubies,
Just a short note to let you know we Alabama football fans feel your pain. Except for Iron Bowls, we have been rooting for Gus Malzahn for a long while. Admittedly our motivations were not pure. They were in our self-interest. Absent the bizarre luck, the Auburn Tigers sometimes received against the Crimson Tide, we knew Gus Malzahn was no match for Nick Saban.
We had nothing against Gus Malzahn as a person. In fact, several days ago we sent Gus a note advising him to discard his outdated offensive schemes and thereby possibly hold on to the Auburn job for another season.
Alabama football fans would have gladly thrown gobs of money at a ‘gofundme’ account to cover much of the future costs of keeping Gus employed on the Plains. We can now clearly see Auburn football has the deepest reservoir of funds in college football. How else could any school choose a termination that will likely cost it $30M dollars? Such an expansive distribution of money while college sports programs struggle to survive financially shows your clarity of purpose.
Despite our general disdain for Auburn football and men’s basketball, we know Auburn is good for the SEC. The traditionalists among us recognize strong Auburn, Georgia, LSU and Tennessee teams are good for the SEC. That generous opinion is afforded us because the Alabama Crimson Tide fears no rival program. Our seasons are never measured by the outcome of SEC rivalry games. The Crimson Tide always has the larger goal of a National Championship.
So, we urge you to throw out your next wad of contract dollars wisely. Don’t waste time trying to buy Steve Sarkisian. Sark may well return to head coaching next season. Nick Saban will be sure his head coaching stop is not Auburn.
Try not to forget that Gus was a good fit for your program. He could not deliver equal to your grandiose expectations to surpass Alabama football in every way. Pat Dye knew the foolishness of such folly. Reacquaint yourselves with what Dye had to say about the chasm that separates the two programs.
You have two very good choices. They are Reverend Hugh Freeze and the guy nicknamed Freshwater. Joey Freshwater would be, in almost every way, a home run for the Auburn program. He would blow apart Kirby Smart’s recruiting success by stealing recruits from the state of Georgia. There is a risk Joey might flame out quickly, but the party until then would be great fun.
Reverend Freeze is the guy Alabama football fans most want you to hire. Without going into his past personal issues, we believe Freeze matches the kind of character Auburn chose in Bruce Pearl. That makes him a perfect fit for Auburn.
Don’t worry about Hugh’s NCAA history. You guys are talented at avoiding NCAA sanctions. Don’t be discouraged by Freeze’s 5-7 record in his last season at Ole Miss. Even ignoring NCAA rules, it is hard to recruit enough talent to Oxford. He meets your top job requirement by having beaten Nick Saban twice.
Auburn fans want Hugh Freeze. Don’t be dissuaded because Alabama fans want the same for you.