How did we get here? A program hangs in the balance as a new season approaches

We all know that being an Auburn Football fan is not for the faint of heart. The perception is that our fanbase experiences the highest of highs and the lowest of lows more so than any other fanbase across the college football landscape.

Take the 2013 season for example, with its unbelievable heroics which created memories that will last a lifetime. Of course, our recollection of those events would be much sweeter if Tre Mason’s touchdown with a little more than a minute left in the BCS National Championship Game was the eventual game-winner.

Nevertheless, we were all still very proud of our Tigers considering that season gave us the biggest turn around in college football history — from 3-9 in 2012 to playing for the national title in 2013.

Auburn proved to the SEC and the college football world that it could be a champion again – this time without a superhuman at quarterback, albeit a pretty damn good one, but it came just seconds short of glory. And this record-breaking exhibition of offensive speed and execution came on the heels of one of the worst seasons in Auburn Football history, no less!

The Tigers tasted perfection, then utter failure, then excellence all over again in a matter of four years, and one person seemingly was the common denominator throughout: Arthur Gustav Malzahn.

The question, a rhetorical one nonetheless, still begs to be asked – did the meteoric rise to the top of the SEC set unrealistic expectations on the first-year coach’s tenure?

The following season in 2014 had more hype and hope than perhaps any since the infamous 2003 team that graced the cover of a multitude of preseason publications. There were lofty expectations; rightfully so given the amount of talent returning and the addition of all-world JUCO standout wide receiver Duke Williams. However, the offense took a small step backwards due to issues up front and the defense was led by a coordinator who proved that the game had simply passed him by.

The Tigers were firmly in the Top 5 heading into November with everything to play for that season. Officiating blunders and poor communication in the closing seconds cost the Tigers the Texas A&M game, and the team compounded their issues by sleepwalking through the following week’s matchup in the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry versus Georgia – an ugly 34-7 thumping in Sanford Stadium.

The cherry on top of the lackluster season came after Auburn put up 44 points and piled up over 600 yards of total offense versus Nick Saban’s vaunted Alabama defense, but even that wasn’t enough to keep the game within single digits as the Tide walked out of Bryant-Denny as 55-44 (!) victors in the highest scoring Iron Bowl in the history of the rivalry. (Did I mention that the game had passed Ellis Johnson by? Double-team Amari Cooper just once, just for kicks?)

So just like that, a team which ultimately produced 14 players that were signed to NFL rosters ekes out 8 wins and Auburn fans are left with more questions than answers.

Fast forward to 2015 and 2016, and the roller coaster is in high gear.

In ’15, frivolous Heisman talk surrounding new quarterback Jeremy Johnson was dashed almost immediately in the first game after he threw 3 interceptions versus Louisville. And despite the Tigers escaping with the win over the ‘Cards, Auburn almost suffered its most embarrassing defeat in program history the following week after narrowly escaping Jacksonville State in overtime. Jeremy Johnson was later benched in place of redshirt freshman Sean White, which seemed to give the offense a spark, but a four-overtime loss on the road to Arkansas magnified Auburn’s offensive struggles as Tiger receivers dropped a total of 7 passes during the gut-wrenching loss.

Meanwhile, up the interstate in Tuscaloosa, the Tide were on their way to another national title. Nearly all the cache that Gus had accumulated on the Plains was all but depleted.

2016 wasn’t any better as Auburn limped out of the gates with a 1-2 record in their first three games, which only increased the volume from Malzahn’s loudest critics. However, the Tigers strung along 6 straight wins in the heart of the schedule featuring big-time beat downs of Mississippi State and Arkansas, which seemed to cool Malzahn’s seat if even for a little while before the most difficult stretch of the season – Amen Corner.

Auburn then suffered their third straight loss versus Georgia, with the last two defeats coming against unranked Bulldog teams. The regular season was capped off with a hapless performance at Bryant-Denny which meant the Tigers had just lost to their top two rivals, Alabama and Georgia, a combined six times in the previous three seasons.

In fairness, Auburn’s best quarterback, Sean White, played injured against UGA and it showed. He completely missed the ‘Bama game as well, putting Auburn at a severe disadvantage, directly causing Malzahn’s Tigers to finish the regular season in all too familiar territory with 8 wins.

Even more so than usual in the dog-eat-dog SEC West, the 2017 campaign had the potential to be a back-breaker for Malzahn and the Tigers. To say they caught lightning in a bottle would discredit the team’s efforts, but to have a chance at an SEC crown and a berth in the College Football Playoff after suffering two losses by Week 7 seemed highly unlikely. But this group did just that, demolishing then-#1 UGA and bullying then-#1 Alabama with a balanced offensive attack and an unrelenting defense. Auburn had again captured the country’s imagination with an improbable late-season run.

Here’s where things get interesting – as if the miracle plays, sure-fire-turned-dumpster-fire seasons and ever-present unrest among the wealthiest supporters of the football program weren’t interesting enough.

Gus and his agent parlayed the November success into a perceived bidding war with Arkansas and their open head coaching role. To make matters even more volatile, Athletic Director Jay Jacobs had just announced his retirement a mere 4 weeks earlier! The leverage for the Malzahn camp simply could not have been any stronger than it was in the days after a two-score win over our biggest rival. Not to mention, Arkansas was ready to throw the bank at Malzahn in hopes of making him their head coach.

So even after the Tigers produced a limp effort in Atlanta in the following SEC Championship Game, the pressure was too much and the school caved on a long term contract extension with an enormous buyout. One that even included a unique clause which ensured Malzahn would receive half of the buyout within 30 days of termination; something that would cause even the most cash-rich universities to shudder. The deal made Malzahn not only the winner of college football’s version of “chicken,” but also a “made man” that’s nearly impossible to fire, financially.

With the fanbase split over the contract extension decision, the team’s performance against the UCF Knights offered no mediation, as Auburn again ended a season on a sour note. The magnifying glass was closer than ever leading into 2018.

Last season is obviously still fresh in our minds whether we want it to be or not; one can suffice to say 2018 was truly a Malzahnian season. We leapt out of the gate with a Top 10 win against Pac-12 stalwart Washington, followed by another blown lead against LSU where the Tigers were up multiple score with a subsequent set of head-scratchers at Mississippi State and against middling Tennessee, only to come from behind late against a ranked Texas A&M team, capped off with saw-it-coming-from-a-mile-away losses to UGA and ‘Bama.

Obvious gaps in recruiting and development on offense meant the blame was easily laid at the feet of the one-time offensive genius with the 30+ million dollar buyout. Tempers were so high after logging only 7 wins in the regular season that everyone from donors to boosters to Finebaum callers were lobbying for his dismissal, much to the delight of rival SEC fanbases.

Meanwhile, around the SEC and the college football landscape, the Georgia Bulldogs have emerged as perennial CFP title contenders, Clemson is on the verge of a dynasty and Alabama shows no sign of slowing down. As if that wasn’t enough, Texas A&M has upped its recruiting to the point that now they and LSU appear to be in the driver seat for the distinction of #2 in the SEC West – not just for their rosters, but their willingness throughout their respective athletic departments to support their football programs, wholeheartedly.

Even Tennessee in the SEC East has seen an revitalization, while once-formidable Florida looks poised to challenge Georgia sooner rather than later for Eastern Division supremacy.

In short, Auburn’s once-secure position as the SEC’s best hope of beating ‘Bama and being a league-wide offensive trend-setter has rapidly deteriorated, and the Tigers now have the perception of a middle-of-the-pack program with only an outside chance at an SEC Championship. Whether or not that’s true doesn’t matter – it’s the perception and it’s fair considering the product shown on the field and the faith, or lack thereof in Malzahn shown behind the scenes through the support of funding football related facilities.

Which brings us to the here and now with the start of fall camp underway and a few weeks until the 2019 season begins, the urgency couldn’t be any higher; not simply for Malzahn’s job security but for the program’s standing across the ever-shifting college football landscape.

To put it directly, I believe Auburn’s success or lack thereof in the upcoming season will obviously inform all of us of the direction that our beloved Tigers are headed for the next several years.

Nine or more wins, and Gus has proven the doubters wrong and created the momentum necessary for shots in the arm in recruiting and fundraising, and an already talented team builds itself into a championship-caliber group again. 6-8 wins (which is possible with this schedule), and the naysayers will be turned into soothsayers, drying up recruiting pipelines and the once-generous pockets of power players behind the scenes.

As a program and as an athletic department, we stand to experience either large gains or big losses this fall – and Auburn has no one to blame but Auburn for finding itself in such an unenviable position. Will it be a trademarked Gus Malzahn BOOM or bust year for our Tigers?

In articles to come we will look at what’s to be expected from the 2019 edition of the Auburn Tigers, which one national analyst dubbed as the most talented team Malzahn has had since coming to the Plains. We’ll also go behind enemy lines and bring specific game opponent breakdowns, starting with Oregon. This season more than ever, each Saturday is of the utmost importance as our Tigers look to reclaim their rightful place among college football’s elite.