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A spirit that is not afraid

Editorial Board | Fall 2016


The Auburn Plainsman
Editorial

EDITORIAL: Firing Malzahn is premature and costly

Fall Editorial Board 2016 With high expectations and Auburn football’s low performance comes calls to boot the easiest person to place the blame on: our head coach.  The deficit between fans’ expectations and the team’s performance casts a pall over our lovely village.  But to do away with Gus Malzahn would be more detrimental for Auburn than beneficial, assuming the gamble wouldn’t amount to our school hiring a Nick Saban.  Malzahn’s contract with Auburn ends in 2020, and if he were fired today, Auburn would have to pay him his signed allotment of $13.7 million.  Add the high price it would take to hire a new, good coach and you’ve thrown quite a bit of money away.  The difficulty in hiring a new coach would be exacerbated by Auburn’s unique history of throwing its coaches away after discontent fans start complaining. Only six coaches in history have gotten Auburn into the postseason bowl games.

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