Auburn lets go of Malzahn
Keeping an eye on the world of sports during the pandemic:
Auburn fired coach Gus Malzahn, who led the Tigers to the national championship game in his first season but could never replicate that success.
Athletic director Allen Greene announced the firing Sunday, a day after the Tigers finished the regular season with a 24-10 victory over Mississippi State. Auburn is 6-4 in a pandemic-shortened season of all Southeastern Conference opponents, losing by double digits to highly ranked teams Alabama, Georgia and Texas A&M.
They were also upset by a struggling South Carolina, which wound up firing coach Will Muschamp during the season.
“After evaluating the state of the program, we’ve decided that it was time to make a change in leadership,” Greene said in a statement. “We appreciate everything that Gus did for the program over the last eight seasons. We will begin a search immediately for a coach.”
Defensive coordinator Kevin Steele will be interim coach. Auburn will owe Malzahn a $21.45 million buyout for the remaining four years of a seven-year, $49 million deal.
The school must pay half of that within 30 days.
Malzahn went 68-35 in eight seasons and was 39-27 against SEC opponents. He led the Tigers to an SEC title in 2013, his first season, losing to Florida State in the national championship game.
Greene recommended the firing to President Jay Gogue after conducting a “thorough analysis” of the program.
The Tigers are tied for 86th in scoring this season, averaging 25.7 points per game. They’re 80th in passing at 212.3 yards a game, despite having playmaking receivers like Seth Williams and Anthony Schwartz, along with freshman tailback Tank Bigsby and a second-year starter in Nix.
Besides the South Carolina loss, Auburn wilted against No. 10 Georgia (27-6), No. 1 Alabama (42-13) and No. 5 Texas A&M(31-20).