More evidence that we forced Auburn into doing something they didn't want to do

[DukeOfPork]

If he is winning, I doubt Arkansas is on his radar. Arkansas seems to be his safety net when he is losing.

I'm not the one suggesting it.  Goodguytex is beating that drum.

I'll go on record: three weeks ago is the closest Gus will ever come to being the coach at Arkansas.  That ship has sailed.

[WizardofhOgZ]

Following Auburn's loss to Georgia in the SEC Championship game, there is a sobering realization at Auburn that their rush to "secure" Gus from leaving for Arkansas has tethered him to the Tiger program for several years, no matter what.  While it looked like Auburn had "won" when GM agreed to his massive extension a couple of weeks ago, time will tell who got the better end of the deal.

[Paul]

Auburn didn't get played by Arkansas at all. Everyone.... Arkansas, Auburn, Jeff Long, the Chancellor, the BOT all got played by Malzahn and Sexton.

[riccoar]

Gus burned a lot of bridges this go around. This was his last chance to ever be our head coach and instead he played us for a bigger contract and better job security

I'm right there with you, if true.  But again, nobody has sat down and posted what happened.  You got a guy here a few threads up claiming to be so close he and Gus crochet together and then others saying he played us.  But I saw some relay in the end the people courting, never had the backing to be offering the position.  So what if a position, from the University standpoint, was never really tendered?  What if Sexton had people in Arkansas trolling for his client?

[Calling All Hogs]

As I had stated several times during the weeks long search for a head coach at Arkansas, Malzahn was not coming to Arkansas but no one ever even stopped to notice as they were sure he was coming.  I've known Gus for many years and was in constant contact with him all throughout this past season, and also during the rumor mill situation of him coming to the UofA.  Never was Gus coming here, the only way he ever would have considered it was if he got fired, he was not going to quit on his own.  I made this information known on Hogville, but it went to deaf ears, many assumed Gus was coming home.  He loves where he's at now, and he knows how I feel about him coming here.  Regardless of my friendship with him, Gus would be a disasterous hire here and after a few 7-5 seasons sprinkled with maybe a 9 wins season here and there with what the UofA was willing to pay, the fans would have turned ravenous.  I was wanting Norvell, but I've really warmed up to Morris, and the UofA got him at a bargain basement price considering what salaries have now become for coaches.

I think Gus thought after the LSU loss there was a good chance he would be fired and reached out to Arkansas to try and get a backup plan. He wanted to show interest in Arkansas before he was fired and played up the "want to come home" angle to look like it wasn't because he was being fired. I agree that Gus wasn't going to quit on his own. I don't fault him for that. I fault him for pretending like he would come to Arkansas to the decision makers here. But I agree also that there was a sliver lining. We helped screwed over Auburn and we got rid of Long as well as Bielema. We also appear to have a great new coach.

[HamGrowsOnTrees]

So lets say he did come here in a decade or so. He won all he needed at Auby and he wants to retire close to home. Would you pull for him then?

Which is heavier, hate for gus or love for hogs?

He doesn't have a home imo. If he ever coaches at Arkansas I'm done.



And not even because of him . It's because I wouldn't want to associate with a spineless, panty wearing, loser mentality, battered housewife syndrome of a fan base. If we stoop that low for this scum .... again.... I'm done.

[ThisTeetsTaken]

Good to hear we shafted Aubarn!

It was all Jimmy Sexton IMO.  If it wasn't Auburn with that crazy contract hanging around their necks it would be us.   Funny that Auburn told us to hold up while THEY put their necks in the noose.

[Ironhawg]

He and his "people" by many accounts from all sides of this, let it be known to the BOT and the Chancellor that Malzahn wanted to be HC at Arkansas. But only if Long was gotten rid of.

Why did Malzahn want Long gone?

[Ugly Uncle]

Auburn is a slime hole and always has been.

Their facilities are a joke. Their stadium is War Memorial with an upper deck.

The reason it is easier to win there is because they cheat, and they are not very good at that.

They are one of the most...if not THE most penalized team by the NCAA in history.

They are the foster child of Alabama sports. 

Their whole program is dirty and Auburn Alabama cannot compare to the beauty of Fayetteville.

Now, that being said, I will cheer for Auburn to lose every game they ever play in any sport. I was that way when they blatantly cheated and covered for Scam Newton.  I don't care where Gus goes from there, I will cheer for him to lose every game.

He got dirty with Cam, and there is no denying that. 

Auburn and Gus deserve each other.

[DeltaBoy]

Auburn is a slime hole and always has been.

Their facilities are a joke. Their stadium is War Memorial with an upper deck.

The reason it is easier to win there is because they cheat, and they are not very good at that.

They are one of the most...if not THE most penalized team by the NCAA in history.

They are the foster child of Alabama sports. 

Their whole program is dirty and Auburn Alabama cannot compare to the beauty of Fayetteville.

Now, that being said, I will cheer for Auburn to lose every game they ever play in any sport. I was that way when they blatantly cheated and covered for Scam Newton.  I don't care where Gus goes from there, I will cheer for him to lose every game.

He got dirty with Cam, and there is no denying that. 

Auburn and Gus deserve each other.

I agree  but it was fun while the Gus business lasted.

[clew]

A single voice in the wilderness. Like John the Baptist.

hmmm...that was an under-the-radar good post. +1

[Al Boarland]

There is only 1 or 2 greatest of the great football coaches in college ball right now.  Then Malzahn falls into the next level where there is maybe 6 or 8 coaches.  So Aubbie got a top 10 coach for what could be chicken feed pricing at 7 million annually by the time the 7 years is up.  Aubbie got a good deal but doesn't know that yet.

I could be dead wrong, but I expect Malzahn will bust his butt trying every day of every year of that 7 years.  And if i am correct, Auburn will benefit.  Auburn will not beat Alabama 3 or 4 times every 5 years like their fans would want and the coach doesn't matter, that will not happen unless BAMA goes stupid on their own coach.

Fans have unrealistic expectations. That's just how it is. This board shows that on a daily basis.

[Al Boarland]

Following Auburn's loss to Georgia in the SEC Championship game, there is a sobering realization at Auburn that their rush to "secure" Gus from leaving for Arkansas has tethered him to the Tiger program for several years, no matter what.  While it looked like Auburn had "won" when GM agreed to his massive extension a couple of weeks ago, time will tell who got the better end of the deal.

It's going to be tough to compare the two situations. The ceiling is higher at AU.

[Tejano Jawg]

Auburn and Gus deserve each other.

I absolutely believe this, and it makes me smile to think about. Back when Gus was in play, I didn't hate the idea—not that it mattered what I (or anyone around here) thought. But he was never the hire-at-all-cost guy.

Whether or not we had a big hand in Gus's extension, one thing is certain...Arkansas and the Gus chatter was right in between the regular season end and his big $$ raise. I was amused that what seemed like only days before, everyone there was unhappy. Then suddenly AU did an about-face during the time "Gus/Arkansas" was getting press. So good for them, hope that romance has been rekindled. 

[Con el Cerdos]

Basically, IMO, we are the only winners. Gus got paid, so its hard to say he was a loser in this, but he will earn every dollar dealing with Auburn garbage, and might likely regret anchoring himself to them, as much as they will regret being anchored to Gus. We'll see how it plays out, but both A&M and Auburn better like their coaches...

I don't think Gus will regret it at all, professionally or personally.  Has all the freedom a HC could want.

Further, I think the roughly $80 million Gus will have banked over a 12 year period, including his new contract, will ease the discomfort he may experience with the new AD.  That's, of course, less any taxes and Jimmy Sexton's fees. 
 
For Gus, I think this deal was all about financial security.  He will be 60 at the end of the current deal.  I would make a small wager that he and his wife already plans to be living in retirement in NWA by the end of this contract.

You indicate that Auburn will likely regret doing this deal and I don't disagree.  Gus, from a risk/reward stand point is not worth $7 million per year, guaranteed for 7 years, IMO.  And, I'm certainly glad that Arkansas didn't get into a high dollar long-term contract with him.

 

[hog of steele]

I would make a small wager that he and his wife already plans to be living in retirement in NWA by the end of this contract.

Do you think Gus can do this? Not many coaches can hang it up at 60 if they still have the chance to coach. At some point (which gus has already passed) you have made enough money to live your years in comfort. There has to be more driving the boat than that.

[HognitiveDissonance]

As I said earlier:
Short term win for Malzahn
Long term defeat, probably.

Just as I and others were uncomfortable paying any coach $7.5mm/year, Auburn is now just waking up to that realization.
The pressure is going to be huge on Malzahn.

No one was 'playing' anyone. This was a fluid situation that could have gone either way.
There is nothing wrong with a coach getting the best situation for him possible. You would do the same for yourself and your career, but somehow when coaches do so it's improper.

[Rolonhog]

Let me ask you something... And this is a hypothetical future scenario, that I, as a lifelong Hog fan, hope never happens... Let's go 3 years into the future... Auburn made it to the NC game following the 2018 season and barely loses. They follow that season up with 2 more of 9-10 wins each.

They have also beaten Arkansas, by comfortable margins, each year. Arkansas, in the meantime, goes 4-8 in 2018, 5-7 in 2019, 6-6 with a bowl loss in 2020.

Hog fans everywhere judge Morris as not being able to get it done. Gus puts out feelers again that he wants to come home again. If that scenario were to play out, I see no reason why the BOT and a solid portion of the fan base wouldn't be falling all over themselves to try to get Gus.

Again, I hope we beat auburn each year. But people have very short memories.

Well, in your hypothetical scenario, why would he put out feelers again if he has a record like that at Auburn? We all know Auburn fans are fickle, but I don't see their fans lighting any fires under his seat if he's winning 9-10 every year and putting them in the NC game. For them to get to the CFP and the title game, they would have to win the iron bowl, meaning that would be 2 years in a row. All of Auburn's fans would very happy with that.

But for the sake of argument, if we were to have those miserable seasons and he were to reach out, then yes I'm sure some of our short term memory fan base would welcome him with open arms , but I would not. I have never thought to much of him of, but then again, I'm not from NWA either. There is the old saying that goes "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me".  He's shown his true colors (green) and hopefully most of the people that believed that he wanted to be the coach here, have learned their lesson, but I doubt it.

[DukeOfPork]

He doesn't have a home imo. If he ever coaches at Arkansas I'm done.



And not even because of him . It's because I wouldn't want to associate with a spineless, panty wearing, loser mentality, battered housewife syndrome of a fan base. If we stoop that low for this scum .... again.... I'm done.

Some of you guys are just too darned emotional. 

This is a business, not Real Housewives of Orange County.

[DukeOfPork]

As I said earlier:
Short term win for Malzahn
Long term defeat, probably.

Just as I and others were uncomfortable paying any coach $7.5mm/year, Auburn is now just waking up to that realization.
The pressure is going to be huge on Malzahn.

No one was 'playing' anyone. This was a fluid situation that could have gone either way.
There is nothing wrong with a coach getting the best situation for him possible. You would do the same for yourself and your career, but somehow when coaches do so it's improper.

Exactly.  It's just business.

We legitimately wanted to sign Gus, but he was able to negotiate a sweet deal at Auburn and so he stayed.  And I don't blame him.

When his price went up, I did not want to see us pay that much for him.  I was fine with Auburn paying him all of that guaranteed money because, frankly, he was one loss away from them wanting to fire him.

My point in starting this thread was to show that we - inadvertently - forced Auburn to pay Gus a hell of a lot more than they wanted to pay him.  It was amusing to me.

[tzthib]

Auburn didn't get played by Arkansas at all. Everyone.... Arkansas, Auburn, Jeff Long, the Chancellor, the BOT all got played by Malzahn and Sexton.

I don't see what's so complicated about this... Malzahn has no positive motives or vibes toward benefitting Arkansas in any way whatsoever. This was all about himself. He and his "people" by many accounts from all sides of this, let it be known to the BOT and the Chancellor that Malzahn wanted to be HC at Arkansas. But only if Long was gotten rid of.

So they all went ALL IN. Put all their eggs in the malzahn basket and fully committed to getting malzahn. Did absolutely everything he wanted them to do. And pulled the rug out.

Then still let malzahn call the shots by pretty much choosing our new HC. I hope Morris works out, makes Arkansas successful, and beats Auburn every year. But folks really should get over the love for malzahn, thinking he has these sentimental feelings towards wanting to help his home state. He doesn't. He's all about himself. And he'll use auburn, or anyone else, to get what he wants. And if Morris can't get it done, malzahn knows he's got enough support to come take the Arkansas job when or if Morris can't make it work. I hope Morris does though.

But how this all went down was not good at all. It was all messed up. And everyone should understand that and look at malzahn as the SOB he really is.

This is correct. Malzahn is out for himself and deserves none of our loyalty or support. Personally, I see no reason why we should have helped him get a bigger payday at Auburn. By willingly participating in our little courtship for so long, Malzahn left us at a disadvantage in our coaching search. Not only did we waste so much time in chasing him and lose face when he turned us down, but I suspect Long was dismissed as a preemptive deal sweetener of sorts. Regardless of your feelings towards Long, the idea that we may have let somebody who hasn't committed to our school influence big personnel decisions should trouble you.

If anything, Malzahn deserves our antipathy for how he used our program. We are probably worse off because of him. I hope I never hear his name and Arkansas in the same sentence again, unless that sentence is "Malzahn canned because of horrible loss to Arkansas."

[tzthib]

Exactly.  It's just business.

We legitimately wanted to sign Gus, but he was able to negotiate a sweet deal at Auburn and so he stayed.  And I don't blame him.

When his price went up, I did not want to see us pay that much for him.  I was fine with Auburn paying him all of that guaranteed money because, frankly, he was one loss away from them wanting to fire him.

My point in starting this thread was to show that we - inadvertently - forced Auburn to pay Gus a hell of a lot more than they wanted to pay him.  It was amusing to me.

It seems Malzahn leveraged his connections to Arkansas to get more money out of Auburn. We did nothing other than naively play along.

[Con el Cerdos]

Do you think Gus can do this? Not many coaches can hang it up at 60 if they still have the chance to coach. At some point (which gus has already passed) you have made enough money to live your years in comfort. There has to be more driving the boat than that.

Yeah, I think it's possible Gus might; there is a precedent, former Razorback HC Ken Hatfield did it at about the same age.  Ken was about 62 when he left Rice and moved back to Arkansas.

The reason I think it's possible, Gus and his wife have significant ties to NWA as everybody knows.  And he will have no financial worries by then.

[DukeOfPork]

This is correct. Malzahn is out for himself and deserves none of our loyalty or support. Personally, I see no reason why we should have helped him get a bigger payday at Auburn. By willingly participating in our little courtship for so long, Malzahn left us at a disadvantage in our coaching search. Not only did we waste so much time in chasing him and lose face when he turned us down, but I suspect Long was dismissed as a preemptive deal sweetener of sorts. Regardless of your feelings towards Long, the idea that we may have let somebody who hasn't committed to our school influence big personnel decisions should trouble you.

If anything, Malzahn deserves our antipathy for how he used our program. We are probably worse off because of him. I hope I never hear his name and Arkansas in the same sentence again, unless that sentence is "Malzahn canned because of horrible loss to Arkansas."

Again, you guys are just too emotional.  You're like Gus' jilted ex-girlfriend.

The guy has Jimmy Sexton as an agent and this is how deals get done.  Don't take it personal.

I have no idea whether Long & Bielema got fired simply because they thought they had Gus in the bag, but if so I'm personally glad it happened because there was no point in keeping Bielema here just so we could fire him next year.  I'm ambivalent on the Long firing because I don't know if there were other legitimate reasons for it.

I completely disagree that the UA was somehow "damaged" by this scenario.  The coaching search went remarkably smoothly for not having an AD in place.  Morris is like a breath of fresh air with a completely new perspective, so we can at least have hope again for now.

[DukeOfPork]

It seems Malzahn leveraged his connections to Arkansas to get more money out of Auburn. We did nothing other than naively play along.

Nebraska leveraged Broyles to pay Nutt a few million more and give him a two-year pass.  This is business.

I do believe that if Gus didn't get Auburn to make assurances for him, he would probably be our coach right now.  But they paid up and we have potentially the next Gus at half the price.

[1highhog]

I think Gus thought after the LSU loss there was a good chance he would be fired and reached out to Arkansas to try and get a backup plan. He wanted to show interest in Arkansas before he was fired and played up the "want to come home" angle to look like it wasn't because he was being fired. I agree that Gus wasn't going to quit on his own. I don't fault him for that. I fault him for pretending like he would come to Arkansas to the decision makers here. But I agree also that there was a sliver lining. We helped screwed over Auburn and we got rid of Long as well as Bielema. We also appear to have a great new coach.

I do know for that there was a member of the BOT that reached out to Gus several weeks before Bielema was fired gauging his interest in coming to the UofA, I know which member but it does not good now saying who that was.  Most are happy with who we have and so am I.

[1highhog]

I agree  but it was fun while the Gus business lasted.

You were the biggest supporter of the Gus bus on here Delta, even claiming to be the driver of the bus.  I understand that and now don't have a problem with that, you wanted him, now there's no chance of him ever being coach here.  Let me ask you this in all seriousness, how do you feel now with the hire the UofA made in Chad Morris?  Morris is a disciple of Malzahn in many ways, but has a different offense than what Gus has despite what many on here think.  Are you glad now that Gus stayed at Auburn?

[Sivad]

Auburn, always quick to tar and feather their own coach, after being pressured into this giant contract will now attack Gus with a vengeance strong even for them at his first stumble.

[SPAL]

In no way did Arkansas troll in this spot. Arkansas and Auburn both got played by an agent who is smarter than they are

We are out nothing....we look like a program that made a serious run at a good coach that just decided to stay put. So, how exactly did we get played?