Fansided

5 reasons Gus Malzahn doesn’t make it past 2016 season

By John Buhler

Apr 18, 2015; Auburn, AL, USA; Auburn Tigers head coach Gus Malzahn looks on during the spring game at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Shanna Lockwood-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 18, 2015; Auburn, AL, USA; Auburn Tigers head coach Gus Malzahn looks on during the spring game at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Shanna Lockwood-USA TODAY Sports /
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Oct 31, 2015; Auburn, AL, USA; Auburn Tigers defensive coordinator Will Muschamp speaks to an official during the second quarter against the Mississippi Rebels at Jordan Hare Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Shanna Lockwood-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 31, 2015; Auburn, AL, USA; Auburn Tigers defensive coordinator Will Muschamp speaks to an official during the second quarter against the Mississippi Rebels at Jordan Hare Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Shanna Lockwood-USA TODAY Sports /

3. Third defensive coordinator in as many seasons.

While the Auburn offense has been the driving force behind Malzahn’s success with the Tigers both as a head coach and as an offensive coordinator under Chizik, Auburn has been mediocre at best defensively in the first three year of the Malzahn era on The Plains.

Auburn essentially had to win shootouts in 2013 thanks to the porous defense of former defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson. Johnson, who had previously coached the Southern Miss Golden Eagles to winless 0-12 2012 season before joining Malzahn’s staff, would always seem to have his defense playing out of sync in crucial moments.

As the offensive firepower subsided from one of the best in college football in 2013 to just pretty good in 2014, in became apparent that Johnson wasn’t cut out to coach an SEC defense. He was fired after the 2014 season and was replaced by former Florida Gators head coach Will Muschamp.

Muschamp is a great defensive mind, having been a solid defensive coordinator at both LSU and at Texas before getting the Florida gig in 2010. However, he was a bit of a hot-head and wasn’t a great cultural fit on Malzahn’s staff. The Tigers defense was still middling and he later left for the head coaching vacancy with the South Carolina Gamecocks after only one year at Auburn.

Auburn pried new defensive coordinator Kevin Steele away from SEC West rival LSU this offseason, but one has to question if Steele is the answer to Auburn’s defensive woes.

Steele has spent most of the last decade plus as a defensive coordinator/linebackers coach mostly with Alabama. He failed miserably as the head coach of the Baylor Bears from 1999 to 2002, going 9-36 (1-31) in the Big 12.

Steele may have grown as a defensive coordinator under the tutelage of coaches like Nick Saban, Bobby Bowden, Dabo Swinney, and Les Miles, but will have more than his work cut out for him in trying to turn around this untrained and mentally weak Auburn defense. Is Steele an upgrade over Muschamp? We’ll just have to wait and see.

Next: 2. Brutal SEC road games in the second half of the season.

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