Does Auburn even have a Plan C and does it start with Cadillac?
By John Buhler
If Auburn does not end up hiring Hugh Freeze, do they even have a Plan C at this point?
There are reasons why Auburn might be the most difficult job in all of college football.
Not only are the Tigers’ two biggest rivals Alabama and Georgia, but the toxicity that emanates from the boosters who prop up this program often make it a non-winnable situation for very long on the gridiron. With Lane Kiffin opting to stay at Ole Miss and Auburn getting major pushback over possibly hiring Hugh Freeze away from Liberty, do they even have a Plan C at this point?
If Auburn does have a Plan C, that C probably stands for Cadillac, as in Carnell “Cadillac” Williams.
Does Auburn even have a Plan C and if so, is that Plan C Cadillac Williams?
Clearly, firing Gus Malzahn after a 6-4 COVID season in 2020 was a GOB Bluth huge mistake. While he had his troubles with Georgia, especially in Athens, Malzahn beat the Dawgs and the Crimson Tide often enough to make Auburn nationally viable on the regular. He has rebounded quite well since taking over at UCF. The Knights are a top-25 program about to go Power Five.
In short, for Auburn to have success with greater regularity on the football field, the athletic department needs to hire a head coach who makes the likes of Nick Saban and Kirby Smart uncomfortable. It would have to be in line with LSU somehow being able to pry Brian Kelly away from a fantastic Notre Dame program he spent well over a decade building up in South Bend.
While Kiffin has had success at Ole Miss, and Freeze had success at Ole Miss during his run in Oxford from 2012 to 2017, there are reasons why it would be controversial to hire either of them. Kiffin has reinvented himself since getting tarmac-ed at USC, but is a bit of a troll and cannot quite overcome his past. As for Freeze, people are having a hard time forgetting his Ole Miss departure…
Not to say Auburn is going to go full-blown Tennessee Greg Schiano here, but the Tigers do not do normal particularly well. It is a proud university with a great fanbase that seems to kind of thrive off chaos. Unfortunately, perpetual tumult has largely been the football program’s undoing. This is why settling for Cadillac Williams and removing the interim tag is not the worst idea to be had.
Williams is an Alabama native, an Auburn legend and a former NFL star. He is Auburn through and through, which might be exactly what this program needs. In a way, removing the interim tag would kind of be akin to what Ole Miss did once Freeze was ousted and former Rebels offensive lineman Matt Luke got to call the shots. Had it not been for an Egg Bowl, Luke might have stuck…
Giving Williams a few years to create some level of stability to a program in dire need of it is not a horrendous move to be had. If he succeeds, he becomes an even bigger Auburn football legend. Should Williams fail, well, thank you for your services. Ultimately, Auburn somehow needs to untangle the Gordian knot it created for itself. Why not let one of their own solve the impossible?
Auburn has to be careful from letting this coaching search become post-Butch Jones Tennessee.
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