We got to sit on our couches as a couple of seasons totally go up in flames and watch Alabama with the Gus Bus’s rabbit foot. We’ll have an abbreviate tour of the message board universe , but there’s some quality over quantity.
Let’s start this week in Fayette Nam where Hugh Freeze saved his hide for another week.
When your fans call wins a loss, you have lost the fan base. Auburn gets to 4-4 with bowl eligibility as the best the Tigers can achieve in a season where they pushed their chips to the middle of the table. His buyout is $15,000,000 plus assistant coach buyouts. Next year’s schedule has the Tigers at Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and Ole Miss and hosting LSU, Florida and Vanderbilt.
With a comparative pittance of a buyout, do the Auburn Board of Trustees wait until season’s end to make the move or do it now? Who in the world wants that job given that you are at best 1-1 every year before the season starts with the Iron Bowl and the DSOR?
I can see Auburn standing pat and rationalizing it with the officiating excuse as well.
Let’s stop in and check on the season that has crashed around the South Carolina football program.
If you told South Carolina fans during the week that they would be in the game with Alabama in the 4th quarter, they would have declared a moral victory. Instead, they are turning on Shane Beamer for exactly that.
I’m going off the normal script for this feature for a moment. I thought Sellers forward progress was clearly stopped when the ball was ripped out. He was being turned the other way when the ball was dislodged. I’m sure the SEC officials would have called it exactly the same if the QB had been Ty Simpson.
The way they lost that game was classic South Carolina losing and Alabama as “hard to kill.” At this point, I’m getting to be ok with the idea of Alabama and Texas A&M fighting it out in Atlanta even if we’re 11-1. Yes, as this Georgia team grows up, I like our chances against either team in a postseason matchup.
Let’s move on to Norman as Oklahoma’s playoff chances go up in smoke (and Josh Pate is sad).
That’s some professional level message board genius right there. Oklahoma blows a 4th quarter lead to Ole Miss (Go Rebels! – only to keep Lane Kiffin engaged as long as possible from considering Florida).
Brent Venables seems to be a great defensive coordinator who just doesn’t seem to have “it” as a head coach. Oklahoma fans want a Big 12 offense combined with an SEC defense … sort of hard to do. If you’re curious, the buyout is $36,000,000.
Let’s finish our short trip in Corn Dog Country where Brian Kelly appears to be out at LSU.
As I mentioned on other threads, the Cajuns never embraced Kelly. Sure, he took the Tigers to an SEC title game in 2022 and positioned Jayden Daniels to win a Heisman in 2023.
LSU has looked terrible on offense whether that’s due an injured quarterback or lousy offensive line play.
Scott Stricklin is probably panicking at this point in the Lane Kiffin sweepstakes now that the LSU job is open.
Feel free to comment.
I’m to the point that I’d like to see us win out but not go to the conference championship game. There’s plenty of opportunities to step on our johnson with who we have left.
And when Lane Kiffin says he’s staying, you be the judge.
Lots of money changing hands in Gainesville and Baton Rouge this holiday season. Merry Christmas to the Napier and Kelly families!
The job in Baton Rouge is the one that has to have Kiffin considering a change. With the scheduling change, they won’t play Alabama and Florida every year. Recruiting is relatively easy with no other P4 program in state. NIL money is available for his “transfer king” strategy.
I still question whether he wants to leave Oxford. While he will likely never win a national title at Ole Miss, he gets to make great money, do things his way, and get a statue when he retires. Living in Oxford has to beat the hell out of the Bayou and Hogtown.
Agree about the reasons for him staying at Ole Miss. OTOH he has a history of being impulsive. Let’s see if he’s matured any.
I agree with LSU. I can see where Florida is such a cluster right now. They need to wash the poverbial bed sheets and underwear twice now of for 3 skid marks in a row in Hogtown.
Once they start bringin’ up the “yankee” stuff again, it was all over for Brian….
Also, after watching A&M wallop the Corn Doggers, I think letting them take a shot at Bama in the SEC Championship Game is also not the worst thing in the world for us….
Finally, there is a finite amount of elite coaching talent; out of LSU, Florida and Penn State, one will make a good hire – and Auburn, Oklahoma, South Carolina want to jump in that pool too??? Who the hell is going to be left for Arkansas, much less???
I’m guessing Penn State will hire Kelly now. He’ll come at a discount due to the offset on his LSU buyout. The question would be if PSU forces whoever it is to retain Jim Knowles as DC.
LSU is probably going to go guns blazing for Kiffin. There is probably an army of Brinks trucks moving north as we discuss. I think at the end of the day, it’s going to be someone else. Dan Lanning, perhaps?
Florida? I think they are out on the Kiffin sweepstakes unless Junior decides he wants to be close to a real beach. They want a Spurrier that hates Miami, FSU and us like they do. Brent Key may be the guy because Tech can’t pay like Florida can.
Auburn may be going to allow next year’s schedule be the final nail in Freeze’s coffin, but I could see them go after Key.
Oklahoma? It may be time to bring Bobby Hill home. Can you imagine what happens in Knoxville as a result?
South Carolina? James Franklin unless he ends up at UCLA.
Heupel to Oklahoma would (maybe) lead to Brent Key at Tennessee.
I can’t see why any coach would put his neck on the chopping block at AU.
There has always been a nasty bunch of backstabbers running things behind the curtains. One would think that it would be common knowledge that AU is the place where coaches go to get screwed (maybe Freeze heard that and took it literally before he took the job).
I can’t believe that Auburn would willingly jump into a coaching search with the LSU, UF and Penn State jobs open and a likelihood that FSU will also be open. Hell, I could make an argument that Ole Miss is currently a better job than AU if Lane takes another job.
I would like to feel sorry for LSU, but I seem to recall they were ALL IN on Kelly. Personally, I’m going to miss him yelling at his players and coaches and not taking a LICK of responsibility.
You have to assume a lot to blame South Carolina’s loss solely on the fumble. Alabama had them pretty well shut down in the 4th quarter. SC’s go ahead TD was on a very short drive. Alabama’s tying TD drive looked pretty easy. SC had a long way to go on the fumble drive. Etc., etc.
Bama’s win was about the same combination of factors that let us walk out of Knoxville with a W. But of course it’s different when we do it.
SC used the same tactic as Paul the Johnson against us about 14-15 years ago. Let ’em score to get the ball back. Beamer must be a GENIUS!
And WHOOOWIE can Shane Beamer pop a vein!
That’s totally fair, but SC was likely to end that last drive with a punt, a long field goal attempt or a decision to go to overtime.
After watching the SEC program featuring LSU it was easy to see why he’s not connecting with his players. He’s a very unlikable person even at practice. Any chance the handbags had of hiring Kiffin probably disappeared yesterday when Brian Kelly was fired. The LSU job today is a much better opportunity than FU. As ee noted the new 9 game schedule also improves their chances by removing bama from the annual rotation. At FU he would get the luxury of seeing his pal Kirby annually.
Said the same in a different thread. The worst thing that could happen to UF in this year’s round robin for coaches was Kelly being shown the door. The only thing that would be worse for UF would be for Texas to miss the playoff and Sark either getting hired away for one of the open jobs or getting ousted.
Totally agree if Sark is out or leaves the FU job FU’s coach search becomes a 5 alarm dumpster fire 🔥. I’m here to enjoy every minute of it. Couldn’t happen to a more deserving fanbase.
“I’m getting to be ok with the idea of Alabama and Texas A&M fighting it out in Atlanta even if we’re 11-1. Yes, as this Georgia team grows up, I like our chances against either team in a postseason matchup.”
I’m getting there with you. Almost everyone in my fan circle agrees. Unfortunately, with the Reality Show tourney a conference crown is like a division crown. Last year, CB got hurt and we had to roll with Gunnar who was always gonna be a work in progress as a starter (AND by the way, he and Bobo have done their work as Gunnar gets better every week). I think this squad will role a little better with a lose and go home post-season, instead of an extra game for positioning. Never thought I’d get to this place, tbh
#GoDawgs
I want a chance to defend the SEC title, but I won’t be disappointed if we aren’t.
I’d be fine with a Bama/aTm SEC championship, provided that the Aggies beat the gumps, and rub it in Texass’s face that they won an SEC title before the t-sips.
Yesterday afternoon MBG posted some LSU fan who “knew a guy” and was saying that Kelly was out. Damn if he was not a genius after all.
I’m with you on Bama vs A&M in Atlanta. Let those guys beat the shit out of each other while we rest and prep.
Kiffin will definitely consider LSU, not sure he fit there as much as at ol miss. Dan Lanning at LSU is a good fit. I don’t see penn state considering an SEC fired coach. Let Hugh freeze stay at auburn as long as possible. Oklahoma probably makes the move and their target would be Bobby hill. Brent Key and Clark Lea are the flavor of the month candidates, but each at their home school just don’t see them making a money move, but of course getting fired as a CFB coach is a very lucrative business. Florida’s search goes back to Stricklin’s roots to find an up and coming coordinator or a HC at a non power 5 school, maybe t a&m oc. Art Briles or his son may be a fit at Arky.
oooohhh to be able to read what The Senator would have to say if Briles came to Arky!
Not SEC related but the comments are gold:
https://x.com/BoardGeniuses/status/1982622313171624441
Yeah..that’s funny!
I hold the hiring of Brian Kelly up there with Lincoln Riley. 2 guys that really haven’t won shit. Now to describe the Bill Belichick hire, to paraphase Moneyball, “There are rich hires, there are poor hires, then there’s 50 feet of crap, then there is the Belichick hire.”
UCLA still out there pleading to be relevant again. I see Kiffin a better fit there than anywhere else in the SEC (other than LSU), but as someone buried in MS territory, I see a lot of reasons he’d be happy to just hang out and enjoy life in Oxford until his kids are grown and have moved on.