Auburn fires Gus Malzahn

Auburn has fired its head coach Gus Malzahn.

The move comes the day after a turgid victory over Mississippi State in a season where the Tigers struggled against Arkansas, got blown out by Alabama and lost to South Carolina.

Malzahn has a contract buyout of $21 million. Steven Godfrey, an excellent reporter for Banner Society, tweeted that the real number was the amount due to him in 30 days – $10.5m. “Auburn’s people have had that for months, I’m told”.

The Tigers head coach had a 67-35 overall coaching record on the Plains including a 38-26 in-conference record, a Conference title game and a National Championship appearance. He also has three wins over Nick Saban.

At the time when colleges are losing money hand over fist because of COVID-19, the move by the Auburn boosters (and you know it was them who pushed the AD into making the move), the move is stunning, but not shocking. Malzahn spent his time walking a tightrope on The Plains, where every move was scrutinized and compared to those in Tuscaloosa, Baton Rouge and Athens.

He’ll be rich this Christmas, but sadly jobless.